This is why it’s important to note that while Brooklyn is on the actual land mass that is Long Island, it’s not part of “Long Island,” which consists of two suburban counties: Nassau, and then Suffolk further to the east. Brooklyn is part of New York City, which also encompasses Manhattan (where the stupid Rangers reside), which New Yorkers refer to as “The City.” And yes, this is sort of like a square being a rhombus but a rhombus isn’t necessarily a square, but it’s all relevant.

Nassau County is the home of the Islanders and the woefully-inadequate-by-modern-standards Coliseum. Gloriously unsponsored, the Coliseum stands as a weathered monolith in Uniondale, an urbanized town right in the middle of the county. By now, hockey folks have the world convinced that the Coliseum is as useful to the sport as Blockbuster Video is to Hollywood. It has long been called a dump and is famously mocked as the “Nassau Mausoleum.” Even the arena’s Wikipedia page calls it “obsolete.”

Just the other day, ESPN ranked the Coliseum as the 122nd-best home facility in the four major sports. That’s dead last — a position we’ve grown far too accustomed to on Long Island over the last couple of decades as the team struggled.

And you know what? ESPN doesn’t have a clue.

Today, an arena is judged based on amenities and concessions rather than the in-game experience it provides. No Islander fan will tell you that the Coliseum is state-of-the-art, and she certainly isn’t beautiful, but neither are the Islanders. The place was built for jersey-wearing hardcore fans and those with an appreciation for the sport and the building’s history.

The Coliseum was the home of the 1980s Islander dynasty, a team of folk heroes that won four straight Stanley Cups and 19 (!!) straight playoff series. In that era, the Islanders were so good that people started referring to Nassau Coliseum as “Fort Neverlose.”

ESPN’s ranking system also didn’t take into account the Coliseum’s flawless sightlines. There isn’t a seat in the entire building where you lose sight of the puck, and the upper-deck seats are closer to the ice than some lower decks in modern arenas. If you go to hockey games simply to watch hockey games, you love the Nassau Coliseum.

Decades ago, the Coliseum also was a cultural polestar. Beyond the heyday of the Islanders, there were big concerts. Elvis and Bruce Springsteen came, and Long Island’s own Billy Joel also rocked the house. In the old ABA days, Julius Erving regularly dunked there, as well.

Today, the Coliseum is the poster child for the opposite of what franchises want their home to look like. It lacks fancy corporate suites and there aren’t any gastropubs for people to eat at during the second period. There really is no place to distract patrons from the game, nowhere they can spend money instead of watching the Isles.