The John Spano saga was covered well in an ESPN "30 for 30" called "Big Shot." It's outstanding.

Any excuse to wear that fisherman jersey, what a classic!

Really loved Ziggy Palffy as a player.

Gosh this takes me back.... The "twilight years". Tough watching my favorite team during this time. (I'm one of the few who actually like the fisherman jerseys.) Although I will say I loved most of the players from those teams. I always said that Milbury could have made an NHL Allstar team with all the young talent he traded away and I'm not even exaggerating. Just look up the names he dealt away... It hurts just thinking about it. I know it wasn't all Milbury's fault, he really had no cap money or anything to work with. The franchise was in complete disarray when that ownership deal fell through and just so many issues it had.

This Islanders team lost to every team they played at least once except for one: The Blues. That they outscored 11-3. That had Brett Hull and Wayne Gretzky.

Fisherman is all time, better than any third jersey they’ve released

Schneider will make for a fantastic career retrospective video. Great idea. He was such an underrated player. And by far my favorite Islander when he was here.

I was at the Kings/Islanders game at the Forum early that season. It was Larry Robinson's first year as Kings coach, Kings won 9-2 and the next day at work I said, "Kings might be pretty good this year." Somebody said to me, "That was the Islanders."

Muller forced himself out of Long Island. He completely refused to play because he wanted nothing to do with the franchise. Hate that guy.

I have a Lindros fisherman jersey-the gem of my collection for sure!

I liked that Islanders fisherman jersey, especially loved that logo. I got that as college shirt from my USA relative, didn't dare to say her that Islanders were quite terrible team on that time. 😄

Personally, I love the Gorton's fisherman jerseys. Hope they do bring them back as a third.

As a lifelong Isles fan, the fisherman jersey is the most divisive logo design ever...as much as many love it was never a fan, it represents a best forgotten and maligned era of the franchise. Plus, it's still ugly. Thx for the vid as always HG

The popularity of the fisherman proves that none of us have any taste. I personally have the much maligned orange Islanders Jersey whilst my (far more knowledgeable and fashion aware) partner proudly sports a Canucks marigold flying V. I also have the infamous Pooh bear Bruins shirt. I think I might be colour blind! 😋

I was 5 years old at the time and my dad was a lobster fisherman. I LOVED these jerseys and likely would have stayed a fan (impressionable kid) but was absolutely gutted when they got rid of them the next year. Will always have a soft spot for those though!

Shannon your humour is so underrated lol, I was dying at all the Mike Millbury jokes

This video is gold. I became an Islanders fan in '95 (it built character and made me immune from anyone every calling me a bandwagon fan, as I stuck with the team). What an insane 10+ years. That said, I have an original Fisherman jersey ;). I think it looks cool... always did.

I was 19. Me and my friends went to a ton of games during these times. We deserve a cup on merit.

Few remember that Mike Milbury was Boston College’s head coach for about nine weeks in the spring of 1994. But he never coached a game and left in early June to take over the Islanders. This opened the door for Jerry York to become BC’s head coach and he went on to set the NCAA wins record and earn induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame - a very rare distinction for a college coach, not to mention one who was still coaching at the time he went into the Hall.

I was a 12 year old growing up in LI in 96. Loved the fisherman at the time and still do. All of my friends were rangers fans and I probably hated the rangers more than I like the islanders. Also due to the islanders broadcaster on sports channel which I didn’t have. Happy to have made ECF twice in 3 years. And confident they will turn around this year. LGI

I know your views on the fisherman jersey but I love it. I have a couple islanders pucks with that logo and it really stands out. What a gem

Yes the Islanders jersey is what made me love the Islanders that year, honestly jerseys these days are absolute crap they just have team names on them big deal not even worth your money a jersey like that however I mean it says some thing it almost tells a story I love jerseys like that and they should go back to it

Nice work as always THG!

Actually the late 90's were far worse in my opinion. By then they had traded so many young assets and had their worst owners(which is saying a lot).

This a great series.. keep on doing this!

