Your 3 bad Islander episodes that solidified you bleed orange, white ane blue?

[original islander]

Wasn't that goal in the daytime... that year was surreal for hockey with the Olympic win and then Isles win... remember that game being a day game

Yes. It was a Saturday afternoon.

 

[leeroggy]

Kind of surprised no one has mentioned 1979 . . . most of us must have suppressed that one from our memory.

If you have to rank these I think that our series of owners has to be right there at the top. Here's an article excerpt from CBS New York by Daniel Friedman back in 2014:

1978: John Pickett Buys Team
Original team owner Roy Boe was struggling to keep the lights on, so he wound up selling to Pickett, who at the time was a limited partner. The result? A dynasty. But later, big-time neglect.

1991: Gang of Four
Pickett sold a minority stake to four local businessmen and put them in charge of day-to-day operations. Their most memorable contributions were the fisherman jerseys and general manager/head coach Mike Milbury.

1996: John Spano
Pickett thought he’d found a buyer, but the man turned out to be a complete fraud.

1997: Howard Milstein & Steven Gluckstern
Poor attendance, poor performance, poor everything. This was a dark period for the franchise.

2000: Charles Wang & Sanjay Kumar
Milstein and Gluckstern sold the Islanders to Computer Associates head honchos Wang and Kumar. Kumar would later find himself in jail, but Wang soldiered on as team owner. He tried for years to get a new arena on Long Island and after all that failed he reached a deal with Barclays Center. Say what you will about him, but the Isles might have ended up playing in another state (or country) if not for Wang.

And now…

2014: Ledecky & Malkin
Stay tuned. There’s no telling what will happen next.

 

[MJF]

1978 playoffs. Lanny McDonald. Also Tiger Williams doing a number on Mike Bossy.

1979 playoffs. Losing to the Rags. That was the absolute worst thing I had ever experienced as an Isles fan. Still stings to this day.

Then it's a toss-up between the 1994 playoffs because that resulted in the Rags winning the cup, the Pat LaFontaine holdout, the Hunter hit on Turgeon, trading Palffy, Spano, Millstein & Gluckstern, then Wang & Kumar as owners, and all the stupid trades our last 3 incompetent GMs made during the last 25 years.

 

[Isles72]

my old man (leaf fan)rubbing it in since 1978 .

his nikname for Gillies was long legged misery

 

[On Edge]

Mine...well. Here is two:

Losing to Rangers (1979?) playoff series.

Diehard fan since beginning. Was at first game in 1972...then joined USAF in 1980 until 1985 and I was overseas missing the entire dynasty.

Wonder if the USAF takes old guys back. Maybe I jinxed my team!

 

[Beautvillier]

all three times i've been to barclays center

 

[SI]

1. Gretzky's hat trick in final game of 84 Stanley cup - I cried myself to sleep.

2. LaFontaine getting traded - heartbreaking

3. Rags sweep in 94 playoff series

* Milbury tenure - too much to choose during this dark time - Berard trade for Potvin, Spano era, Millstein era- trading Palfy and others for picks, luongo trade and dipietro pick, the list goes on...

 

[Strummergas]

There's been more bad than good, hasn't there?

 

[mm11]

all three times i've been to barclays center

got a nice laugh out of me this morning. thanks buddy

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

The Lighthouse, Belmont Park and Citi Field

 

[mm11]

1. Gretzky's hat trick in final game of 84 Stanley cup - I cried myself to sleep.

2. LaFontaine getting traded - heartbreaking

3. Rags sweep in 94 playoff series

* Milbury tenure - too much to choose during this dark time - Berard trade for Potvin, Spano era, Millstein era- trading Palfy and others for picks, luongo trade and dipietro pick, the list goes on...

I agree with #1 did the same thing.


That series was where I think I became a life long orange, blue and white fan.

I use examples of how the great Isles dynasty teams played through adversity and won. My son who is like 9 barely listens to it but d****** it he will get it....

 

[doublechili]

Here's my top 3 (and I cheated to fit 5 into 3):

1. McDonald's OT goal in '78;
2. Losing to NYR in '79 and '94;
3. off-ice shockers: Spano and hiring the backup goalie to be GM.

BTW, #1 is by far the worst I've ever felt as a result of a sporting event. And I was an Oakland Raiders fan as a kid and watched on TV as victory turned to defeat via the Immaculate Reception. Sorta related, I was at the final game when the Flyers lost to Chicago in OT (when Kane snuck the puck past Leighton and no one knew that he had just scored the Cup-winner). That was the most surreal moment ever - the confusion, silence and then slow realization by 20,000 people was crazy.

