Eastern Conference - Atlantic Division
New York Islanders
| Team's name: New York Islanders Conference: Eastern Division: Atlantic  Location: Uniondale, New York Nickname: Islanders / Isles Mascot: Sparky the Dragon Team Colors: Navy Blue, Orange, White Joined the Conference: 1972 General Manager: Garth Snow Hockey Head Coach: Ted Nolan Hockey Stadium: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Current Capacity: 16.234 First Year of Hockey: 1972 Team Titles: Stanley Cup: 1979-80, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83 Conference Championships: 1977-78, 1978-79, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84 Division Championships: 1977-78, 1978-79, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1983-84, 1987-88 |
Based in Uniondale, New York, the New York Islanders are members of the NHL’s Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The franchise was awarded to Roy Boe in 1972, and was to be based in Long Island. The team took the name the New York Islanders and was quickly nicknamed the “Isles.”
The team's general manager, Bill Torrey, committed himself to building a strong team with young players using the Draft instead of signing veterans in a high-cost quick-win strategy. Unsurprisingly, the first season was disastrous, with the young team posting a 12-60-2 record, one of the worst in NHL history. The next year, Torrey picked amateur superstar Denis Potvin during the draft and managed to convince St. Louis Blues coach Al Arbour to coach the Islanders. The team prevented 100 more goals than it had the previous season and managed 56 points.
Then, d uring the last half the 1970s, the Islanders made a complete turnaround. Making 88 points during the regular season, the New York team entered the playoff berth, defeating their rivals, the New York Rangers, in the first round. In the second round, the Islanders recovered from a 3-0 series loss to win the next four games against the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Only two other major sports teams can boast of such a feat: the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Red Sox.) The Islanders went to the third round of the playoffs, but finally lost to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The next year, only the fourth of the franchise’s existence, the Islanders finished with over 100 points, marking the first of four consecutive 100-point seasons. That success did not translate to the postseason, however; the Islanders were knocked out of the semifinals in 1976 and 1977 by the Montreal Canadiens. In 1979, the Islanders were knocked back by the Rangers.
Finally, in 1981, the Islanders broke two trends: they dropped below 100 points, and they won the Stanley Cup. The next year, the team broke a franchise record with 118 points and entered the postseason, where it defeated first the Penguins, then the Rangers, and finally the Quebec Nordiques and the Vancouver Canucks. Right winger Mike Bossy netted the winning point and received the Conn Smythe Trophy.
In the next years, the upstart Edmonton Oilers and their superstar Wayne Gretzky made hockey difficult for the Islanders, although the Islanders remained competitive for the rest of the decade.
The Islanders underwent an extreme roster change in the early 1990s, gaining a core of talented young players and establishing a new foundation for the now-lackluster team. In 1992, with a new manager, Don Maloney, the Islanders made the playoffs and exceeded the 80-point mark for the first time in six years. The team played almost unchanged for three seasons before Maloney attempted to radically revamp the roster again.
The attempt failed, and in the next years the Islanders finished in the cellar. Head coach Mike Milbury replaced Maloney as manager, but the team failed to make the playoffs for the next several years. Milbury stepped down as head coach but continued as general manager. The team was eventually sold to Charles Wang and Sanjay Kumar in 2000.
As a result of new, stable ownership, Milbury was allowed to spend money again to rebuild the team. After several unpopular trades and picks, however, the team finished the 2000 season with a .317 winning average. However, the draft added new players – in particular, goaltender Chris Osgood – and the Islanders opened the 2001 season on a hot streak. The team ended at the fifth seed but lost to the fourth-seeded Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the postseason.
In 2003, the Islanders again made the playoffs but lost to the top-seeded Ottawa Senators in the first round. In 2006, Milbury announced that he would resign once a suitable replacement was found. The offseason was tumultuous, with Neil Smith signed as GM but fired a month later for Garth Snow. Ted Nolan was hired as coach, while defensemen Brendan Witt and Tom Poti and forwards Mike Sillinger and Chris Simon, and goaltender Rick DiPietro were all added to the Islanders’ roster.
The team again lost in the first round of the postseason against the Buffalo Sabres.
The Islanders added several more free agents in 2007, but the team nonetheless fell to the bottom of the league by the end of the season.
In 2008, the Islanders added center Josh Bailey and free agents Mark Streit and Doug Weight. Coach Nolan was replaced with Scott Gordon. The team finished with 61 points, fifth in the Atlantic Division, and did not qualify for the postseason.
New York Islanders Current Roster
| Centers | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 12 | Josh Bailey | 19 | 6-1 | 188 | L |
| 36 | Mike Iggulden | 26 | 6-3 | 215 | R |
| 37 | Dean McAmmond | 35 | 5-11 | 189 | L |
| 51 | Frans Nielsen | 24 | 5-11 | 192 | L |
| 18 | Mike Sillinger | 37 | 5-11 | 196 | R |
| 45 | Nate Thompson | 24 | 6-0 | 190 | L |
| 93 | Doug Weight | 38 | 5-11 | 200 | L |
| Left Wings | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 67 | Sean Bentivoglio | 23 | 5-10 | 190 | L |
| 20 | Sean Bergenheim | 25 | 5-11 | 200 | L |
| 57 | Blake Comeau | 23 | 6-1 | 198 | R |
| 49 | Mitch Fritz | 28 | 6-8 | 258 | L |
| 11 | Andy Hilbert | 28 | 5-11 | 194 | L |
| 58 | Jesse Joensuu | 21 | 6-4 | 207 | L |
| 77 | Trevor Smith | 24 | 6-1 | 195 | L |
| 15 | Jeff Tambellini | 25 | 5-11 | 186 | L |
| Right Wings | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 7 | Trent Hunter | 28 | 6-3 | 210 | R |
| 28 | Tim Jackman | 27 | 6-4 | 210 | R |
| 54 | Kurtis McLean | 28 | 6-0 | 190 | R |
| 21 | Kyle Okposo | 21 | 6-0 | 195 | R |
| 10 | Richard Park | 32 | 5-11 | 190 | R |
| 40 | Joel Rechlicz | 21 | 6-4 | 220 | R |
| Defense | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 26 | Joe Callahan | 26 | 6-3 | 221 | R |
| 62 | Jamie Fraser | 23 | 6-1 | 200 | L |
| 8 | Bruno Gervais | 24 | 6-0 | 188 | R |
| 38 | Jack Hillen | 23 | 5-11 | 200 | L |
| 24 | Radek Martinek | 32 | 5-11 | 200 | R |
| 44 | Freddy Meyer | 28 | 5-10 | 192 | L |
| 17 | Thomas Pock | 27 | 6-1 | 208 | L |
| 2 | Mark Streit | 31 | 6-0 | 198 | L |
| 25 | Andy Sutton | 34 | 6-6 | 245 | L |
| 32 | Brendan Witt | 34 | 6-2 | 223 | L |
| Goalies | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 34 | Yann Danis | 27 | 6-0 | 185 | L |
| 39 | Rick DiPietro | 27 | 6-1 | 210 | R |
| 35 | Joey MacDonald | 29 | 5-10 | 170 | R |
| 1 | Peter Mannino | 25 | 6-0 | 200 | L |