Isles Fans Meet Up in Carolina

At first glance, it looks like a typical New York Islanders tailgate.
There are blue Mike Bossy jerseys, orange towels and Oyster Bay Barn Rockers. There are Islanders flags and people playing street hockey on mini nets while "Let's Go Islanders!" breaks out intermittently.
You'd swear this scene was outside Nassau Coliseum, but it's actually 500 miles south outside of PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC.

This Isles congregation was started by Michael Ryan, better known as his Twitter handle

. And meet up they do, every time the Islanders and Bridgeport Sound Tigers come down to North Carolina - and it grows with every game.
"We started with six guys and now we're at this," Ryan said. "We've definitely taken off. It shows that people are moving out of New York and heading to the Carolinas and we're bringing them together."

Ryan, a fourth-grade teacher by day, is a Long Island transplant from Deer Park who moved to Charlotte in 2015. A born-and-bred Islanders fan, he sensed there were a lot of passionate fans like him in the Carolinas. That prompted him to start @islesmeetup_clt with five friends, but thanks to social media, the group has grown. A total of 135 Isles fans were seated together in section 109 at Thursday's season opener in Raleigh.
"It shows that Islanders fans enjoy traveling around the country and to know that there's a group that people can latch onto and just be able to and root for the same team together," he said. "It's a symbol of how great this fanbase is."
The fan group started in Charlotte, but has since expanded to other cities. One of the original six from the Charlotte crew started a group in Tampa Bay, while Ryan's childhood friend - and son of former Isles PA announcer Richard Kahn - started a Philly chapter.
The meet-ups attract more than just local Isles fans in each city. Mike Latorre, an Isles fan currently living in New Jersey, traveled down to Raleigh for the opener and to tailgate with his friend John McCaffrey, another New York transplant in North Carolina.

"It's always great to get together and talk to people because you've got things in common with them," Latorre said. "It's 'hey where are you from on Long Island, what's your favorite pizza place? Oh you're in Jersey too.' It's cool to meet up with everybody and come down for the home opener and root for the Islanders."
It's easy to spot the group in the game, as the 135 fans become a blue mass in a sea of red. Their fandom is appreciated by those around the organization and broadcasters Brendan Burke and Butch Goring reportedly came out to say hello before Thursday's game.
"Mike does such a good job putting this stuff together," Latorre said. "I know the work that must go into this. For those guys to come out, shake his hand and tell him how great this is, I'm here to support that."
Ryan hopes it only gets bigger from here.
"I just hope we can continue growing and branch out to some other cities and just keep doing this thing," he said. "I think it's just going to keep growing from here."