Thank you Shannon.. You always seem to make me chuckle

This was still during the era where the Leafs won the 1st round of the playoffs. That was a really long time ago

Oh what sad memories you bring up... The Gorten's Fisherman jersey, the embarressment against the Rangers... once Torrey left, it was all downhill from there... It was a horrendous 10 years. It was a long drag back but it has been painful at times.

WHYYYYYYYYY You've brought back so much of my pain!

Hey, I have a suggestion for that series, the Gretzky's Coyotes seem to be the perfect fit for such theme. And that 48-point season in 06/07 by the Flyers too.

Oh wow! Ouch! Dark times during that " Mike M. " era including them 1 yr. Jerseys. Really interesting finding out stuff that did not know about the isles. Had to really be a warrior during that stretch. Kind of reminds me of this present Vegas a little though obviously not as bad(yet?). Absolutely love the video! (It's an overtime win in my book). So very sad to hear how it happened but hopefully they learned their hard lesson. What a "beaut" of a video! 👍

It's ironic that the Fisherman jersey came out right about the time the excessive nitrates coming from the south-sewer plant had finished off the fishing industry on LI.

Giving up 6+ goals 16 times is pretty impressive, given that this was during the dead puck era when you couldn't buy a goal. You had to practically pull out a red carpet from centre ice to the goal and have the goalie stand aside for that to work.

Man I remember that Islanders/Thrashers game when the Quebec fans took over and starting chanting “we want New York” followed by “we want thrashers”. Trippy stuff considering one of the teams actually did end up relocating.

The shirts were amazing. Ziggy Palffy, Kirk Muller, Bryan McCabe. Thought Brett Lindros was going to be amazing.

As a islanders fan that season really upset me big time, BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG TIME upset for me, as I’m a islanders fan buddy,

Love the content, informative and entertaining as always. The camera's automatic lighting adjustments were quite distracting. Most noticeable when THG's arm covers a good part of the board. I only mention this because I care. Anywho... LGRW!!!

This is my first time seeing that fisherman jersey and I absolutely love it. I'm not sure why they decided to scrap it in favor of the current logo. I hope that they bring it back for their reverse retro.

The year the Blues almost moved might not have been the worst season, but It's such an interesting story that it could use a video like this.

The John Spano story is worth a good read. One of the craziest sports stories that could never happen again, what's that? Boots DelBiaggio you want a hockey team in the 2000s? Always trust someone named Boots!

I was waiting for this video for sometime

I really became an Islanders fan during this era. I was just a kid then, but despite how terrible it all was, in the crucible of these seasons, I found a love for this team. I do like the fisherman jersey and look forward to it as a reverse retro. One other thing I will say is overall they had a good roster there in 1996. They would eventually draft some good players like Luongo and Chara. If they would’ve stayed the course with some of these players. I am sure they would have done better quicker, BUT Mike Milbury.

I like the character on the jersey. Looks like a hero from Kick-Ass, Mystery Men, The Tick or even The Boys.

A video that’s about the Mike Millbury GMed Islanders ?!!! “Grabs popcorn”

Love the Fisherman, it's a beauty

Is that my man Andre trefilov in the picture!

Nice job n this video sir 👏. It’s Funny as a teenager I remember loving the jerseys when they first came out. I remember even stacking the isles on EA sports NHL hockey and giving them a great season because of it. Even though I was still pissed at them for ending the Penguins shot at a dynasty.

Special add to this piece - I was an intern with the Islanders that season. When we went to play the Rangers at MSG, they would yell "we want fish sticks". Kirk did not want to play on LI and made it known. IIRC, he held out.

Honestly I like the fisherman jersey with the OG logo on it the most they had the year after. I think that was the Chara rookie year.

When Shannon covers the John Spano story I hope he doesn't forget to mention that Spano first tried to purchase the Dallas Stars before setting his sights on the Islanders. I think what blew up the Stars sale was i believe something to do with Roger Staubach. I might be wrong there, it was all covered on ESPN 30 for 30 film "Big Shot" but i look forward to Shannon's breakdown of what might be the greatest con artist in sports history.

