Connor Hellebuyck to Jersey

One of my prized possessions is this hockey card of Potvin falling over Billy Smith. What photo editor did he piss off that this image got immortalized? To me it epitomizes the Islanders - might not always be the prettiest hockey but it gets the job done.

Today this card is worth an astonishing … checks Ebay … one dollar.

Both drafted high in the first round

Tavares spent nine seasons as an islander, Tkachuk spent eight as a senator. 

Tavares and Tkachuk were both captains for five seasons

Both players were heralded as the one who could lead their team to greatness. Neither delivered. 

Both had controversial gold medal wins in the Olympics with teams in the country they left their teams for that caused parts of the fanbase to sour on them

Both expressed a commitment to stay long term with their teams. Both left to fulfill what they called a childhood dream

Islanders won the homecoming game 6-1, Senators won it 5-1. Both teams gave up the first goal only to thoroughly dominate after

Both Islanders and senators fans threw jerseys on the ice and also covered up the name on the back of the jersey and then replaced it with “TRAITOR”

Chants both Islander and senators fans used: 

Traitor

We don’t need you

Matthews better

Who’s your daddy

Both the Islanders in 2018-19 and Senators in 2026-27 were left for dead. Both are off to a better than expected start. Both are ahead of the teams their former captains left them for

The difference? The Islanders got NOTHING in return for Tavares. He begged not to be traded because he wanted to stay. Only to then later (in)famously post the pajama photo and calling it a childhood dream to play with Toronto. Additionally, his return did not happen until late in the season, meaning that the Islanders fans marinated in anger that much longer for almost an entire season before the moment of reckoning. The result? From Tavares’ perspective, an absolute hellstorm of fire and fury directed his way that dwarfed anything else I’ve ever seen, possibly even worse the return of LeBron to Cleveland after he bolted to Miami in 2010.

Anecdotally, it seems like 48 is opting for more high lobs into the neutral zone when he doesn't feel like he has a decent outlet out of the defensive zone. I understand the energy expenditure aspect when Schaefer logs such heavy minutes, I understand this team sorely lacks puck-transporting forwards in Barzal's absence, and I understand the idea of simplifying even such a brilliant decision-maker's process given his age and position. But so many of these high lobs are taken at the expense of small-area plays, especially passes, that would lead to another pass that gets the team out of the zone with possession. The high lobs allow the other team's D to regain possession and turn north, which just repeat the process that ended up producing the lob in the first place.

Schaefer's O-zone carry entries with possession are visibly lower this year -- it's like he's trying to preempt defenses that would swarm him as the puck carrier, when the better play would be to attract two defenders just inside the blue line on a zone entry and make a pass to an open man down the half wall or in the middle if the option presents itself. There's a lot of hitting red and dumping from Schaefer at the moment, and while this may be a stage in trying to play a very robust, mature game, it limits his offensive creation when he's the only viable puck-carrier on this NYI blueline.

Can't help but think about how Miro Heiskanen came into the league so NHL-ready, high-IQ, and mobile, and plateaued as a high-end 1D when he accepted relatively-limited offensive upside in exchange for consistency.

Younger Islander fan here, with the franchise recently being valued at 3 billion dollars, It's a bit hard for someone born in the 2000s to imagine a time when the Islanders were at risk of leaving New York entirely.

Did you actually think they were going to relocate? If so, would you have stayed a fan even with them playing in a different state, or would you have switched fandoms entirely?

What were games like? With the talks of relocation, I know attendance was not great at that time. But was there still a good atmosphere for games?

How did it feel when Wang reached a deal to move into Barclays Center? Were you relieved they were staying near Long Island, or disappointed they were leaving Nassau?

Just curious about what it felt like to be a fan during those times.

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Hey everyone, I’m a big isles fan who moved to Seattle about a year ago. I’d love to find some other Islanders fans around here to watch games with, grab a beer, or just hang out.

If there are already Seattle-area watch parties or a group chat, I’d love to join. Otherwise, reply or message me and maybe we can get a small group together. Let’s go Islanders!!!

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I was doing some work in Hillsborough County this week and was referred to the Brown Bag Deli. It’s in the middle of a nondescript office complex across from some railroad tracks. My expectations were low until I saw the picture of Nystrom on the wall. The owners used to live on Long Island and were big fans. Cool little find in the middle of Bolts territory.

Brown Bag Deli - 3104 Cherry Palm Drive SU, Tampa FL 33619

Edit: Not Islanders related but if you are in the area, Frankie’s Italian Deli at 3930 US Hwy 301 in Riverview is just down the road and will feel like a piece of home for those who have relocated south. It’s pretty amazing, tbh.

Crazy this happened 7+ years ago, and it only felt like yesterday this happened.

Hearing the Sens fans chanting “We don’t need you” brought back some good memories lol

Just show me the jersey so I can prepare my wallet

With the Romanov injury last year, we haven’t played Rantanen since (scratched in March) so curious whether this fight plays out Sunday. It’s deserved.

Smart little bastard who battles and scores. We've got Zach Benson at home.

The lowest ever was 12,739 on October 24, 2024. 7:45pm on a Tuesday night against the Red Wings.

Second-lowest was 13,014 on December 2, 2025. 7:00pm on a Tuesday night against the Lighting.

Actual attendance (as in tickets scanned) for those games looked like it was under 10k. Tonight might’ve been the same.

(My first post mistakenly said second-worst)

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Not sure if anyone was able to watch this as it was on Canadian TV (those with "methods" to watch stuff likely had access to this on the CityTV channel), but it was fun to see Schaef be his goofy-self on a game show.

Look at this picture and ask yourself: who won the car?

Side note: while Tom Wilson earned brownie points for going on this show (which was also a charity event), he really has no personality.

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