Blame The Gorton's Fisherman

The Islanders brought back the "Fisherman" logo for their Tuesday night match-up against the Florida Panthers at the Nassau Coliseum.  Before the 1995–96 season, the Islanders attempted to update their look by unveiling a logo depicting a fisherman holding a hockey stick.  Seemed harmless enough.  However, the logo was a marketing disaster and was not received well by the fan base.  Management buckled under the pressure and announced it would revert to the original logo as soon as league rules allowed them to do so. 

Many found that the logo bore a strong resemblance to the Gorton's Fisherman which quickly became fodder for the New York Rangers fans who made fun of the Islanders with chants of "We Want Fishsticks" long after the logo was discarded.  The Islanders soon went back to their classic logo almost as quickly as Coca Cola switched back to Classic Coke after New Coke (which coincidentally was discontinued in the mid 1990s as well).  Personally, I have always thought that the Fisherman had more of a stronger resemblance to Stan Fischler (Islanders scribe of over 35 years) than the Gorton's Fisherman.  The reason for the resurgence?  Prior to the Panthers game the Islanders skated in warm-ups using the ole Fisherman logo, because the sweaters were to be auctioned off to the fans after the game.

Back in the 1990s I was in Toronto with Kellie to see the Islanders play the Maple Leafs in the old Maple Leaf Gardens.  After the game we went back to the Marriott and were sitting in the bar when the entire Islanders team came in.  Apparently, they were staying in the same hotel.  At one table was some big rookie named Zdeno Chara (wonder if he ever amounted to anything) and at another was the Islanders captain Trevor Linden.  Kellie was a Trevor Linden fan at the time so we went over and talked to him for quite some time.  He was cordial, but he had one eye on the television in the bar which had the Vancouver Canucks game on.  Linden was a formed Canuck and was following the action closely.  You could tell he wished that he was still in Vancouver.

At one point I went out to the lobby and could not believe what I saw.  One of my favorite Islanders of all time was checking into the hotel, Ziggy Palffy.  I was wearing his jersey and ripped it off my back and handed it to him to get his autograph.  He quickly signed it and went on his way.  I don't think he said two words to me.  It did not matter because I got his autograph.  The only negative about the whole experience was that the jersey he signed was one with the Fisherman logo. At the time I did not think anything of it, but it sure would have been nice to have had an Islanders sweater with the classic logo.  Oh well...I wonder what I could get for it on eBay?

The Islanders went with Jaroslav Halak tonight against former Islander Al Montoya who was playing instead of another ex-Islander Roberto Luongo.  In a way that was a break for the Islanders.  The only concern was that Montoya might play above his head as retribution for the team cutting ties with him a few years back.  As far as the forwards went it was the same 18 skaters with the lone change being Anders Lee moving up to the top line to play with John Tavares and Josh Bailey; Mikhail Grabovski moved down to the second line to play with Frans Nielsen and Nikolay Kulemin.

The Panthers were coming off a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Monday night and we're facing their third game in four nights coming into this one.  The game got off to a fast start. It took slightly less than two minutes for the Islanders to get on the board first. Tavares brought the puck across the blue line and found Josh Bailey on the left side of the net.  The play was very close to being off sides. Bailey quickly found a wide open Anders Lee who fired the puck in the net before Montoya could even react.  It was Lee's 14th goal of the year. That top line of Bailey-Lee-Tavares (BLT line?) looked very good in the first period.  

However, the Panthers would quickly tie the game at one goal apiece on a fluke goal.  A harmless pass in front Halak was deflected into the net by the stick of Lubomir Visnovsky past Halak who never had a chance.  The goal was credited to Jimmy Hayes.  After evening the score, the Panthers picked up the pace and had a number of really good chances, but Halak was extremely sharp and kept them from taking the lead.  It took almost ten minutes for the Islanders defense to settle down and regain control of the play.  The Islanders ended the period with a power play that carried over to the second period.  Each team had a dozen shots for the period.

At the beginning of the second the Islanders could not convert the bifurcated power-play.  They had a few good chances five on five and put some pressure on Montoya.  The Panthers couldn't get any offense going as the Islanders dug in defensively.  Then at about the ten minute mark a harmless play gave the Panthers the 2–1 lead.  Erik Gudbranson came across the blue line with Casey Czikas defending, but Gudbranson wedged his way towards Halak and backhanded one into the net.  It's not often I have said this, however, Halak should have had it. The goal seemed very "Johnsonesque."

A "too many men on the ice penalty" gave the Islanders another power-play chance. They were able to convert it this time as Anders Lee tipped home a slapper from Travis Hamonic to tie the game at 2–2. It was Lee's second goal of the game and 15th goal of the year.  Nick Leddy got the second helper on the power play goal.  Before the period ended, John Tavares took an elbow in the face from Bolland and then tried to retaliate but got caught by the referees for slashing. Fortunately, the Islanders kept the Panthers off the board as period ended.  The Islanders out shot the Panthers in the second 14-9.

The Islanders killed off their own bifurcated power play to start the third.  But two minutes later after a big save from Halak, the Panthers earned a power play as Cal Clutterbuck went to the box for high sticking.  Seconds later Jimmy Hayes scored on rebound off a face-off for a 3-2 lead.  That seemed to take the wind out of the Islanders sails as they could not muster any offensive attack for the rest of the period.  They got a late power play chance when the Panthers committed a face-off violation but could not convert when it counted.  The Islanders pulled Halak but that ended up in an empty let goal and a really bad 4-2 loss.

There is no way to sugarcoat this one.  This was a very bad loss.  Florida was ending a road trip with their third game in four nights, they were coming in off of a bad loss to the Rangers, and they had their backup goalie between the pipes.  The Panthers did not seem to be tired at all and really took it to the Islanders in the third period.  The top line for the Islanders played well, but they got absolutely nothing from the other three lines.  The penalty kill unit cost them another one.  It was a shame to play so bad in front of the home crowd at the Coliseum.

The Islanders remain at 65 points but are hanging onto first place by a thread.  A number of teams are hot on their heels.  They start a three game road trip on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers and then have a back to back against the Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres.  It will not be easy, but maybe going on the road will enable to recapture their momentum.  The Islanders played terrible.  Some will blame the Gorton's Fisherman for this one.  Hmmmm, maybe it is time to sell my Ziggy Palffy jersey.