At 50, Islanders Must Learn to Honor Their Past Without Remaining Shackled to It

It’s a big year for the New York Islanders.

The franchise is celebrating its 50th anniversary and doing so while playing in a rink many thought would never get built. That the Isles even made it to 50 is somewhat miraculous. But here they are, alive and kicking.

It’s also a year in which all 32 NHL teams will wear the Reverse Retro 2.0 jerseys that were unveiled today. We were given some clues as to what it would look like in advance  — mainly, that it would incorporate the “fisherman” logo and dial back the teal. However, when the final design was accidentally leaked on social media last night (and confirmed to be accurate this morning), it still managed to disappoint.

The teal isn’t just kept to a minimum; it’s practically nonexistent. The “lighthouse” shoulder patches were left out completely. And, in truth, the remix doesn’t push most of the boundaries that the original version did. It’s about as safe as it gets.

The Fisherman. Remastered for the 50th Anniversary. #ReverseRetro

Get your jersey in-store starting 11/15 or preorder below starting at 12PM today via the link below.#Isles x @adidashockey

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) October 20, 2022

I think this raises an important conversation that we need to have about this team, its fans, and the way in which those two sides interact.

A lot happens over 50 years, and that has certainly been true in the New York Islanders’ case. They’ve climbed to the highest of highs and fallen into bottomless pits. And, if you’ve been a fan of the team since either its inception in 1972 or at any point before or during the dynastic 80s, the storyline has been as follows:

An expansion team grew up super quickly and proceeded to win four straight Stanley Cups, only to do a complete 180-degree turn from what they were and become a laughing stock.

I get it. That probably sucked to watch as it unfolded. Of course, the flip side of that is, you got to see them win four championships in a row, and you got to see them play in a fifth Cup Final, too. Not bad. Likely far more than my generation will ever get. And, of course, you’re nostalgic about those glory days. How could you not be? Who wouldn’t be?

As someone who still cherishes the memories that Endy Chavez and Vinny Testaverde gave me, just because they were part of teams that didn’t even make it to the championship round but came close to it, I can only imagine what it would be like to have experienced what Islander fans did between 1979 and 1983. It had to be a magical time.

The thing is, I didn’t get to experience any of that. I wasn’t born yet. And at this point, an ever-growing portion of the fan base falls under that same category. Not all of us were around for the dynasty years.

Some of us didn’t have four-consecutive Stanley Cup teams to hook us in. Some of us had to settle for Ziggy Palffy and a brand that at least tried to engage us with something unique. For others, maybe it was the year the Isles got Alexei Yashin and Michael Peca that roped them into becoming a fan. Or, maybe it was Rick DiPietro‘s athleticism in the net that drew you in. Maybe it was John Tavares‘s arrival on Long Island. You might attribute your fandom to any number of different things that have happened over the years.

For me, watching Palffy torch opposing goalies and getting my picture taken with Nyisles (Google it, if you’re unfamiliar) was more than enough. We’re all in the same boat, even if we didn’t all come aboard at the same time or for the same reasons.

And yet, the Islanders continue to be all about the dynasty years.

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I can understand having a rich attachment to that era. It is the foundation upon which the team is built. It is the brightest spot in franchise history. So it makes complete sense to honour that past and the Isles always have. But there’s a difference between honouring your past and being so attached to it that you can never truly evolve or branch out beyond it.

That might not sound like a problem to the fans who are directly connected with that past, who got to watch those teams play. But for those of us who aren’t, it leaves a void. Sure, there’s still a connection (albeit a weaker one) to that history. Learning the team’s history and being aware of what it represents is a constant, ever-present part of the Islanders experience. And I would never suggest maintaining that connection isn’t important.

But it’s also important to acknowledge the memories and nostalgia that the post-dynasty generations of Islander fans have stored on their own neural hard drives. It can’t be all about the 80s.

Unfortunately, it largely is, because there’s a very vocal segment of fans from that era that have been doing everything in their power to criticize and try to stop anything that deviates from what they have decided the Islander brand should be and what the rest of the fan base should feel. They have assumed a position of authority on what constitutes a real fan of the team, and you dare not argue with them because they watched Denis Potvin lift the Cup and you didn’t.

They are holding this franchise hostage in many ways. The fisherman Reverse Retro is just the latest manifestation of that.

This is a major problem, and though the Islanders have started taking some steps to allow other generations of fans to scratch their nostalgic itches, like selling fisherman merch in the team store, this was an opportunity to really show that they were committed to it. It’s one thing to put it on sale for a fan to buy. It’s another thing to say you’re going to make it a product that’s worn on the ice and allows people to reminisce about their earliest days as hockey fans.

The fact that the Islanders couldn’t go all the way on this is beyond disappointing — not only because it falls flat, but because it’s clearly an attempt to placate the self-appointed vanguards who oppose change of any sort because it’s not what Billy Smith wore, or whatever criteria they’ve decided the team and its fans must abide by.

Look at what the Lightning and Coyotes did with their Reverse Retros. They embraced the craziness of the sweaters they’re based on. They weren’t afraid to go all in. Now, look at what the Islanders cooked up. It doesn’t go all the way. It throws a nod here, a nod there, and then basically says: “We had to give them something, but we tried to mute it as much as possible. Please approve, oh masters of our universe.”

At that point, you’re not honouring the past. You’re completely tied down to it. It’s a slap in the face to many who became fans in the years following the golden age. The New York Islanders need to decide whether they want to continue down that same path or whether they’re willing to finally evolve beyond it. Because I promise you right now that there’s a fan out there who feels that Claude LaPointe was just as important to him or her as Bryan Trottier might’ve been to Paul from Levittown in 1982.

Why not bring Palffy in for a game and have some sort of festivities surrounding that? How about a 2000s night with Jason Blake and Rick DiPietro (and whoever else wants to partake)? Show that you’re about more than just the 1980s and one playoff game against the Leafs in 2002. Acknowledge that, for all of the things that may have gone wrong in the 90s and 00s, there were still things that people who became fans in those years cherished.

Throwing a bone every now and then doesn’t count. And as far as I’m concerned, this half-baked Reverse Retro is just another bone; one that’s been broken in half simply because it needed to be in order to appease a vocal group of fans that thinks it makes the rules.

I remember the Islanders’ 25th anniversary. It was right around when I first started really getting into hockey and the team. It was heavily focused on the dynasty years. That made sense. Only a decade and change had passed since that fourth Cup. But at 50, it’s time to start recognizing the fans and their memories of the past 25 years, too.

Subject to the monarchy’s approval, of course.

Follow Daniel Friedman on Twitter @DanJFriedman