Another edition of roasting the islanders by yours truly the hockey guy.

8$ for a student discount ticket in those days. By the end of the game I’m in the front row. Nobody was there. Best years of my life.

It would be a fun to do a video on current NHL coaches that were previously players and a quick breakdown of their career

I remember a friend made a logo for the Kansas City Drylanders.

It was incredibly hard to be an Islanders fan from 94-2001. There was a lot of momentum after the '93 playoffs, and even during the 93-94 regular season we had some good runs and played that Rangers team very tough and won some big games. It really was that 94 playoff where the wheels just completely fell off and things didn't recover. Ranger fans were obviously whooping it up that year. The interesting thing is that it's not like that Rangers team really was anything special. They missed the playoffs in 93 and they barely made it into the playoffs in 95 as the 8th seed. One Cinderella year by them where they smoked us in the first round and it knocked us out for the next 7 years straight. 96 wasn't just a bad year, it was the worst year in a long string of frustration for this Islanders fan.

Met with a member of the Long Island ownership group before they changed the jerseys. I said, are you crazy?? I also remember when he told me Glen Healy was a backup goalie after the '93 run. Ron Hextall was their answer???? Would have been nice if they found out if Kirk Muller was interested in going to the Islanders before trading for a guy reluctant to report with a bad attitude. .317 points percentage got them Rick "Bust(ed face) DiPietro. Mismanagement from top to bottom leading to 2 lost decades. However, how would they love a guy with Palffy's numbers today?

Saw a live hockey game that season

Put Stan Fischler on the jersey was a bold choice.

Only issues they didnt have was those sick fisherman jerseys that they should bring back

Milbury is still reviled on The Island. His reign of error set The Isles back years.

As I remember being told. Charles Wang owned the team. He demanded the DiPietro 15 year deal get done. Neil Smith quit over that. Garth Snow took over as a guy who would do whatever Wang wanted including the DiPietro contract.

Mike Milbury has to hold a record for trading away the most all stars and/or picks that became all stars.

Those jerseys were absolutely ridiculous. The 90s were full of terrible fashion choices by some NHL teams. The St. Louis Blues come to mind as well.

That jersey was the inspiration to movie I know what you did last summer.

Islanders got a first round pick in the Clark trade. That pick was used to draft Roberto Luongo.

I remember that John Spano incident. THG makes a good point that Bill Torrey built a dynasty, or at least he hired the right people to build said dynasty, what a joke Spano was but kudos to him for exposing how greedy the NHL was at that time (and still is, lol).

I always felt that the blame was squarely on Don Maloney! On account of he broke up the '93 team that got to Eastern Conference Finals by beating Pittsburgh in the OT of game 7. Plus I've always had a strong belief that he was a mole planted by the Rangers,since he was a former player and then executive for the Rangers to destroy the Islanders from within!

Me: I wish Shannon did more Isles videos Shannon: Oh yea?

Love the fisherman jersey, they dont make fun ones like it anymore...thank god we still have the kachina

They drafted Zdeno Chara in 1996, so I guess you could argue that there are some silver linings... The "fishstick" jersey actually seems like a fun jersey tbh. Just came out at the wrong time

It will be the fisherman jersey with either the Lighthouse logo or the current logo. You'll never see Gorton's Fishsticks again, I promise you.

Could you do a video on that 2000-01 Islanders team?

agreed palffy was a stud! I always traded for him in all my nhl teams.

Living in and being from Colorado, you often forget there was other teams beside Detroit, Chicago, and Vancouver in the 95-96 season. Ha Edit: Still a dope jersey and I do hope NY brings back fisherman

Bob Murray was both GM and interim coach for the Ducks a few years ago

I watched your John Spano video then I watched the 30 for 30 video on him ...I believe Milburys version that he told Spano he couldn't do both ...Spano was a high finance con man

That 94 Rangers-Islanders was very lopsided. 6-0 Rangers, 6-0 Rangers, 5-1 Rangers, 5-2 Rangers. A total of 19 more goals for Rangers than Islanders. However, the Islanders did lead in Game 4. Another lopsided series was Detroit and San Jose in 1995, which I think was almost as equally lopsided. 6-0 Detroit, 6-2 Detroit, 6-2 Detroit and 6-2 Detroit, 18 more goals by Detroit. However, San Jose never had a lead in the series.

