Not to espouse heresy, but does Long Island really need the Islanders back?

And if so, don’t we already have an arena in the Hub?

The new Coliseum isn’t big or flashy or modern enough for the Islanders? Why can’t we just retrofit the new Coliseum to their specifications? Maybe the Islanders should pay for another round of renovations.

Explain again, please, why we need a brand new hockey arena at Belmont Park, just eight miles west of Uniondale’s newly renovated entertainment venue? Were we not told the Coliseum could be expanded for big-league hockey, should it become necessary?

Dozens of rabid fans packed a community meeting this week to advocate for a new hockey arena at Belmont. I mean no disrespect, but I doubt anyone is listening to your impassioned pleas to return your team from the Brooklyn badlands.

It’s not your team. It belongs to the team owners. You’re their customers and, to them, little more. They are in it for the money.

For that matter, I’m sure the voices of the Elmont-area community will similarly be ignored. Local people want good-paying jobs and quality investments in infrastructure. They want to protect their properties from overdevelopment or, simply, the wrong development.

I can’t help thinking that the fans and the community are the sacrificial pawns of unseen chess masters.

That’s because as presented, the various informal proposals being floated for the future of the Islanders don’t add up. Some kind of new math is at work behind the scenes.

The state owns the land surrounding Belmont Park, an aging, mid-century relic just screaming with multi-use potential. The possibilities go far beyond gaming and horse racing.

The Empire State Development Corp. is expected to ask for a new set of projects for Belmont. The last time this happened, the state waited four years and then abruptly scrapped all the plans.

Proposals aren’t cheap when you play at this level. A single RFP submission cost one developer more than $1 million the last time the state asked for bids. That’s a lot of hockey pucks for an idea that might take years to be considered and then get rejected without explanation.

The chess masters don’t have to explain themselves. I think they’ve already decided their next move.

And they just looked up from the big Belmont board and said, “Check.”