Without any of us even realizing it, this may have been one of the most monumental weeks in Islanders history. It hasn’t been any one thing or any thing huge, where each individual event would make you say the franchise has changed.
But you look at what’s gone on since last Friday: the John Tonelli retirement, acquiring and signing Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who filled one of the biggest holes on the team, nearly making a huge swap for Zach Parise, yesterday’s news about the Coliseum, and today’s retirement of Butch Goring.
We’ve been aware all along that this team is in much different hands than it was for most of our lifetimes—it feels so different to root for a team that cares about winning and cares about its fans, and its history.