 

[19 in a row]

I can do you one better. I did the same thing but our building in Queens didn't get hooked up to cable until 1993! So I watched what I could on channel 9 and WHT and the rest I would listen to on my radio. Not only that but I would record the games on tape cassette and play them back listening to the highlights.

I used to watch on a small black and white tv with a lot of "snow", had to keep adjusting the antennae and smacking the side of it. Try watching a hockey game with snow in the picture.

The Toronto series in 78 was huge and the rangers in 79, but the 3 things that haunt me are:

1) Turgeon hit. I was at the game and that was the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in an instant. Even though we continued on it was so deflating for the rest of the playoffs. Whether or not I was right, I felt we could have gone all the way if he was fully healthy. That '93 year is really our only shining moment post dynasty.
2) Peca hit and all of the other dirty stuff in that series. We were the better team, they had to resort to being dirty to win. I hate the Leafs more than any other team not named the rangers since that series.
3) Trottier released at age 33. My fav player in any sport. The sell off had begun a few years before but this killed me, and to see him win two more cups with Pittsburgh as a checking line center and mentor for the great Pens teams. It broke my heart. Never looked right in that sweater to me. Tonelli, Gillies, Sutter hated to see them all go. Management abandoned this team beginning in 86 and we have never fully recovered.

 

[Islanders4Cups]

Losses to Rag$ in '79 '94. That Lanny McDonald OT loss is also a good one in '78
The Mike Milbury years and results
Wang Lighthouse debacle leading to Moving from NVMC. Our Mecca.

 

[mm11]

Here's my top 3 (and I cheated to fit 5 into 3):

1. McDonald's OT goal in '78;
2. Losing to NYR in '79 and '94;
3. off-ice shockers: Spano and hiring the backup goalie to be GM.

BTW, #1 is by far the worst I've ever felt as a result of a sporting event. And I was an Oakland Raiders fan as a kid and watched on TV as victory turned to defeat via the Immaculate Reception. Sorta related, I was at the final game when the Flyers lost to Chicago in OT (when Kane snuck the puck past Leighton and no one knew that he had just scored the Cup-winner). That was the most surreal moment ever - the confusion, silence and then slow realization by 20,000 people was crazy.

I was alittle too young for the 78-79 stings with Mcdonald and the raggies. The 1st cup I was 9 and alittle too cocky (lol) thought they would never lose. compound that with the fact USA beat the Soviets and my world was nothing but winning.

strutted around with my Brent Sutter Jersey playing roller hockey all day..

 

[SI]

There's been more bad than good, hasn't there?

That is a very good question
19 playoff series wins in a row
4 straight Stanley cups
5 straight conference winners

From 94-to the present has really helped off set the Dynasty years

The Milbury- Spano-Millstein period almost sunk this team for good.

 

[msv957]

I was alittle too young for the 78-79 stings with Mcdonald and the raggies. The 1st cup I was 9 and alittle too cocky (lol) thought they would never lose. compound that with the fact USA beat the Soviets and my world was nothing but winning.

strutted around with my Brent Sutter Jersey playing roller hockey all day..

Had to laugh at this one... cocky little punk from Long Island..

 

[MarinerIslanderSean]

The Hunter incident is wholly responsible for me becoming an Isles fan. Prior to that, I was a nine year-old Canucks fan, but that cross-check on Turgeon made me angry as a hockey fan in general. I cheered for the Isles in the following Pens series and the rest is history. Canucks remain my distant second team today.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Mine...well. Here is two:

Losing to Rangers (1979?) playoff series.

Diehard fan since beginning. Was at first game in 1972...then joined USAF in 1980 until 1985 and I was overseas missing the entire dynasty.

Wonder if the USAF takes old guys back. Maybe I jinxed my team!

I guess I can see why 1979 hurts, but how come nobody is bringing up 1994? That year we played the Rags in the playoffs after an encouraging 93' run. We got swept by the Rags, and I think we lost two of the games 6-0. Ron Hextall was an absolute sieve. That playoff series is probably the worst ever in franchise history and to make matters worse the Rags went on to break our favorite chant. So in my opinion that is way worse than 79. WAAAAY WORSE!

 

[Strummergas]

That is a very good question
19 playoff series wins in a row
4 straight Stanley cups
5 straight conference winners

From 94-to the present has really helped off set the Dynasty years

The Milbury- Spano-Millstein period almost sunk this team for good.

Also the fact that the Dynasty years happened over 30 years ago. There's a whole generation of Islanders fans who have known nothing but misery (those born after '93 or just too young to remember that year).

