Islanders Open Coliseum to Healthcare Heroes

For a full year, healthcare heroes have been looking out for everyone else. On Thursday night, the New York Islanders wanted to make sure that someone was looking out for them.
One day shy of the one-year anniversary of the NHL's COVID-19 pause, the Islanders opened Nassau Coliseum to fans, with 1,000 healthcare heroes - deservedly - being the first ones through the door.

"Having the healthcare workers in there tonight is extra special," Head Coach Barry Trotz said pregame. "We make sacrifices as coaches and athletes and families, but they've made the ultimate sacrifice. They put themselves in harm's way to keep other people safe and alive. It's special for them to be back in the building and I think our building deserves to have people in it."
The game was a small gesture from the team, who welcomed the healthcare heroes as special guests. The night was dedicated to them, from free t-shirts waiting on their socially-distanced seats, to personalized thank you video messaging from the team, Trotz and General Manager Lou Lamoriello. Four Northwell Health workers, each outfitted with a blue "Hero" jersey, dropped the puck in a pre-recorded ceremony. Sparky banged a pot at 7 p.m. sharp, an acknowledgement of the nightly salute to healthcare heroes from early on during the pandemic.
"We've been looking forward to getting fans back in the building for a long time," Josh Bailey said. "It was a great way to honor our healthcare workers tonight and to have them be the first ones in attendance, they brought some energy for us and we fed off it. It was about saying thank you for all the sacrifices they made along the way and it was about them tonight and happy to get the win in front of them."

The excitement was reciprocated by the healthcare heroes, who described returning to the coliseum as emotional and as an exhale, a chance to relax after working relentlessly over the past year.
"It's a great feeling," said Rebecca Reinold, an Outpatient Nurse at Family Medicine in Lindenhurst. "My fiancé and I are Season Ticket Members, we were at the last game before the COVID pandemic started, so it really boosted our morale to watch games when they started coming back and playing and even better to see it live. It's very emotional. I feel like I get choked up, it's a very good feeling to have a little bit of normalcy. Everyone in this company works really hard, so everyone deserves it."
Reinhold, who was an honorary flag captain earlier in the year, wasn't in her usual seats in section 213, though they were occupied by her cardboard cutout. She said watching the video tributes before the game was an emotional experience and thanked the Islanders for everything they'd done for Northwell Health employees, especially after a chaotic and demanding year.
"It means a lot that they value healthcare workers," Reinhold said. "It's been chaotic, there have been a lot of questions, a lot of things as healthcare workers we didn't think we'd have to face, but especially Northwell, everyone is very team oriented and I think that's why we gravitate towards hockey and towards the Islanders because we all really pulled together. There was not one second where I didn't feel safe or supported or important to this company, or to this team."

There was a buzz in the building right as doors reopened for the Coliseum. Laurie Zottarelli, a 32-year Northwell employee who has helped supply and distribute medical equipment for LIJ and Cohen Children's Medical Center, described it as surreal. The good kind though, not the type she'd seen in the hospital for the past year.
"I've been there 32 years and I've never seen anything like this," she said of the pandemic. "We had adults in [Cohen's]. That's never happened. We moved out the kids to bring adults in. It's crazy. And we built a 65-bed unit, that's the biggest thing I'm proud of, that we came together all the teams and had a unit built in three weeks to house COVID patients. It is a 65-bed unit and we only have 22 patients currently, which is a good thing."
Zottarelli, who was decked out in a blue Bryan Trottier jersey, said she was appreciative for everything Northwell had done to keep staff safe and for all the work the Islanders had done for healthcare heroes, including food and cookie drops at the hospitals throughout the pandemic.
"The doctors, the respiratory therapists, the first responders, they deserve all the props," Zottarelli said. "They're still on the front lines."

The healthcare heroes had something to cheer for, as the Islanders beat the Devils 5-3. Six fans also went home with team-signed jerseys as the lucky seats of the game and the team saluted the crowd after the win. Reinhold, who was at the last game with fans before the pandemic last March, said it just felt good to be back.
"It feels like I never left in a way," Reinhold said. "I know it's a little different and the precautions are great, everyone is being as safe as possible, so it's just a different feeling, but feels like things are getting better finally."