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[title]You’ve barely put away the sunscreen and already hockey is coming back. In fairness, last year’s lockout-shortened NHL calendar didn’t even start until January, so it’s understandable that you might be caught off guard. Dust off the jersey and big foam finger, and catch up with these tidbits.
1 Hockey comes to Brooklyn, for one night at least
You might have heard that the New York Islanders will be leaving their Nixon-era Long Island digs for the shiny Barclays Center. That won’t happen until 2015, but the team will test out the arena’s ice on Saturday 21 in a preseason game against the New Jersey Devils (620 Atlantic Ave at Flatbush Ave, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn; barclayscenter.com; 7pm; $19.85–$307.30). The contest will be Kings County’s first-ever NHL match.
2 The Islanders aren’t abysmally bad anymore
The perennial also-rans are coming off a campaign that brought them into the playoffs for the first time in five years. Behind 22-year-old phenom and newly christened captain John Tavares, the squad will try to expand on its success (or at least drum up some excitement before the upcoming move).
3 The Rangers take another shot at the Cup
The much-hyped New York Rangers made it to the second round of the playoffs last year before collapsing in the clutch to the Bruins. For 2013–14, the hope is that new head coach Alain Vigneault can jostle some Stanley Cup magic from a mostly unchanged core: elite goalie Henrik Lundqvist, captain Ryan Callahan, top scorers Derek Stepan and Rick Nash, and a solid cadre of defensemen.
4 Professional pond hockey visits Yankee Stadium
The first outdoor hockey game involving an NHL team happened in 1954 when the Gordie Howe–led Detroit Red Wings played the inmates of Michigan’s Marquette Branch Prison. Running with that obviously brilliant idea, the league has hosted matches in open-air stadiums for the past five years, a rare bright spot as the sport has struggled to compete for fans’ eyeballs. New York gets its first alfresco fixtures with the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series at Yankee Stadium (1 E 161st St between Jerome and River Aves, Bronx). On January 26, the Devils face off against the Rangers (12:30pm; $TBA); on January 29 the Blueshirts return for a game versus the Islanders (7:30pm; $TBA).
5 The aging Garden gets an upgrade
After a month on the road, the Rangers will come home to the Garden (4 Pennsylvania Plaza between 31st and 33rd Sts) for the first time on October 28. Taking on the Montreal Canadiens, the event will be one of the first chances to see the improvements made to MSG this summer. The arena’s third and final phase of renovations adds a new entrance and, most uniquely, a pair of catwalklike viewing areas that hang from the building’s ceiling. Take that, Barclays.