Coolest game could be on ice: Isles-Devils Barclays’ match threatened by looming NHL lockout
The first major pro sports event at the Barclays Center, albeit an exhibition hockey game between the Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders, is under threat of postponement due to the looming NHL lockout.
Scheduled for Oct. 2, one day short of a month before the Brooklyn Nets host the New York Knicks in the much-anticipated NBA regular-season opener at the state-of-the-art arena on the corners of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, the Devils-Islanders game could be pushed back or cancelled all together if the NHL Players’ Union and league hierearchy don’t come to an agreement before training camps are scheduled to open on Sept. 15.
Making matters even more tenuous, the players and owners have cut off talks since last Friday, when NHL Players’ Association executive director Don Fehr announced that the league had asked that talks be ”recessed” for the time being.