No early arrival in Brooklyn for Islanders

Barclays Center executives always wanted to accelerate the Islanders move to Brooklyn, have them in move in next season, instead of 2016, as planned. It would have added 44 dates at the arena and let Bruce Ratner's team start the rehab of Nassau Coliseum earlier. Officials in fact would privately tell those who asked that an early would be ideal for all parties.

Not going to work. Newsday reports Wednesday that there were indeed discussions but in the end, everyone will have to wait until 2016 to see the Brooklyn Islanders.

The Islanders had preliminary discussions in recent months about the team leaving the Uniondale arena at the end of this season, the sources said, but the conversations never advanced and the idea was scrapped.

A formal plan to break the lease was never presented to the county, said Deputy County Executive Rob Walker. "No one came to us," Walker said.

For Islander fans, it means another season on Long Island, which has its pluses and minuses and for the Islander management team, led by Brett Yormark, it means more time to ready the arena, including adding both home and visiting locker rooms and some minor adjustments to make Barclays more amenable to watching NHL games.

• Sources: Islanders won't leave a year early - Robert Brodsky & Randi F. Marshall - Newsday