Islanders Anxiety: A New York Islanders podcast

Mike and Dan recap some newsworthy items from Islanders Rookie Camp including PTOs to Keith Kinkaid and Matt Martin, and the absence of Cal Clutterbuck.

After working out at Northwell Health all summer, Islanders fan Kinkaid finally gets a chance to play for his boyhood team. While the goalie's energy is infectious, it forced Lou Lamoriello to address injury concerns about Ilya Sorokin that have the hosts of several minds. Meanwhile, 13-year Islanders legend Martin comes to camp on a tryout with a shot to make the team, which might be awkward for him, his friends and the younger players trying to beat him out.

And as of now, Clutterbuck remains in limbo, not coming back to the Islanders while pondering PTOs from other teams or perhaps retirement. An understandable move on paper, it will be weird seeing him play somewhere else, especially after the first healthy season he's had in a long time.

Good thing the franchise retains a Shadow Team of ex-Islanders who are constantly around because they never actually retired.

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Mike and Dan get together on a Monday in the middle of August to discuss a notable move for the Leafs and a massive celebration for Islanders fans. Announced via tweet by Pat Brisson mouthpiece Darren Dreger, John Tavares has been replaced as Toronto's captain by Auston Matthews, a move that has little to do with the official party line of Matthews' maturity and everything to do with Tavares' failures over the last six seasons. Wearing their usual kid gloves, the Leafs media will throw out phrases like "passing the torch" and "class" rather than calling out Tavares on how he has not lived up to the promise he was expected to deliver, and that Islanders fans have been hearing about for over a decade. We discuss how we got here, what this makes Tavares now and what the future might hold after the "C" is removed and an "A" or nothing is left behind. It's the summer so soak it in and don't forget how it feels.

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A short sample of our latest Monthly Mail Bag podcast, exclusively for Country Club tier subscribers at our Patreon page. We start with whether the Islanders as currently constructed are good enough to compete in a (somewhat) rejiggered Metro Division, Patrick Roy's possibly identity for his players and who might end up surprising people this season. The full episode includes questions about Islanders secret lives as musicians, possible mascots, the Brooklyn era, underappreciated Islanders, the Mets, the Golden Girls and Dan's toy collection.

To hear the full episode, head over to Patreon.com/IslandersAnxiety and sign up for our Country Club tier.

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Mike and Dan empty their tanks on the Islanders free agency signings, the draft, the Rangers imploding and The Wedding of the Century. It's been a busy few days on Long Island, and they've been good for the Islanders. Despite the craziness of free agency day, they signed speedy winger Anthony Duclair and brought back defenseman Mike Reilly on two very reasonable deals. Before that, they had talented prospect Cole Eiserman fall into their lap at the draft, and took a few other notable names as well in later rounds. And across the Atlantic Ocean, the players and some former teammates shirtlessly partied the night away with The Chainsmokers at the Pulock wedding in beautiful Italy. Meanwhile, other teams are making regrettable mistakes or deluding themselves, the Rangers are publicly botching the trade of their captain, TSN and ESPN are insulting their audiences and prospect writers are shoveling more nonsense than usual. We have a lot to get to in this season finale, but most of all we thank you for hanging with us throughout another season and we hope we made it a little more fun for you. We'll be back in October (unless there's news to discuss).

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Mike and Dan look back at Kyle Okposo's Stanley Cup and Kyle MacLean's new contract before looking ahead to the NHL Draft and free agency with Ethan Sears of the NY Post. With the Panthers' 2-1 victory over Edmonton in Game 7, their long-suffering fans can finally feel some relief, while we can chuckle at the Oilers' failure, ESPN's issues and how many people were wrong about so many things this season. We're happy for a few former Islanders, and we're also happy a current Islander will be sticking around on a bargain deal. Meanwhile, the Devils got a goalie, the Rangers get bailed out of a bad contract (giving us an impromptu Ranger Piece Theater subject) and the Capitals get a guy who can sulk for them into the future. But that's not all! This supersized episode welcomes in Ethan Sears to talk about what he expects the Islanders to do at this week's draft, how they need to change (but might not) and how he enjoyed his time at the T20 Cricket World Cup at Eisenhower Park. Thanks again to Ethan for giving us some of his time this afternoon. Finally, we finish with some predictions and a call for the Islanders to pick an identity that can help them and us conceptualize our own Stanley Cup celebration.

