Throughout the year, the Sip Advisor will alphabetically travel the National Hockey League (NHL), discovering the best and worst each team has to offer in a variety of subjects. We will also feature a drink based off the franchise. Today, we head to the island, Long Island to be exact, to get reeled in by the New York Islanders:

Establishment Story: The Islanders joined the NHL as an expansion team in 1972, originally conceived as a way to keep the rival World Hockey Association from putting a team in the new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The name New York Islanders was chosen, although Long Island Ducks was considered, in homage to the Eastern Hockey League team that operated from 1959 to 1973.

Stanley Cups: All of the Islanders Stanley Cup championships came during their early 80s dynasty era, when the team won four straight from 1980 to 1983. New York also made the Stanley Cup Finals in 1984, where they were finally dethroned by the Edmonton Oilers, who were embarking on a dynasty run of their own. Over their dynasty span, the Islanders won 19 straight playoff series.

Celebrity Fan: Ralph Macchio, best known for his starring role in The Karate Kid trilogy, is a long-time fan of the Islanders. At the height of his fame, Macchio was featured on a pair of hockey cards, donning Islanders jerseys. In 2016, the team released a Ralph Macchio bobblehead, with the figure in full Islanders hockey gear, striking the crane kick pose from The Karate Kid.

Super Fan: Patrick ‘Sign Guy’ Dowd’s Islanders fandom is a family affair. The idea of using signs to convey his thoughts while attending games was first suggested by his daughter. Dowd’s first sign, coming out of the 1994-95 NHL lockout, said “I’ll Play For Free”. Dowd has been a fan since the team’s inception, attending the first game in franchise history. His mantra with the club is ‘always believe’ and he keeps his signs positive, with the occasional jab at the opposing team.

Mascot: Sparky the Dragon was the mascot for two teams, the Islanders and the New York Dragons Arena Football League (AFL) club. Sparky was left with only the Islanders gig when the AFL disbanded. A former mascot, Nyisles, was introduced in the mid 1990s, but only lasted a couple seasons before disappearing, caused by Carlton the Bear, mascot for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tradition: While this section is typically reserved for fan rituals, it should be noted that the famous hockey playoff beard, where players grow facial hair for the duration of their team’s post-season run, was created and popularized by the Islanders, particularly the dynasty teams of the early 1980s. Al Arbour, the Islanders coach for those dynasty years, was part of another long-running tradition, where a rookie or newcomer to the team had to throw a pie in Arbour’s face to celebrate his birthday each year.

Appearances in Media: The TV series Entourage is about a young Hollywood star and his friends from New York. One of those friends, Eric Murphy (played by real life Islanders fan Kevin Connolly) can often be seen wearing Islanders t-shirts throughout the series. Connolly was also tapped to narrate the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Big Shot, about the attempted purchase of the Islanders by bankrupt businessman John Spano.

Events/Scandals: For years, former Islanders owner Charles Wang tried to get his Lighthouse Project off the ground, which would have included a new arena for the team, replacing Nassau Coliseum. On August 1, 2011, voters rejected the plans and the Islanders were moved to Brooklyn, beginning play at the Barclays Center for the 2015-16 season. A number of issues forced the team to split their games between Barclays and Nassau. The team finally got their new permanent home, USB Arena, in 2021.

Rivalry: The Islanders main rival is, of course, the New York Rangers, dubbed the Battle of New York. The two clubs met in the playoffs four years in a row during the Islanders dynasty run, but haven’t had a post-season clash since 1994. Another loathed opponent is the Washington Capitals, as the teams battled in the playoffs for five straight seasons in the mid 1980s.

Tragedy: Brian Mullen played the 1992-93 season with the Islanders. That off-season, he suffered a stroke, due to a blood clot in his brain. Open heart surgery was required and Mullen hoped to return to professional hockey, but a seizure in 1994 forced him to officially retire. Mullen recorded 260 goals and 622 points over an 832-game career. Also, 2003 draft pick Stefan Blaho was killed in a 2006 car crash in Slovakia. He was only 21 years old.

