Twenty-five years ago, the Islanders were deep into their first training camp under Peter Laviolette when news of the September 11 attacks reached them in Lake Placid.
Laviolette would never forget how abruptly the day turned. “I was probably two minutes into my first training camp as a head coach in the National Hockey League,” he later recalled.
“Day 1. I’ll never forget.”
The team was practicing in a place loaded with its own history, home of the Miracle on Ice. But once the first plane hit, hockey stopped mattering almost immediately. Mike Milbury told Laviolette shortly after the attack began, and players soon crowded around televisions inside the arena as the scale of what had happened became clear.
Even with Alexei Yashin and Michael Peca still available to the media, the Islanders’ new season, their revamped roster and all the buzz around the club had suddenly been pushed into the background.
That offseason had brought real hope to the franchise. Peca, Yashin and Adrian Aucoin were all added in an aggressive push, and expectations were finally building. Then September 11 arrived, and all of it was swallowed up.
As the city searched for a way forward, sports became part of the response. Mike Piazza’s home run against Atlanta, the Yankees’ emotional World Series run and Mark Messier wearing the helmet of a fallen fire chief all became part of New York’s healing.
The Islanders had their own moment, too.
Their 2001-02 team opened 9-0-1 and eventually snapped a seven-year playoff drought. On October 13, 2001, they played their first regular-season home game at Nassau Coliseum since the attacks, and the night was treated as more than just another opener.
Fans remained on their feet through warmups and a longer pregame ceremony. FDNY and NYPD hockey players joined the Islanders and Detroit Red Wings on the ice while an American flag was unfurled. Michael Buffer introduced the teams, and Jamie-Lynn Sigler sang the national anthem.
Then came the hockey. Thirty-six seconds after the puck dropped, Oleg Kvasha scored, and the Coliseum shook.
For a few hours, Long Islanders had a place to cheer again and a place to look somewhere other than the devastation that had become the new normal. It was sports giving New Yorkers something familiar to hold onto.
That bond stretched far beyond that night.
Ray Pfeifer, a Hicksville resident and FDNY firefighter, was among the first responders at Ground Zero and later developed cancer tied to his service. He became one of the most visible voices pushing for expanded health benefits for 9/11 first responders and helped fight for the Zadroga Act.
The Islanders honored him on April 2, 2016, when Pfeifer dropped the ceremonial puck before a game against Pittsburgh.
“There’s nobody who’s going to be more happy than me,” Pfeifer said beforehand. “To be in that venue, just to be in front of a hometown crowd and be with my team … it’s a dream come true.”
Pfeifer died on May 27, 2017, but before his death he kept pushing for recognition of those who died from 9/11-related illnesses alongside those lost on the day of the attacks. The Ray Pfeifer Foundation still carries that work forward, helping first responders get medical equipment not covered by insurance.
Twenty-five years later, the Islanders’ September 11 story is less about goals and wins than about the people who filled the building, the people who served, and the way a hockey team helped a community gather again.
Never forget.
In Other News...
Islanders May Be Zeroing In On A Young Scorer Who Fits Everything
The Islanders are once again being linked to a forward who would make immediate sense for a team trying to sharpen its window, with Elliotte Friedman reporting interest in Kirill Marchenko of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 26-year-old winger has emerged as one of the more appealing young scorers on the market, and his age and trajectory fit the kind of timeline New York has been trying to build around as it weighs its roster and prospect pipeline.
Nothing is close to done, and for now this remains in the speculative stage while the Islanders sort through their options. Still, Marchenko is the sort of name that naturally draws attention in this market because he checks a lot of boxes for a team looking to get younger without giving up competitiveness, and the fact that New York is even in the conversation says plenty about where its front office may be focusing its search. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Rookie Camp Starts With Real Pressure On A Few Young Names
The Islanders opened rookie camp with a 25-man group that gives a quick look at how the organization is spreading its prospect pool across the next wave of development. The roster includes 14 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders, with familiar young names such as Cole Eiserman, Victor Eklund, Isaiah George and Kashawn Aitcheson all in the mix as the team starts sorting out who is getting closer to NHL-ready territory.
There is a little more weight on this camp than the usual September tune-up, because a few of these players can turn strong showings into something more than prospect chatter. Malte Gustafsson is notably absent from the roster, leaving the attention on the young players who are actually there and the competition they can create over the coming days. [Read more 🡒]
Isaiah George Could Force An Islanders Decision At Rookie Camp
Isaiah George is back at rookie camp for the fifth time, but this one comes with a different feel. After spending parts of the past few seasons around the Islanders, the 21-year-old defenseman now looks like more than just a promising name on the depth chart. He has 33 NHL games behind him, and this camp arrives with a real sense that his next step could be the one that finally puts him in the mix for good.
Pete DeBoers comments only sharpened that possibility, noting that Georges skating and overall style fit what the Islanders want to do. That kind of fit matters when a player is trying to push from prospect status into a full-time role, and it gives George a legitimate lane to compete for a regular spot. The question now is whether he can turn another strong camp into an actual roster decision the Islanders have to make. [Read more 🡒]