UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Jeff Teat has heard about how special Nassau Coliseum is, almost ad nauseam by his former Cornell teammates who hail from Long Island.

Teat watched the New York Islanders deep run in the Stanley Cup playoffs with a few of those guys, witnessing first-hand the old barn rock.

The end of the Islanders’ postseason run also meant the end of an era, with the NHL team moving to a new arena a few miles away at Belmont Park.

Now the New York Riptide are the primary tenants, and Teat is hoping for a similarly raucous atmosphere when the National Lacrosse League returns in December.

And some of those former teammates, like Matt Licciardi and Danny Boccafola, have promised to have a front row seat.

“They definitely said they’ll be at every game cheering like crazy,” Teat said. “I don’t think they’ll miss too many games, especially in this building.”

Teat, the No. 1 overall pick in the NLL Entry Draft who signed a two-year deal with the Riptide, got his first glimpse of his new home Tuesday morning.

“I’ve heard a lot of great things from specifically my friends from Long Island, so just getting into the building and actually seeing it for the first time, it’s pretty cool, some high expectations,” Teat said of the Coliseum. “It’s great. It’s a little old, but it’s kind of something I enjoy. I like the nostalgia and the older feel to it, so I'm excited.”

The Brampton, Ont., native was already in town with the Premier Lacrosse League playing across Hempstead Turnpike at Hofstra University. The Atlas LC rookie felt the love from lacrosse-crazed Long Island, scoring two goals and adding an assist in a 16-10 Atlas win over Chrome LC.

Teat and veteran Callum Crawford, a four-time NLL All-Pro forward, took a tour of the building with Sal LoCascio, arguably the greatest goaltender of all time who starred for the New York Saints from 1990-2000.

Memories flashed back for LoCascio as he entered the Riptide locker room, which was the Saints’ room during his heyday.

“It was just a lot of camaraderie … it looks a little bit different, but it's just a funny feeling,” LoCascio said. “It just brings back some amazing memories of 10 years of my life left in the middle of this field.”

LoCascio regaled Teat and Crawford with tales of his time playing box lacrosse — the fights, the postgames across the street at the Long Island Marriott and also the atmosphere inside the arena.

Going to see the Saints in the winter was a happening, and the Riptide are hoping to garner similar community support.

“In New York, there’s a lot of different professional sports you're competing with, but at the same time, at the Coliseum here, this is it. This is the big show, the big dance,” LoCascio said. “I would tell people, ‘Hey come on out and take a peek,’ and I have a feeling just looking at some of what they've done with their roster, and I look at the leadership that they've brought in, this team is gonna have a huge upside and do well.”

LoCascio found himself back in the limelight — unintentionally — as the Islanders battled the Boston Bruins in the playoffs.

Frustrated over a perceived unbalance in officiating, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy quipped about playing the New York Saints, rather than the Islanders after Game 5 of that series.

He was fined for his criticism, and LoCasio, as the face of the Saints during his playing days, saw his phone blow up.

A couple days later, LoCascio, was back at the Coliseum — adorned proudly in one of his Saints jerseys, right out of the frame.

“I'm sure Coach Cassidy had no idea what he was saying with the whole Saints thing, but typical Long Island, typical New York, and the social media world ran with it a little bit and it was fun,” LoCascio said. “I wore my Saints jersey to Game 6, and it was pretty exciting. This building was unbelievable. It was a fun time.”

Memories flooded back for LoCascio, particularly some of the wars with the Philadelphia Wings, a team that featured both Gary and Paul Gait, as well as Tommy Marechek and Jake Bergey.

Philadelphia brought the swagger of defending champions to the Coliseum one night, LoCascio recalls, and left with a stinging defeat.

After the Saints, the New York Titans called the Coliseum home. Now, it’s the Riptide’s building, with the franchise betting on Teat to be the bedrock of their future.

It’s been a few years since Teat last played box lacrosse, but the game is in his blood. His father Dan was a 14-year veteran of the National Lacrosse League.

To help Teat make the adjustment to an indoor professional is Crawford, who makes the move to the Riptide after the last three seasons with the New England Black Wolves.

“I've never had the opportunity to watch him play, but the things that stand out to me that everybody talks about is what makes me know he's special,” Crawford said of Teat. “They’re not talking about how he’s some massive freak human being or some incredibly gifted athlete. They talk about how incredibly smart he is. And for me, that’s all I need to hear. If somebody’s going to talk about a player being so generationally gifted, and it’s not because of his genetics, it’s because of the way he plays the game, that’s something special and that’s something that’s gonna last for a long time.”

After touring the Coliseum, Teat and Crawford headed out to the Blue Line Deli & Bagels in Huntington, where owner Donald Rosner showed them how to make the store’s newest sandwich — the “Riptide,” which consists of turkey, bacon, avocado, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on a hero.

From there, it was back to the Coliseum for a clinic with 13 kids from Lock Jaw Lacrosse.

It was the first taste — literally — of being in the Long Island hotbed for Teat, who can’t wait to get on the Coliseum floor in December.

“Long Island is definitely a hotbed for lacrosse, especially, more so field,” Teat said. “But I think both of us and the rest of the guys are excited to get box lacrosse going as well and maybe get that attention out to know the youth community and start building something there.”