Player Nicknames: Goalie Billy Smith was nicknamed ‘Hatchet Man’ for his blatant use of his stick to hack at opposing players who entered his crease. Smith was an original Islander, selected in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft and was the last remaining member of that squad when he retired in 1989. Smith was also the first goaltender to be credited with a NHL goal, when the Colorado Rockies scored an own goal after the puck hit Smith during a November 1979 contest.

Line: Having one of the greatest lines in NHL history certainly helped the Islanders became a dynastic team in the early 1980s. The Trio Grande unit was comprised of Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies and Bryan Trottier. Previously, Gillies and Trottier had played with Billy Harris on the LILCO Line, but Bossy was subbed in during his rookie season training camp. All three members of the line were later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Captain: Denis Potvin led the Islanders through their four straight Stanley Cup championships. He was named captain of the team in 1979 and kept the mantle until surrendering it in 1987. Potvin spent his entire career with New York and is one of only two players to reach 1,000 games with the franchise. He also holds team records for goals, assists and points by a defenseman by comfortable margins.

Enforcer: Over 10 seasons with the Islanders, Mick Vukota amassed 1,879 penalty minutes and 160 fighting majors, both franchise records. Vukota was never known for his goal scoring prowess, finishing with only 17 career tallies, but he did record a hat trick on October 20, 1989. On the flip side, Clark Gillies, nicknamed Jethro for his resemblance to The Beverly Hillbillies character, had numerous 30-goal seasons and never racked up the penalty minutes, but was a feared fighter during New York’s dynasty years.

Family Values: Brothers Jean and Denis Potvin played together for the Islanders from 1973 to 1978 and again from 1980 to 1981, winning the Stanley Cup together in 1981. Fellow brothers Duane and Brent Sutter also shared Stanley Cup victories with New York in 1982 and 1983, playing together until 1987. Father and son J.P. and Zach Parise both played stints with the Islanders later in their respective careers.

Returning Players: Zdeno Chara started and ended his career with the Islanders. The tallest NHL player ever was drafted by New York 56^th overall in 1996. Chara was traded away in 2001 and enjoyed many seasons with the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals, before finally returning for his final campaign in 2021-22. In that last season, Chara set a new NHL record for games played by a defenseman with 1,680.

Short Stint: When Roberto Luongo was drafted fourth overall (the earliest a goalie had ever been drafted) by the Islanders in 1997, he seemed to be their netminder of the future. GM ‘Mad Mike’ Milbury had other ideas, however, using the team’s first overall selection in 2000 to pick another goalie, Rick DiPietro. The same day, Luongo was traded to the Florida Panthers after only 24 games with New York. By 2013, DiPietro was out of the NHL, while Luongo was building a Hockey Hall of Fame resume.

Undrafted: Randy Wood was signed by the Islanders in 1986, becoming a full-time member of the team for the 1987-88 season. Wood would remain with the team until 1991, when he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres as part of the Pat LaFontaine-Pierre Turgeon deal. After stints with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars, Wood closed his career with a final season in New York, finishing with career numbers of 741 games played, 175 goals, 159 assists and 334 points.

Trade: The Islanders acquisition of Butch Goring late in the 1980 season is viewed as one of the greatest trade deadline deals of all-time. Goring joined an already strong team and was viewed as the “final piece of the puzzle”, as the Islanders began their four-year dynasty run. For the second of those four Stanley Cup championships, Goring was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP.

Signing: Among the best signings the Islanders ever made was bringing in winger Matt Moulson on a one-year, $575,000 deal in 2009. Moulson had immediate chemistry with 2009 first overall draft pick John Tavares, scoring 30 goals. On the other end of the spectrum, New York’s seven-year, $38.5 million contract to Andrew Ladd was one of the many awful deals signed in 2016 free agency. Ladd’s diminishing returns eventually saw him traded to the Arizona Coyotes in a salary cap dump.

Draft Pick: The Islanders drafts of the mid 1970s yielded many of the stars that would be integral to the team’s dynasty success in the early 1980s. Denis Potvin was selected first overall in 1973, followed the next year by Clark Gillies at fourth overall and Bryan Trottier at 22^nd overall. In 1977, the Islanders landed another key cog, when they picked Mike Bossy with the 15^th overall choice.

