Opening night in New York vs. opening night in Utah: 6 observations

ELMONT, N.Y. — The New York Islanders have a 52-year, four-Stanley Cup championship head start on the Utah Hockey Club.
Utah was the guest for the Islanders home-opener at UBS Arena on Thursday, just two days after the high of an inaugural game win over Chicago at the Delta Center. (Utah won, 5-4 in overtime.)
But aside from all the history and an actual team nickname, what did the opening night experience in New York have on Utah?
Not much. The NHL’s newest arena and fanbase held up pretty well.
Compared to UBS Arena, the Delta Center had all the makings of an imposing NHL environment with a sell-out crowd of 16,020. The pregame visuals were equally impressive in both buildings, and the fans shown on the big screen were energetic all game. (Curiously, New York fans didn’t chug beers every time the camera was on them.)
There were, however, a few things that stood out about an Islanders home game.
The Islanders entered the league as an expansion franchise in 1972, and less than 10 years into their existence started a run of four straight Stanley Cup-winning seasons that hasn’t been matched since.
The four Stanley Cup banners are accompanied by three banners for the league’s best record (recognized with the Presidents Trophy), eight retired numbers (including former Utah Grizzlies head coach Butch Goring) and a whole bunch of conference and division banners.
While Utah’s history is a clean slate, the former Arizona Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets wouldn’t have brought much. That franchise won only one division title in its history.
UBS Arena is a hockey-specific venue that opened in 2021. It has a capacity of 17,500 for hockey.
It’s also an active concert venue, and is located adjacent to historic Belmont Park, home of the Belmont Stakes — where horse racing’s Triple Crown winners have been crowned.
Utah has some catching up to do, simply because jerseys aren’t available for sale yet.
Islanders fans definitely show up in their team gear. Fans wearing jerseys (even the hideous fisherman jerseys from the 1990s) had to be approaching 50%.
The Islanders fans were committed to their chants, which were regular throughout the evening throughout pockets of the arena, often accompanied by drums.
Islanders fans had special chants for scored goals, saves from goalie Semyon Varlamov and anything new fan favorite Anthony Duclair did.
A special chant late in the third period was reserved for the New York Rangers, but it will not be repeated in this family-friendly paper.
It will be interesting to see which team emerges as the object of Utah fans’ disdain.
The Islanders are coached by Patrick Roy, one of the best goaltenders in the history of the sport.
Roy won two Stanley Cups each with Montreal and Colorado. He was also famous for getting into fights with Red Wings goalies.
Utah HC goalie coach Corey Schwab — a former NHL goalie himself — had a fight in the fourth game of his career. Coincidentally, it was against Tommy Söderström of the New York Islanders.