Andy Greene understands significance of 9/11

Islanders defenseman Andy Greene is 37 now, with a salt-and-pepper playoff beard and 14 years of NHL experience that gives him plenty of credibility when he speaks.

Back in 2001, Greene was 18 years old when two passenger airliners crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

So while Greene understood the importance of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals to the Islanders on Friday night, he hadn’t lost sight of the fact that Friday was the 19th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

“You wake up today and you think about exactly that moment, where you were when everything happened,’’ Greene, who was born in Trenton, Michigan, said before Game 3. “I think one of the coolest things for me was [on] September 12, the way this country came together . . . And I think that’s something that we could use right now with everything going on in the world.’’

Greene came to the Islanders in February after almost 13 seasons with the Devils, the last five of which he served as captain. He came to fill in for Adam Pelech, who had suffered what was thought to be a season-ending Achilles tendon tear.

So much has happened since then.

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the NHL to pause its season in March, and in May, a Black man named George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, sparking worldwide protests against racism and police violence.

When another Black man, Jacob Blake, was shot in the back last month by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the world of professional sports in North America took a timeout to support the subsequent protests, and the NHL shut down its playoffs for two days during the Islanders’ series against the Flyers.

With all of that going on outside the NHL bubbles in Toronto and now Edmonton, Greene looked back at the days after the Sept. 11 tragedy for inspiration.

“I just remember that day it didn’t matter what race, nationality — it didn’t matter what you were,’’ he said. “We were all Americans. We all came together. We all pulled for each other.’’

Both Islanders coach Barry Trotz and Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper agreed with Greene that the Sept. 11 attacks unified the country.

“It was amazing how the country — and the world, for that matter — were brought together after that day,’’ Cooper said. “Weird to say 19 years ago. [It] doesn’t seem that long. I don’t think anyone’s ever forgotten that.’’

Trotz recalled that he was in Nashville with current Islanders director of goaltending Mitch Korn, watching on television as the second plane hit the World Trade Center. He agreed with Greene that the tragedy of Sept. 11 unified the country.

“I think Andy said it best,’’ Trotz said. “You saw a country come together . . . that one nation was standing tall that day . . . in the way we came together.

“So today is a day of remembering and a day of understanding that our country had to stand strong,’’ he said. “And it did. And it will again.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.