Holdouts: Two skilled stars have staged holdouts with the Islanders, resulting in one being traded away, while the other was brought back into the fold. First, Pat LaFontaine had grown frustrated with the team in 1990 and sat out the start of the regular season until he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Three decades later, Mathew Barzal missed much of training camp before signing a three-year, $21 million deal.

Buyouts: Two Islanders buyouts resulted in payouts to those players lasting many years. First, Alexei Yashin’s 10-year contract, signed in 2001, was bought out in 2007, leading to payments of $2.2 million per year for eight years. Next, goalie Rick DiPietro’s ill-advised 15-year contract was terminated after seven seasons, meaning he will be paid out $1.5 million per year through the 2027-28 season.

Unique Game: The Islanders don’t get the love and attention as their fellow New York NHL team when it comes to high-profile league events. They did play a 2014 Stadium Series game versus the Rangers and a rematch will occur as part of the 2024 Stadium Series. The Islanders also participated in a number of the NHL’s Super Series tours, playing exhibition matches against teams from Russia and Czechia.

Goal: There have been some very memorable goals in Islanders history. First, Bob Nystrom’s 1980 Stanley Cup Finals overtime game winner gave New York their first of four consecutive championships. Next, during the 1980-81 season, Mike Bossy became only the second player to score 50 goals in 50 games, notching a pair of markers in the 50^th contest of the year. Finally, there’s Pat Lafontaine’s tally in the fourth overtime period to finally end the 1987 Easter Epic playoff game against the Washington Capitals.

Fight/Brawl: When the Islanders met the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 11, 2011, bad blood was in the air. In the teams’ previous game, multiple incidents had resulted in injuries to Islanders players. On this penalty-filled night, two line brawls broke out and a total of 346 penalty minutes were assessed. The game also got out of hand on the scoreboard, as New York eventually won 9-3.

Injury: Islanders players have suffered a number of career-ending injuries over the years. Most notable was the back injury that forced Mike Bossy to retire at only 30 years old. Two players, Bobby Nystrom and Johnny Boychuk, were forced from the game prematurely due to eye injuries. It should also be noted the first of many concussions suffered by Pat LaFontaine occurred during the 1990 playoffs and eventually led to his early retirement.

Penalty: A pair of Chris Simon actions in subsequent seasons resulted in lengthy suspensions. First, on March 8, 2007, Simon hit New York Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg in the face with his stick, resulting in a 25-game suspension. Months later, on December 15, 2007, Simon stomped on the back of Pittsburgh Penguins agitator Jarkko Ruutu’s leg, earning another 30 games of suspension time.

Wildest Story: Typically, players don’t jump straight from the ice into high-ranking front office roles, but that’s what happened in 2006, when Islanders goalie Garth Snow retired and instantly became the team’s general manager. Snow replaced Neil Smith, who had only been in the role for 41 days, but grew tired of the reporting structure under owner Charles Wang. Despite criticism, Snow was named ESPN’s NHL Executive of the Year, following his first season in charge.

Blooper: Sometimes, bloopers don’t occur on the ice, but in the front office. Somehow, someone within the Islanders organization approved plans to adopt the ‘fisherman’ logo for the 1995-96 season, viewed almost unanimously as the worst logo in NHL history. Looking like the iconic Gorton’s fisherman, New York Rangers fans were known to chant “We want fishsticks” when the Islanders were in town. The logo was reverted back to the classic look for the 1997-98 campaign.

Miscellaneous: On November 3, 2007, at the request of Islanders coach Ted Nolan, legendary bench boss Al Arbour was brought back to record his 1,500^th game with the team. He is the only coach in NHL history to hit that mark with the same franchise. Arbour was with New York from 1973 until 1986, coaching the team to their four Stanley Cup championships along the way. After a brief retirement, Arbour returned from 1988 to 1994.

New York Islanders: New York Lemonade

• Rim glass with Sugar
• 2 oz Vodka
• 1 oz Orange Liqueur
• Top with Club Soda
• Splash of Lemon Juice
• Garnish with a Lemon Slice

To celebrate their 50^th season in the NHL in 2022-23, the Islanders served a lemonade cocktail at UBS Arena. I’m not sure what the actual recipes was, but it inspired me to go with this drink. Full disclosure, I did briefly consider garnishing it with fish sticks!