Nearly 12,000 people showed up to Barclays Center for preseason hockey. The Islanders beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in the shootout and fans finally had the chance to hear the goal horn at Barclays Center.

?Well it?s nice to score a goal,? Islander Head Coach Jack Capuano told reporters after the game. ?Last year we never heard the horn go off. Didn?t even know what it was going to be like.?

Sometimes, in the debates that pop up on twitter, message boards, and even this blog's comments, things degenerate a bit -- as things on the internet are wont to do -- and focus on some deep seeded issues like the crime rates in Brooklyn and how dangerous a place the Barclays Center is. That comes partially out of truth; some of the crime rates in Brooklyn are higher than the national average. It also comes out of some inaccurate and paranoid places induced by fear and racism.

The arena itself resides in Prospect Heights, part of the City's 78th Precinct. According to the precinct's commanding officer Michael Ameri, crime at the new arena is virtually non-existent.

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The Islanders acknowledged the sad reality of our times and followed me and hundreds of thousands of children out of Nassau and Suffolk. After following this saga for 8 years, since the original Lighthouse proposal was unveiled, I still have trouble remembering that this is real and it really happened. It's been so hard to just root for the Islanders these past few years because it seemed like everything was tempered by the fear of what would happen when 2015 rolls around.