|
Website: https://www.nhl.com/islanders |
MAJOR HONORS
|
|
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NEWYORKISLANDERS (292k followers)
|
Stanley Cups: 4 |
|
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/nyislanders (523k followers) |
Conference Champions: 6 |
|
Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ny_islanders (308k followers) |
Division Titles: 6 |
|
Date Founded: 1972
|
Hall Of Famers: 8 |
Going into the 2018-19 NHL season, most prognosticators were picking the Islanders to do poorly at best. (See the title of the Deadspin season preview entitled, “A 2018-19 Season Preview of Every Team, From Best To Islanders.”) But, lo and behold, the Islanders weren’t just good, they ended up finishing 2nd in the division, and 4th in the Eastern Conference, sweeping the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs before getting swept by the unstoppable force that was the playoff Carolina Hurricanes.
Was last year a fluke? Or did “experts” just miss out on what is a legitimate playoff contender? This offseason the Islanders stood pat, choosing to re-sign team captain Anders Lee rather than break the bank with another free agent, and they did a fairly even switch at in goal, letting Robin Lehner sign with the Blackhawks, then signing Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov to replace him. Most of the rest of last year’s pieces remain in place. Is that enough?
Currently, oddsmakers don’t think so, placing them 22nd amongst all NHL teams to win the Stanley Cup at +3500, and at +2000 to win the Eastern Conference.
The 888sport blog provides you with all the latest Islanders betting odds. Check out all of our latest FREE Islanders betting information you need from our expert team of writers. Looking for the best odds and Islanders betting markets? We have it all here.
The 2019-20 New York Islanders will look pretty much the same as last year’s team, which is a good thing, right? With last year’s new defensively-minded scheme put in place by new coach Barry Trotz, the Isles went from giving up the most goals in 2017-2108 to giving up the fewest this past season.
While that stat was impressive, the lack of goals being scored left many hoping that they would sign someone with a proven history of scoring, but unfortunately, main target Artemi Panarin signed with the worst possible option, the cross-borough Rangers. That left the Islanders in the awkward position of re-signing Anders lee with the story of “No, we wanted you back the whole time!”
The rest of the team is young (Matthew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier are 22, Ryan Pulock is 24) and the team seems to have bought into Coach Trotz’s philosophy, so there’s a bright future for the Isles.
Unlike the Rangers, the Islanders have had a string of fairly low-profile owners, the current set being John Ledecky (uncle of swimming great Katie Ledecky) and Scott Malkin. The two had served as minority owners under previous owner Charles Wang (who had owned the team since 2000) but took full control at the beginning of the 2016 season.
New York Rangers: Two words: “Potvin Sucks!” One of the most unique hockey traditions ever stems from the dislike between these two teams that started way back in February, 1979, when Islanders defenseman Dennis Potvin checked Ulf Nillson and broke his ankle. Since then, every game, whether the Islanders are their opponent or not, Rangers fans chant “Potvin Sucks!” as soon as the playing of “Let’s Go Band!” is played, whistled, or even hummed.
The Rangers and Isles harbor two distinctly different fanbases as well, with the Isles playing the part of neglected step sibling. NYC vs Long Island. Madison Square Garden vs Nassau Coliseum. You get it. So even though neither team has had recent success, the meetings between these two have been, and always will be, heated.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Three encounters encompass this rivalry:
Washington Capitals: The Caps and Islanders have played the part of each other’s playoff nemesis throughout their franchises’ histories. Between 1983 and 1987, they met every year in the playoffs, with the Islanders winning each time save for 1986, and then came Epic Easter.
On the night before Easter Sunday, the Islanders, having come back from being down 3-1, found themselves in a Game 7 showdown in DC. After three overtimes, and 6 hours and 18 minutes, at 1:58 am, Pat LaFontaine scored in the 4th OT to win it for the Islanders. In 1993, the two teams met again, and once again, the Islanders won the series, but a brutal check on Pierre Turgeon by Washington’s Dale Hunter knocked him out of the rest of the playoffs and doomed the Isle’s fate. Hunter was subsequently suspended by the NHL for the first 21 games of the next season.
Unlike their New York counterparts, the Rangers, who top Forbes list of most valuable NHL franchisesat 1.5 billion (thank you Madison Square Garden!) the Islanders are below the league average of $630 million with a $440 million valuation. The years of disappointing seasons, combined with the ill-fated move to Brooklyn all had something to do with this, but things are looking up.
A new arena, an improving team will most likely boost revenue, and the Isles can feel a little less inferior to the Rangers money-wise.
Salary-wise, the Islanders didn’t make a huge splash in free agency this summer, but they did lock up their captain Anders Lee for a somewhat reasonable 7 years at a $7 average per year. Right behind him at $6 million a year are Johnny Boychuk and Brock Nelson.
