Blog | Sports: The Hot Corner

Considering the New York Islanders may one day call Brooklyn home, they may as well start playing there as soon as possible.

Long Island’s favorite hockey franchise wil play the first-ever NHL game at Barclays Center on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012 when they take on the New Jersey Devils at 7:30 p.m.

The preseason game will mark the first hockey event at Barclays Center, the new major sports and entertainment venue, which will officially open on September 28 with the first of multiple JAY-Z concerts. The game will also mark the first NHL game to be played in Brooklyn.

“We’re extremely excited to play the first NHL game in the new, state-of-the-art Barclays Center,” Islanders General Manager Garth Snow said in a statement.  “We already have some of the most passionate fans in the league supporting our young team, and we are looking forward to expanding our base into Brooklyn.”

“We feel Brooklyn is an untapped hockey market that offers the Islanders with an exciting opportunity to grow its fan base,” added Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark. “Barclays Center will also afford current Islander fans with great accessibility, as the Long Island Rail Road and nine subway lines will come directly to the arena at the Atlantic Terminal transit hub.”

Stony Brook women’s lacrosse head coach Joe Spallina has been named the head coach of the Long Island Lizards men’s lacrosse team, a member of Major League Lacrosse (MLL).

Coaching the Lizards will be in addition to his duties as a coach at Stony Brook, and he will not miss any Seawolves practices or games since the MLL season runs from the end of April to the end of August.

“I am very excited to be able to lead the Long Island Lizards, a very proud and storied lacrosse franchise,” he said in a statement. “Although my first priority is to be the head coach of the women’s lacrosse team at Stony Brook, I look forward to working with the Lizards to achieve great success in Major League Lacrosse.”

Spallina previously served as an assistant coach for the Lizards over the last two seasons. In 2010, he helped lead the Lizards to the MLL championship game.

In his first season at Stony Brook and will have 13 returning letter-winners and 14 newcomers during the 2012 season, including four transfers from Adelphi, which he led to three consecutive NCAA Div. II national championships and had an overall 73-2 record.

Brentwood native Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 19, was selected in the first round of the MLS Draft by the Portland Timbers on Thursday.

“I couldn’t fall asleep until 3 or 4 in the morning because I was so anxious,” Jean-Baptiste said about the night before the draft. “With me as an addition to the team there is going to be a lot of beautiful football playing in that stadium.”

He played two seasons at Connecticut, leading the Huskies to the Big East finals and the semifinals in the 2011 NCAA tournament.

Jean-Baptiste was named the Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Year, received Soccer America second-team MVP honors and earned a spot on the NSCAA All-Northeast Region first team. He was a member of the U.S. U-20 National Team player pool in 2010.

At Brentwood he was Newsday’s Player of the Year in 2009.

“We had identified the players we were after,” said Timbers General Manager Gavin Wilkinson, on the Timbers’ website. “With our No. 8 pick, we definitely wanted to add a quality piece, and I think we got that with Andrew. He was a player that we identified and a player that we wanted. It was good that he fell to the No. 8 spot and we were able to acquire him.”

To see video of Jean-Baptiste talk about his new team, click here.

Stony Brook senior Brock Jackolski has been named to the College Sporting News Fabulous Fifty All-America Team, according to the university. Jackolski, who was named as the team’s all-purpose back, has picked up his fourth postseason honor of the year.

Jackolski has also been honored as an All-American by the AFCA FCS Coaches, Associated Press and Phil Steele.

Jackolski’s 2011 season will be remembered as one of the best in school and Big South history. He rushed for 1,418 yards, had 114 receiving yards, 55 punt return yards and 854 kick return yards, totaling 20 touchdowns. The 2,441 all-purpose yards and 20 touchdowns are Big South single-season records.

He recorded six games with more than 100 rushing yards and tallied more than 150 all-purpose yards in 11 of 13 games. Jackolski set a conference record with five touchdowns in a 76-28 win over Gardner-Webb.

He’s one of five players in Big South history with more than 4,000 all-purpose yards, accomplishing the feat in just two years. Including two seasons at Hofstra, Jackolski totaled 6,394 all-purpose yards, which ranks 16th in FCS history.

From the blue and gold colors to the No. 22 jersey, Charles Jenkins looks at home playing with Golden State.

The 6-foot-3 guard, who was selected in the second round (44th overall) in last year’s NBA Draft, has played in seven games so far, including a 97-90 loss against California rival Los Angeles on Friday night. The Warriors, feeling their way under new leadership with a young roster, are 2-5 to start the 2011-12 season.

Jenkins has scored 14 points in seven games and is averaging 8 minutes per game.