2023 will be here soon, but more Islanders-Rangers games won't
Rangers center Vincent Trocheck skates between Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom and center Jean-Gabriel Pageau during the third period of an NHL game on Dec. 22 at Madison Square Garden. Credit: AP/John Munson
Sure, I’m a week late on this, but that is part of the point.
For many fans of basketball and/or hockey, it is not until Christmas (NBA) or New Year’s (NHL) that we get around to paying full attention.
Before that, the NFL, Thanksgiving tryptophan, holiday egg nog and Carlos Correa doctors’ reports tend to sop up most of our brain capacity.
But here we are, and it has come to my attention that not only do the Rangers and Islanders play against each other only thrice this regular season — thanks to a quirk in the NHL’s scheduling format — but that Dec. 22 was the last of those meetings.
And the only one of the three meetings at UBS Arena came on Oct. 26.
Oct. 26!!!
That was three days after the Yankees’ last ALCS game.
The Giants and Jets had a combined record of 11-3.
Steve Nash was coaching the Nets, who were halfway to a 1-5 start.
The Great Pumpkin had not yet arrived!
Oct. 26!!!
I am sure there are reasons for this, and that someone at the NHL would explain them to me if I cared to ask.
Maybe it is something about concert conflicts or the circus or a clause in ESPN’s and TNT’s contracts that mandates only Original Six matchups down the stretch.
It does not matter, though, as there is no explanation that would suffice. It is unacceptable — period.
What makes it even worse is that both teams are pretty good these days, and that both are part of a tight Metropolitan Division standings mosh pit.
And for what? Sure, it is nice to see stars from out West show up here once a year. I am as much of a Connor McDavid fanboy as anyone.
But c’mon. After Thursday night’s game against Columbus, the Islanders have seven in a row outside the division to kick off the new year.
The Islanders will spend New Year’s Eve in a hotel in Seattle before facing the Kraken on Sunday; the Rangers will be in Florida before facing the Panthers.
(Personal aside: When I was a young fan in a previous century, the Rangers often played at home on New Year’s Eve, making for an easy postgame walk up Seventh Avenue to Times Square.)
The silliness hardly is limited to Rangers-Islanders. Even more absurd is that the Oilers and Flames, those bitter, longtime Alberta rivals, play only three times in 2022-23, the last of which was Tuesday.
But changes might be on the horizon. Sportico reported a couple of weeks back that the NHL is considering expanding its regular season from 82 to 84 games (which is too many) to create more regional matchups (which is an admirable goal).
The idea would be to add two intra-division games, for four games every season between rivals such as the Rangers and Islanders. Currently, that number can be three or four.
That would help address the limited meetings between intra-division opponents in a given season, but not necessarily the timing of those games.
Again, assembling any professional sports schedule is a jigsaw puzzle that requires juggling arena availability, travel logistics, holidays and a hundred other factors.
We get it. But making sure the Rangers and Islanders play one another after Jan. 1 should be a priority regardless of what it takes.
Come Tuesday, when most folks get back to work and school to start a new year and activate their diet and exercise resolutions, it will be time to pay close attention to hockey again. But something will be missing.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
