Islanders’ organist Paul Cartier was unsure of his or the Islanders’ future when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

Even though Cartier, a retired air traffic controller, was receiving a pension from the Federal Aviation Administration, his job with the Islanders was in doubt.

Cartier became the Islanders’ full-time organist in 2004, but has had a job with the team since 1979. He was at every Isles’ home game, working with the Islanders’ game operations team to create the Coliseum atmosphere that fans know and love.

But there wasn’t much for Cartier to do during the pandemic. The Islanders weren’t playing (and if they were, they were in Canada) and the Coliseum was closed to fans. Outside of a few virtual concerts over the summer with season ticket holders and some Twitter clips, Cartier has been off the organ.

END OF PERIOD 3: @NYIslanders and @TBLightning are tied 1-1. OT starts at 10:51 PM EDT/9:51 PM CDT/8:51 PM MDT. #Isles #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/kJDIdhScHm

— CordUp 🔌🍋 (@CordUpTime) September 16, 2020

During the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the first part of the 2021 season, he had to watch the Islanders play on his TV, even when they were at home.

“It’s disappointing,” Cartier said. “Biased-wise I feel like it’s missing something. I did have fans that were reaching out to me saying the same thing.”

Even though the Islanders returned to the Coliseum in January 2021, the Islanders didn’t initially bring Cartier back due to a “business decision,” according to the organist.

“They’ve been good to me all these years, so I’m not going to bash them,” Cartier said. “I’m going to let them do what they feel they have to do.”

Cartier was also recovering from back surgery, so he didn’t feel ready to come back either. When the Islanders and New York State allowed fans back into the building, the team told him that he could come back whenever he was ready. He returned in triumphant fashion April 6 against the Capitals.

“Just parking, walking into the building, it’s all different now,” Cartier said. “Walking through the lot, looking at the building. While things are different, it’s like wow, we’re actually back. Walking into the arena, looking around, seeing all the cutouts was strange.”

He’s also in a new spot. The team moved him down from the press box onto the concourse behind one of the goals. It’s a similar spot to where he was situated at Barclays Center, though he’s happy he can actually see the full sheet of ice this time around.

He’ll have to move again next season as the Islanders will play at the new UBS Arena. Cartier is excited about the move.

“At the time, [Nassau Coliseum] was a state of the art building, but the time has come,” he said. “The fact that it’s our building, it’s built for the Islanders, and it is going to absolutely be state of the art.”

The Islanders told Cartier that he’ll be out in the open at UBS, along with DJ Razor, the team’s DJ. However, he doesn’t yet know the precise location. He added that he’s still waiting on a tour of the new arena.

No matter where he is, Cartier will have experience behind the organ. Cartier has been playing since he was nine years old. After mastering the piano in a year, his parents bought him a two-keyboard organ, the one that he plays today.

His brother was a sports fan and took him to the first ever Islanders game at the Coliseum in 1972. Since then, Cartier focused on the Islanders’ organist and tried to emulate him when he returned home.

Three years after his first game, he auditioned for the job. However, the Coliseum’s music director said he was too young.

“That particular year, the guy they had was not very good,” Cartier said. “I went to [the Islanders] and said ‘I can do better.'”

However, when he later auditioned for the New York Arrows, a soccer team that used to play at the Coliseum, the music director remembered him and gave him the job. He’s been working at the Coliseum in some capacity ever since.

As this is the team’s final season at the Coliseum, he believes the team can make a strong playoff run.

“We’ve seen them beat all the good teams,” he said. “I, like everybody else, would like to see them win it. It would be kind of fun going out winning.”

Paul Cartier struggled to name his favorite moment outside of the cup years, so a Stanley Cup might be the perfect ending to a strange but special season for the Islanders’ organist.

Ben Baruch

Born and raised on Long Island. Isles fan since 2009. Studying journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.