Once you've seen 4 in a row anything but another Cup is a failure. But some of it is still good to watch. Not so much in the 21 - 22 disaster.

One of the best jerseys

If it wasn't for Wong and the (failed) proposal of the Lighthouse Project the team definitely would have moved. Wong was a visionary as for the "mini city" implementation that many of the new arenas/stadiums have around them. It was one of the few times the tax paying citizens had major influence over the local government

Please do the 05-06 Blues next

But still nice video, thanks for it buds

Nothing good came out of the Millbury era.

A couple of comments. My fellow Islander buddies and I were instrumental in forming the fan group STIC (Save The Islanders Coalition). We had two goals: 1) get rid of the owners and 2)get rid of the fish sticks unis. We were able to do both. We were told by someone in authority who worked for the Islanders that the new uniform was chosen by one of the owner's kids. Kids love cartoon figures and had no connection to the great dynasty teams so of course they fell in love with it. But long time fans HATED that jersey. Ownership EMBARRASSED Islander fans as we had to endure Ranger fans chanting "Fishsticks" over and over again. To add insult to injury, they were nothing more than a doormat for that 94 Oilers East Cup team so we couldn't even respond with our "1940" chant in retaliation. Ranger fans took over the Coliseum on that series clinching game 4, Al Arbour's last game as Islanders head coach. (Not counting the ceremonial last game when Ted Nolan was coach), With regard to the John Spano situation, I don't think it was covered in the 30 for 30 documentary, but the NHL deserves a HUGE black eye for their conduct. The entire extent of their investigation of Spano was limited to nothing more than a 4 hour review by a retired FBI agent who for some reason, didn't see a problem with all of Spano's alleged money held in Cayman Island accounts. If they NHL had hired a top accounting firm to conduct a legitimate audit of Spano, they would have discovered that he was nothing more than a con man and the whole mess could have been avoided.

Can you do a video on the GM career of Brian Burke?

Ah, those were great days to be a Rangers fan. Won the cup in 94 and spanking the Isles in those God awful sweaters along the way.

This is why we Rangers fans call the Icelanders the Fishsticks

I didn't even know Hemingway played hockey.

Love how everything has to be emphasized by “oh, yeah, they were also wearing this.”

Their goal horn was quite interesting that year.

Thanks for that walk down memory lane. I had forgotten just how bad things got; I presume my mind blocked it out as a defense mechanism. BTW, I was at NVMC the night several buses of Quebec “enthusiasts” showed up; and the Islanders welcomed them like it was some sort of local group outing as opposed to a naked appeal to move the team!

At the time I really liked the Fisherman, and still do actually! The colours reminds of toothpaste :-)

One issue they didn't have were those legendary jerseys. Haters gonna hate.

It’s the teal. If they did a fisherman throwback without teal, it might work. Wink wink.

I have a stamp collection and I’d like to buy a hockey team. Crazy

As great as Torrey was in the 70's and early 80's, he was equally bad from then on. His drafting from 84-91 was absolutely brutal

That jersey is a beaut!

Imagine if they came out with those uniforms with the fisherman logo fifteen years prior. They would be still wearing those today

Yes the Islanders jersey from 1995-1997 is what made me like the Islanders (for some time). I can accept replacing the "fisherman" with the original logo as they did season after and they still look AWESOME. Why the took away these designs and colors is for me mind boggling as they had prior that era and after that era worn some of the msot BORING jerseys in entire NHL. So plain and with-out any design. Here, have our logo on plain basic white or plain basic blue, thats all we give you. To be honest, jerseys these days are absolute boring compared to the late 90's to middle 00's. The jerseys are on many teams very bland and forgettble. They just have the team names/logo on them and call it a day. Not even worth your money buying a jersey like that.

Party on Wang! Party on Garth!