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On March 30, 2024 at the new Offside NYC in Manhattan, Mike and Dan were joined by listeners to hear their stories of their favorite Weird Islanders. We were gifted with tales of getting a Weird Islander jersey recognized in the desert, running into actual Islanders on Caribbean beaches, and rival neighbors preying on our loyalty, as well as with actual gifts, as not one but two attendees bring the guys the same off-kilter (and off-putting) Islanders knickknack! Our final guest opens the door to examine some Weird Islanders Coaches, as well as giving us a little more personal insight into the Life of Leboff. We were also surrounded by a glorious rainbow of jerseys celebrating some short-time Islanders and we do our best to paint the picture in audio form.

Sign up for Country Club tier at Patreon.com/IslandersAnxiety to hear a special deleted story from Mike's friend Kenny, who not only owns the greatest shirt ever made but tells the tale of how he snuck into one of the most important Islanders games in recent history.

Thank you so much again to everyone who came out and shared their stories or just enjoyed the afternoon at Offside NYC. We had a great group and a ton of laughs. And special thanks to manager Thomas, liaison/raffle master Michael Paul Smith, Will Stevens and the rest of Isles Meetups NYC, and the legendary Nick Costa for their support in setting up, promoting and running the event. We needed all the help we could get, but maybe this is the first of many live gatherings.

Since this was our first time recording live, the quality isn't as perfect as we had hoped. But it gets better as the show goes on and, most importantly, our guest speakers come through loud and clear. So please bear with us, and you won't be disappointed.

This is our season finale for Season Three of Weird Islanders: The Podcast! We'll be back next season with an all new slate of guests, stories and momentary members of this one-of-a-kind franchise. Thanks for listening this season and enjoy the summer.

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In this special free sample of our latest episode of Country Club Atmosphere, Mike talks about how the NHL and the Islanders managed to seep into his time at the T20 Cricket World Cup games played at Eisenhower Park in the last couple of weeks.

He tells us why ex-cricket players make better on-air talent than ex-NHL players, how one visiting journalist became an Islanders fan over the course of his short stay on Long Island, and how one unfortunate Islanders fan video still haunts the team across the continent.

To hear the full episode, and all of our other Country Club Atmosphere episodes (it's our non-hockey podcast that somehow always ends up back at hockey), head over to Patreon.com/IslandersAnxiety and sign up for our Country Club tier.

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Enjoy this sample of June's Monthly Mail Bag podcast. Here, we look at sad fanbases, the death of Capfriendly, celebs at Islanders games and the least worst name choice for the NHL's newest team.

Later, we tackle some different possible timelines for the Islanders, body switching, time travelling and uses for a few other super powers. We also discuss jersey choices, Islanders media choices, and UBS Arena food choices, and joke about making movies and starting our own podcast network. Things get wild, but it feels good to talk Islanders in the middle of summer.

To hear the full episode, head over to Patreon.com/IslandersAnxiety and sign up for our Country Club tier.

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Joined by David Skurnik of Skurnik Wines and The Pinot Project, Mike and Dan remember the short Long Island stint of "superstar journeyman" Olli Jokinen. Jokinen arrived and left in two of the worst trades in Islanders history. In between, he was ridiculed by his general manager, dismissed by fans, endured long slumps and trade rumors, and only finally came alive after it was too late. Once free of the Islanders, he found his game in Florida, then began a decade-long tour through the NHL before coming back into the Islanders' orbit as a coach... for a prospect who was also traded. David tells us his philosophy on the wine business, how kids birthday parties at Nassau Coliseum could easily get ruined and how a small bounce here or there can really change a team's fortunes.

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Our theme is "Knuckles" by Björn Falk. Hear more of his music on Spotify and at Bandcamp.

Drum sfx via Zapsplat.com.

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Mike and Dan take a deep breath as the Rangers get eliminated from the playoffs, opening the door for the first ever edition of "Ranger Piece Theater." We do some dramatic readings of Blueshirts postmortems and examine how a fanbase that is catered to almost exclusively by the NHL's biggest broadcast partners somehow still seems to feel they are being targeted unfairly (maybe they'll make a documentary about that, too). We also throw in one Panthers-focused work that is somehow a referendum on the Maple Leafs continued struggles. But because we're not just here to hate, we start by discussing the recent changes at the top of the Islanders goaltending department, with new voices coming in and exiting, and congratulate captain Anders Lee on a much deserved King Clancy Trophy.

Subscribe to our Patreon! Members get ad-free episodes of the shows, bonus podcasts, written posts, discounts and much more.

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Our theme is "Morning Haze" by Family Dinner. Hear more of their music on Bandcamp and on Spotify.

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