Love, Pride and the Islanders

As much as Louis DiNapoli loved the New York Islanders, he probably didn't expect a love story to begin at Nassau Coliseum.
It goes all the way back to October 1979. DiNapoli can remember his seats - section 314 row H seat 11 - since they were his season tickets during the dynasty. He can remember the opponent, as the Isles were taking on the Philadelphia Flyers. He has a hard time remembering the exact date, but he'll never forget the face, seeing Stew Gamper's in the stands.

Little did either of them know at the time, but that was the start of a 42-year relationship and an 18-year marriage that is still going strong to this day. It's been a long and rewarding relationship - and it started at an Islanders game.
"It's been a big part of both of our lives," DiNapoli said. "We say thank God we met each other at a hockey game."
Back to the beginning.
They'd chat a bit at the games, talking hockey, but that was as far as it went. The next June, DiNapoli, who was still in the process of coming out, remembered watching a documentary on the Stonewall Riots and writing down the phone number for the Gay and Lesbian Center in New York. After all, DiNapoli is mindful to note, this long predated smartphones and home internet access. If he wanted information on gay bars or networks on Long Island, he'd have to call, but there was a catch, as the phone number would be printed on his bill, meaning his family would see.
He estimates it took about six months to make the call from the family house phone, but soon after DiNapoli started going to Pal Joey's after Islanders games given the bar's close proximity to Nassau Coliseum.

One night at the bar he spotted Gamper at a pinball machine wearing a Utica Mohawks t-shirt. While a shirt for an Eastern League Hockey team (the Mohawks played in Utica for two years before relocating to Salem, Virginia in 1980) may go over the head of most people, it was a conversation starter for a keen hockey fan like DiNapoli.
"It kicked off our conversation with hockey," DiNapoli said. "Then we were both like okay, we're in a gay bar, so that obviously led to other conversations."
The couple has been together for 40 years and like any love story, it has its magic moments. On New Year's Eve, DiNapoli had initially turned down an invitation from Gamper to meet in Manhattan, feeling beholden to a friend he'd made plans with. When that friend bailed on the plans, that enabled DiNapoli to hop on a train and surprise Gamper at work at the New York Hilton, the first of many New Year's spent together.
"And all because of the damn hockey and the Islanders," DiNapoli said.
The Mohawks too and DiNapoli joked that when he gets mad at Gamper, he yells at the Mohawks pennant.
"Every time I get mad at him I have a pennant, a flag of the Utica Mohawks, that I start yelling at," DiNapoli laughed. "I say 'this is your fault, and the Islanders fault.'"
There's more to their enduring relationship than just hockey, but it's a central tenant. They've done countless Islanders road trips, using the team as an excuse to travel around North America. DiNapoli was even in Vancouver to watch the Islanders win their third Stanley Cup in 1982 against the Canucks.
"We watch all the games together and we've taken a lot of road trips," DiNapoli said. "We've been all over the country, making vacations where we enjoy going to the sites, seeing new cities, seeing the history, seeing museums, and then we go to a hockey game."
DiNapoli's fan credentials are up there with the best of fans. He attended the Islanders first-ever exhibition game against the New York Rangers on Sept. 27, 1972 with his dad, a tradition they kept up for 15 years. Even after his father became a snowbird, DiNapoli continued the tradition and has attended every Islanders home opener including the first game at UBS Arena this season. You definitely saw him, as he was the fan outfitted in the custom Islanders tuxedo and top hat, a costume made for him by a friend who works on Broadway.

DiNapoli, who was a season ticket member from 1975-85, then again during the Brooklyn years, has been to every home playoff game as well, from Bob Nystrom's Stanley Cup clincher in 1980, to Anthony Beauvillier's beer-soaked OT winner in 2021. He's superstitious too, committed to the same jersey or shirt if the team is on a winning streak. He stopped bringing his brother to games when he determined he was bad luck.
"You can call me a little bit of a fanatical," DiNapoli said.
DiNapoli has always enjoyed the sense of community among Islanders fans. He's found friendship, as well as love in the stands at games. He's the godfather to the kids of a couple he sat next to in the 1970s and is part of fan groups to this day.
When DiNapoli looks at the state of NHL Pride in 2022, he's seen it come a long way. He was at the Islanders first pride night in Brooklyn during the 2015-16 season, where the reception to the organizations on the concourse was a little cold, but has grown in subsequent years. There's still a long way to go and DiNapoli sees the same prejudiced comments he heard 40 years ago in Twitter replies, but he appreciates that more fans are chiming in with messages of love, education and equality to combat that.
He also appreciates gestures like the team changing over its logo on social media for pride month, or going with all-rainbow ads on the dasherboards for pride games at UBS Arena.
"It's really opened up a lot of dialogue, which you don't really have in a major sport," DiNapoli said. "So I think it's really important. I think it's good for the league to be visible."

He admires Luke Prokop, the Nashville Predators 2020 third-round pick, who

, making him the first openly gay player or prospect in the league.
"I'm proud of him because he's giving every young hockey player or every young boy or girl, a voice," DiNapoli said. "It took a lot of cajones for him to come out, especially in such a macho sport."
"For him to do that, at his age, in a major sport was big time news," DiNapoli added.
What isn't news is DiNapoli and Gamper's relationship. It's older than almost the entire Islanders roster and there's no real secret to it. DiNapoli boils it down to enjoying each other's company, having a healthy mix of shared and separate interests and knowing when to pick each other up.
"One thing for me is he's always made me laugh. And that's really important," DiNapoli said. "It's like any other relationship; a woman-woman, woman-man, man-man, you're in a long term relationship. You have your ups and downs. We enjoy each other's company."
And of course, they enjoy the tie that binds - the Isles.