UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The crowd started chanting "We don't need you" before John Tavares took the ice for warmups at Nassau Coliseum on Thursday. It only got tougher from there for the Toronto Maple Leafs center and former New York Islanders captain.
"Obviously I don't expect it to be a very welcoming return," Tavares said in his pregame press conference in front of about 50 media members and 10 television or website cameras
He was right. It was a relentless display of displeasure from the Islanders fans, one that didn't stop even for a video tribute to Tavares at 9:59 of the first period.
It was a touching video detailing many important on-ice and off-ice moments of Tavares' time with the Islanders, but the majority of the vocal fans greeted it with name-calling chants, loud boos and general unpleasantness.
Tavares didn't let it bother him. He came off the bench at the conclusion of the video to raise his stick and applaud the fans.
"We don't need you," they responded.
Tavares played nine seasons with the Islanders after they selected him No. 1 in the 2009 NHL Draft. He repeatedly said how much he loved being a member of the Islanders and how much he was hoping to stay with them, but he left in the offseason as an unrestricted free agent, signing seven-year, $77 million contract with his hometown Maple Leafs on July 1.
Islanders fans took it as a shot against them with many expressing their feelings on social media. The sting clearly hasn't gone away judging by their actions Thursday, with their first chance to tell Tavares how they felt in person.
Tavares never appeared bothered by the greeting that started in warmups.
At one point, Tavares and Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck skated past each other through the the center-ice face-off circle, each on his side of the red line. Clutterbuck gave Tavares a stick tap and a head nod.
Tavares, who also looked down toward the New York side many times, said he knew it would be an emotional return for him because of how much the Islanders meant to him in his time with the organization.
"At the same time, I mean, I can only control what I can control," Tavares said.
The chanting and booing aimed at Tavares only got louder as the Maple Leafs came back on the ice for the start of the game. Tavares took his first shift 18 seconds into the first period and was loudly booed as soon as he hopped over the boards to take a face-off against Casey Cizikas.
Once he went to the bench, the fans went back to loudly chanting "Let's go Islanders" before starting up the "We don't need you" chant again. Their booing, chanting and cheering seemed to change with every change of possession.
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