The name may say New York, but let’s face facts: The Islanders are Long Island through and through. And not to get too specific, but they seem to be pretty Nassau Coliseum as well. What do we mean by that? Well, even when they were at their peak, winning a remarkable 4 straight Stanley Cups, they weren’t getting the respect they should have. Maybe it’s because they were playing at the start of Wayne Gretzky’s rise to stardom, maybe it’s because the NHL wasn’t as popular at the time, but maybe it was also because these were a bunch of hardworking guys playing in a non-descript arena miles from the closest city.
Islanders fans felt (and feel) that, and have embraced an us against them attitude ever since. These are blue-collar fans for a blue-collar team, overlooked and underappreciated. And after years of failures, the fans, especially the Blue and Orange Army, are happy to see the Brooklyn experiment fail, and hockey come back to the Island.
“Famous” Isles fans? While the Rangers have Tom Hanks and Robert DeNiro, the Islanders boast some very Islanders-level celebrities such as Ralph Macchio and Kevin Connolly from Entourage. .
All the Islanders want is a place to call home. And they’ll soon have it come 2021 when they open the new Belmont Park Arena in in Elmont, Long Island. Until then, the Isles will have to make due as a version of children of divorce, splitting time between their old home (The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island) and their new one (Barclays Center in Brooklyn.)
After spending the first 43 years at Nassau, the NHL and Islanders owners viewed the arena as outdated and too small, so they moved the franchise to Brooklyn and the newly opened Barclays Center. Alas, a few years into the new space, it was clear that the match wasn’t a good one, as Barclays wasn’t designed for hockey (it is home to “The worst seat in American sports”) and attendance was 3rd worst in the league.
To spread out the misery, the Islanders started splitting time between Nassau and Barclays in 2018, and will continue to do so until the new Belmont Park is opened in 2021.
Mike Bossy: One of the most gifted goal scorers the NHL has ever seen, Bossy spent his entire career with the Islanders and amassed an impressive resume:
He was unfortunate to play at the same time as Wayne Gretzky, who overshadowed Bossy’s impressive stats (and the Islanders reign) with his own gaudy numbers, but he did get the best of The Great One when the Isles beat the Oilers in 1983 to win the Cup.
Dennis Potvin: You know you’re good when an opposing team still chants “Potvin sucks” 30 years after you retired. For all the ignominy that he’s earned through a hit on Rangers Ulf Nilsson, Potvin was above all, an amazing hockey player, named one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest of All Time for his role in the Islanders dynasty.
He won the James Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman three times, and became only the second defenseman (after Bobby Orr) to score 100 points in a season during his 31 goal, 70-assist 1978-79 season.
Bryan Trottier: One of only 8 NHL players with multiple 5 goal games, “Trotts” was drafted in the 2ndround of the 1974 NHL Draft, and went on to score a rookie record 95 points in his first season, earning him the Calder Trophy.
He went on to play 15 more seasons with the Islanders, winning the Hart Memorial (MVP) and Art Ross (top scorer) trophies, as well as leading the league in assists, in 1978-79, then winning the Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) during the Isle’s first Stanley Cup season. He also scored one of the quickest goals is NHL history.
Billy Smith: The goalie for the 4 consecutive Stanley Cup winners, Smith was famous for a number of achievements.
Clark Gillies: In his 12 year Islanders career, Gillies piled up 6 30-goal seasons, finishing with 305 goals and 359 assists. But he was mostly known for being a fighter, unafraid to take on anyone on the ice, including the Bruins Terry O’Reilly, who Gillies outfought in the Boston-Isles 1980 playoff series, helping NY advance to their first Stanley Cup.
Bobby Nystrom: When you score the game-clinching goal in overtime to win your team its first Stanley Cup, you automatically become a legend. But Bobby Nystrom did more for the Islanders than just that goal. “Mr. Islander” was a fan favorite, heading out into the parking lot after games to sign autographs, and proudly being one of the last NHL players to play without a helmet until he retired in 1986.
Come on over to 888 Sport NJ and get the best odds on all New York Islanders NHL games. We don't skate on thin ice - we've got solid betting odds for hockey fans!
Article revised by Brett Chatz
Brett is an internationally published sports journalist, political analyst, and medical fiction author. His commentary is seen in The Star, The Citizen, Tampa Bay Times, The Street, The Sowetan, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Independent, and across hundreds of online and print media platforms. He is the author of ‘Cricket Chatz’ and the highly-acclaimed, ‘Serum’.
NHL Overtime Rules
Famous NJ Sports Teams
Best Boston Bruins Team
NJ Devils vs NY Rangers
NJ Devils Pet Peeves