 

[doublechili]

I guess I can see why 1979 hurts, but how come nobody is bringing up 1994? That year we played the Rags in the playoffs after an encouraging 93' run. We got swept by the Rags, and I think we lost two of the games 6-0. Ron Hextall was an absolute sieve. That playoff series is probably the worst ever in franchise history and to make matters worse the Rags went on to break our favorite chant. So in my opinion that is way worse than 79. WAAAAY WORSE!

'94 was bad, but I think the difference is that we expected to win in '79 and were hoping to win the Cup. The Isles had the best record in the league that year. Getting knocked out in the semis by the Ooh-la-la Rangers of Espo and Duguay was the pits.

 

[Strummergas]

I guess I can see why 1979 hurts, but how come nobody is bringing up 1994? That year we played the Rags in the playoffs after an encouraging 93' run. We got swept by the Rags, and I think we lost two of the games 6-0. Ron Hextall was an absolute sieve. That playoff series is probably the worst ever in franchise history and to make matters worse the Rags went on to break our favorite chant. So in my opinion that is way worse than 79. WAAAAY WORSE!

That year was really horrible. I mean, what a letdown from the year before!

Healy left unprotected in the expansion draft and ultimately winding up on the Rangers. Hextall coming in and being a massive disappointment. The team barely made the playoffs and of course completely **** the bed against the Rangers (who then when on to win the whole ****ing thing!). And there would be no rebounding either. From that point on it was dark days for the franchise.

 

[doublechili]

'94 was bad, but I think the difference is that we expected to win in '79 and were hoping to win the Cup. The Isles had the best record in the league that year. Getting knocked out in the semis by the Ooh-la-la Rangers of Espo and Duguay was the pits.

Just to expand on my previous post, younger fans may not realize that by '79 the Isles had a reputation as chokers, and the NYR fans loved to push that narrative. Starting in '75, the Isles lost in the semifinals 4 times and quarterfinals 1 time (the Toronto OT loss on McDonald's goal the year before, in '78). So losing to the NYR in '79 after having the best record in the league was really bad.

People don't talk about this, but in the stands (no message boards back then!) there were plenty of people calling for the heads of Torrey and Arbour, and looking to trade guys like Nystrom. Ironically, the next year the Isles finished with 25 less points in the regular season and won the Cup.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Just to expand on my previous post, younger fans may not realize that by '79 the Isles had a reputation as chokers, and the NYR fans loved to push that narrative. Starting in '75, the Isles lost in the semifinals 4 times and quarterfinals 1 time (the Toronto OT loss on McDonald's goal the year before, in '78). So losing to the NYR in '79 after having the best record in the league was really bad.

People don't talk about this, but in the stands (no message boards back then!) there were plenty of people calling for the heads of Torrey and Arbour, and looking to trade guys like Nystrom. Ironically, the next year the Isles finished with 25 less points in the regular season and won the Cup.

Yeah, i'm definitely too young for it. Not to mention I didn't become a passionate hockey fan until 11 or 12, just after the dynasty years. I haven't really done enough to study the history of the Isles. I didn't realize they became that good, that quickly. Guess it makes sense though, you need to lose a series like that to prepare yourself to win a cup. So actually 79 could be viewed as a catapult and not a let down. Remember what Gretzky said in his book about learning to be Stanley Cup champions by losing to the Isles.

I guess 94 was such a let down for me personally because gut says the Isles 93' run was a Cinderella story and a one hit wonder but I didn't want to believe it. 94 kind of forced that as reality. In context now I can see why 79' was so brutal. I didn't know about the rep and nuances like that. It's interesting to learn.

 

[doublechili]

Yeah, i'm definitely too young for it. Not to mention I didn't become a passionate hockey fan until 11 or 12, just after the dynasty years. I haven't really done enough to study the history of the Isles. I didn't realize they became that good, that quickly. Guess it makes sense though, you need to lose a series like that to prepare yourself to win a cup. So actually 79 could be viewed as a catapult and not a let down. Remember what Gretzky said in his book about learning to be Stanley Cup champions by losing to the Isles.

I guess 94 was such a let down for me personally because gut says the Isles 93' run was a Cinderella story and a one hit wonder but I didn't want to believe it. 94 kind of forced that as reality. In context now I can see why 79' was so brutal. I didn't know about the rep and nuances like that. It's interesting to learn.

And I don't mean to downplay '94. That was pretty horrendous just because it was such a beatdown. Hextall was so bad - holy smokes. And then the NYR went on to win the Cup, aided in part by getting to coast through the 1st round against us. Yeah, both years were pretty bad!