So far in this series, we’ve seen Denis Potvin win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie after helping transform a hapless team into something resembling a professional one. We’ve seen him rocket up the charts of the league’s best defensemen, capturing his first Norris Trophy at just 22-years-old. We’ve seen him win a second Norris after pissing off the entire hockey world, learning to open up emotionally, and climbing back to the mountaintop after a inconsistent follow-up season. Today we finally reach his final Norris Trophy year, in which the Islanders win their first regular season ch ..read more

Mike and Dan recap (and differ) on the Islanders last week, which saw them pick up five of six points, play a game with just four defensemen and acquire a player they advocated for years ago. Wins against the Flyers and Senators weren't perfect, but were huge nonetheless, especially considering the losses of Adam Pelech (now on long term injured reserve) and Sebastian Aho. Getting a point on a back-to-back also against Philadelphia, mainly courtesy of Ilya Sorokin, was also enormous and kept them in the playoff mix. But their tendency to play poorly in third periods continues. Perhaps new waiv ..read more

Joined by Gotham Sports Network founder and Giants podcaster Ethan, Mike and Dan remember Mike Comrie, who brought a lot of skill and a very famous significant other to a downtrodden Islanders club. After 30-goal seasons in Edmonton and Phoenix and a run to the Stanley Cup final with Ottawa, Comrie signed with a mercenary Islanders team looking for all the skill it could find. The forward added just that in his first season, but an injury-plagued second year spelled the end of his time on Long Island. More importantly, Comrie's fiancée at the time was Disney Channel star Hilary Duff, who broug ..read more

Mike and Dan try to make sense of the Islanders' bizarre road trip through Western Canada and discuss a possible change behind the bench. In eventful losses to the Oilers, Canucks and Kraken and a shootout win in Calgary, the Islanders followed similar scripts: play okay, take a lead, then disintegrate in the third period with careless penalties and all around unstructured play. While gaining four out of eight points is better than none, this team's established "insanely psychotic" way of playing isn't going to help them win many games. And many of the problems fall on head coach Lane Lambert ..read more

Attention: This episode immediately follows the Billy Smith/Roland Melanson Jennings Trophy episode posted last week. If you have not yet, please stop this episode and listen to that one. For much of the 1982-83 regular season, the Islanders did not look like three-time defending Stanley Cup champions, let alone a team that could win the Cup again. They were old and occasionally leaky, and sometimes they seemed downright disinterested. But once the playoffs started, the “real” Islanders showed up again, led by the man they called “The Money Goalie.” Billy Smith didn’t take losing lightly. And ..read more

Mike and Dan lament a fruitless, frustrating week for the Islanders that left fans, coaches and players pissed off in equal measure. In losses to the Wild, Bruins and Capitals, the Islanders didn't play that poorly and had chances to win. But blown third periods, costly mistakes and ineffective play from key players left them with a four game losing streak and a road trip to Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest looming. Fans want coach Lane Lambert fired, which irrigated fiery forward Casey Cizikas and left everyone feeling that the circus was back in town. It's a tough spot with a lot of ..read more

Joined by their friend Arthur Staple of The Athletic, Mike and Dan remember a rare NHL five-for-one trade that didn't really work out for either the Islanders or Maple Leafs. Just before training camp 2015, the Islanders sent winger Michael Grabner, an impending free agent coming off a couple of down years, to Toronto for five prospects: forwards Taylor Beck and Carter Verhaeghe, defenders Matt Finn and Tom Nilsson and goalie Christopher Gibson. In a very buttoned-up sport, trading one player for almost an entire starting lineup should be notable. But in this case, the results were mixed at be ..read more

Before 1982, the Vezina Trophy was a team award, going to the NHL goaltending tandem that gave up the least goals against during the season. When the criteria was changed to voting by the league’s general managers, the first winner was 31-year-old Billy Smith, who finally reached the pinnacle of his career after a decade in the league. A year later, Smith and his creasemate, 22-year-old Rollie “The Goalie” Melanson, turned in a masterful duet, consistently bailing the three-time champs out of trouble during a tumultuous season to take home the Islanders’ first Jennings Trophy. Regardless of wh ..read more

Mike and Dan recap a week in which the Islander picked up a lot of points while blowing leads and generally not playing their best. In games against Detroit and Carolina, the Islanders had multi-goal leads and had things under control... until they didn't, losing both in overtime in very frustrating ways and throwing away valuable points. In Washington, a heroic effort from goalie Semyon Varlamov masked what had been a lackluster game controlled mostly by the Capitals. While picking up points is good, playing inconsistently, blowing leads and tasking defensemen with playing massive minutes to ..read more

Part Two of our look at Mike Bossy’s sensational rookie season begins at a low point, a fight-filled game in Detroit that Bossy later said embarrassed him. He thought he had put all of his old junior fears to rest once he joined the NHL and a line with Bryan Trottier and Clark Gillies. But a stumble at The Olympia was a wake up call. Over the next several months, Bossy resumed his scoring pace and eventually matched - then obliterated - Rick Martin’s record for goals in a season scored by a rookie. The Islanders won their division for the first time and looked to be a serious contender he ..read more