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UBS Arena will host something this coming February. It will not, however, be an NHL All-Star Game.
What will it be? A “kickoff going to the Olympics,” per commissioner Gary Bettman, who spoke to the Associated Press Sports Editors on Tuesday, according to Newsday.
Exactly what that means, as of now, is not clear.
“We’ll have an event at UBS before we go to the Olympics, but then we’ll do something that’s more focused on a major hockey event for the following year,” Bettman said. “We have a little bit of time to finalize what we’re doing.”
If there was a loser from the overwhelming success of the 4 Nations Face-Off this year, it was the Islanders, who have wanted to host league events since opening up UBS Arena in 2021 and were awarded the 2026 All-Star Game in 2024.
The juxtaposition between the 4 Nations — where every game was played with the intensity of a Stanley Cup Final and which proved incredibly popular — with a normal All-Star Game, with no hitting and players trying not to get hurt, put the 2026 event in a no-win situation. That was amplified even more by the league’s commitment to the Milan Games, with players set to fly from New York to Italy following the event on Long Island.
That meant the NHL had what was in essence a choice between three underwhelming options.
They could cancel the event altogether, losing the dollars associated with it and give the Islanders an apology card and an IOU.
They could hold a normal All-Star Game knowing it would be overshadowed by the coming Olympics and likely panned in comparison with the 4 Nations success of a year prior. Or they could try to make lemonade out of lemons and do something different, whatever that might be.
The league has opted for the third of those options.
One potential version of that, if the NHL could get the respective federations on board, could be a set of exhibition games between countries. That would serve everybody well, giving teams a chance to play games together, giving fans a reasonably competitive product and giving rights holders something deserving of hype and airtime.
“We look forward to working with the league on any event that will showcase our world class facility, UBS Arena,” the Islanders said in a statement.
The situation is nobody’s fault, but the Islanders — who have been advertising an All-Star Game to season ticket holders — are getting the short end of the stick.
With the NHL running more international competitions starting with the 2028 World Cup, awarding the Islanders a game or two would be an obvious move to make up for the situation.
The club’s attendance has started to slip recently as the Islanders have struggled, missing the playoffs this season for the first time since 2021.
The club fired general manager Lou Lamoriello last week, with minority owner and operating partner John Collins leading the search for a replacement.
Fans have frequently raised issues with the cost of parking and the long walk from the Elmont-UBS train station to the arena. There’s also the ongoing renovation of Belmont Park Racetrack, which has kicked the Belmont Stakes up to Saratoga for the time being.
Belmont Park Village, a shopping area near the arena, also opened last fall.
“I think the area is developing great,” Bettman said, regarding the attendance. “What [Islanders owner] Scott Malkin is doing with his other business there is going to be terrific. There’s still a lot of development going on, the rebuild of the racetrack. This is a long-term project and we’re still in the embryonic stage. The building is magnificent.
“I think people need to get used to the logistics of getting in and out. Once all the construction is done, I have no doubt it will be much more accessible. But I also think team performance affects attendance as much as, if not more than, anything else.”
