We Want Fish Sticks Read online

  We

  Want

  Fish

  Sticks

  We

  Want

  Fish

  Sticks

  The Bizarre and Infamous

  Rebranding of the New York Islanders

  NICHOLAS HIRSHON | Foreword by Éric Fichaud

  University of Nebraska Press | Lincoln and London

  © 2018 by the Board of Regents of

  the University of Nebraska

  All rights reserved

  Manufactured in the

  United States of America

  Library of Congress

  Cataloging- in- Publication Data

  Names: Hirshon, Nicholas author.

  Title: We want fish sticks: the bizarre and

  infamous rebranding of the New York

  Islanders / Nicholas Hirshon;

  foreword by Éric Fichaud.

  Description: Lincoln: University of

  Nebraska Press, [2018] | Includes

  bibliographical references and index.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018006595

  ISBN 9781496206534 (cloth: alk. paper)

  ISBN 9781496212559 (epub)

  ISBN 9781496212566 (mobi)

  ISBN 9781496212573 (pdf )

  Subjects: LCSH: New York Islanders (Hockey

  team)— History. | Stanley Cup (Hockey)—

  History— 20th century. | National Hockey

  League— History— 20th century.

  Classification: LCC GV848.N4 H57

  2018 | DDC 796.962/64097471— dc23 LC

  record available at

  https:// lccn .loc .gov /2018006595

  Set in Lyon Text by E. Cuddy.

  Designed by L. Auten.

  For the players of the New York Islanders from 1995 to 1997

  CONTENTS

  List of Illustrations

  ix

  Foreword, by Éric Fichaud

  xi

  Acknowledgments xv

  Introduction xvii

  1. Birth of a Brand

  1

  2. A Frozen- Dinner Franchise

  21

  3. The Baymen and the Bruin

  55

  4. New Team, Dashed Dream

  77

  5. Dead in the Water

  105

  6. Spano for President

  141

  7. From Savior to Devil

  167

  Epilogue 185

  Appendix: Interview with

  Graphic Designer Pat McDarby

  197

  Notes 223

  Bibliography 261

  Index 263

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  Following page 140

  1.

  Brett

  Lindros

  2. Don Maloney and Mike Milbury

  3. Kirk Muller figurine

  4. Rob Di Fiore as Nyisles

  5.

  Wendel

  Clark

  6.

  Darius

  Kasparaitis

  7.

  Žiggy

  Pálffy

  8.

  Éric

  Fichaud

  9.

  Tommy

  Söderström

  10. Nyisles with Mike Richter

  11.

  Jean-

  Pierre

  Dumont

  12.

  Todd

  Bertuzzi

  13.

  Žiggy

  Pálffy

  14.

  Rick

  Bowness

  15.

  Bryan

  Berard

  16.

  Tommy

  Salo

  17.

  Rich

  Pilon

  18.

  Pat

  Flatley

  19. Fisherman logo hoodies for sale

  20. Cal Clutterbuck in fisherman jersey

  FOREWORD

  Éric Fichaud

  Those of us who wore the fisherman jersey with the New York Islanders played through one of the weirdest chapters in sports history. Today, after six seasons as a National Hockey League goalie and a decade as a hockey analyst on television, I know how teams are usually run and realize what happened on Long Island back then was so bizarre. But at the time I was a rookie, and that was all I knew.

  My first memory is playing in the minor leagues in Worcester, Massachusetts, in January 1996 and receiving a call from the Islanders’

  goaltending coach, Bob Froese, on Super Bowl Sunday. He told me to report to Nassau Coliseum the next morning at eleven o’clock for practice. The ensuing hours were wild. Of course, I called my parents to let them know I was heading to New York to play in the NHL. A friend from Montreal had come to visit me for the week, so we changed his flight so he could return home the next day instead. I tried to pick up my gear by calling the equipment manager in Worcester, but he was out at a Super Bowl party and did not have a cell phone, so I had to go to the rink unannounced, explain what happened, and pack up my stuff. Then I took a map and drew the way to the Long Island Marriott. Cars didn’t have GPS yet, and I was scared of getting lost on the four- hour drive. I must have gotten there around one in the morning. I didn’t sleep much.

  When I showed up for practice, I found out I would be in goal the next night against Buffalo. It happened so fast. I think the original plan was to leave me in the minors for a while, and that would have been better.

  The Islanders had lost five games in a row, and you never want a young goalie to debut during a bad stretch for a team. No organization would make that mistake now. But the Islanders felt pressure to win right away, and the media expected me to be the next big thing.

  xi

  FOREWORD

  I was really nervous in my first NHL game. I’ve always loved video games and played a lot of hockey on Sega Genesis, so I couldn’t help but look at the lineups for the Islanders and Sabres and think, That guy was good on NHL 94! I also grew up idolizing Pat LaFontaine, as far back as when he played in juniors for Verdun in Montreal, and now I was playing against him. I was jittery for the first seven or eight minutes until a few saves calmed me down. We went up 4– 3 in the third, and I was just five seconds from my first NHL win when, sure enough, who tied the game for Buffalo? Pat LaFontaine. It was like a movie script.

  I grabbed my head with both of my hands, and I almost cried. Thank-fully, Mathieu Schneider picked me up by scoring in overtime for a dramatic 5– 4 victory. Because the Islanders had lost so many games that season, we celebrated on the ice as if we had won the Stanley Cup. It was so cool to think that I had beaten Dominik Hašek, the best goalie in the league.

  One of my favorite memories from my first season was when Mike Milbury, our coach and general manager, told me that I should move out of the Long Island Marriott and find a place to live. Ask any young player in the NHL, and they will tell you that is a big step, because it means you’re going to stay in the league for a while. I felt much more stable. I moved in with Bryan McCabe and Dan Plante for the rest of the season, and the next year I lived with McCabe and Bryan Berard, the top pick in the 1995 draft. We were a funny mix: I’m French Canadian, Caber grew up in Calgary, and Berard is from Rhode Island.

  McCabe and I listened to Pearl Jam and Nirvana, while Berard played Tupac and Biggie. But the three of us got along so well. Most people our age don’t even know what they want to do for a living, but playing in the NHL is a different world. You’re making a ton of money. You’re playing against guys like Wayne Gretzky. You’re eating, traveling, and spending almost all your free time with your teammates. We tried to be normal kids. We went to a lot of movies, we bought CDs at Nobody Beats the Wiz, and, thanks to a dead- on recommen
dation from Pierre Turgeon, we ate all the time at Vincent’s Clam Bar in Carle Place. But the players’ lifestyle is hard to explain. You have to live it.

  For some reason the fans on Long Island embraced me immedi-

  xii

  FOREWORD

  ately. Girls ran up to me outside Nassau Coliseum and shouted, “Can you hug me? I just want to touch your hair!” I even had a bodyguard escorting me to my car. You feel like you’re a rock star. It was surreal.

  Sometimes I’d skate around in warm- ups and look into the stands, and I’d see a lot of fans wearing Žiggy Pálffy and Darius Kasparaitis jerseys.

  I expected that because they were the most popular players on the Islanders. But after a while I started to see fans wearing my own name and number, and that was so much fun. It brought back memories of wearing the jerseys of my childhood favorites, and I started to feel like I was becoming a real NHL player. One time I went to the city with my roommates to see a taping of the Late Show with David Letterman and somebody screamed, “Fichaud!” I thought that was pretty awesome.

  I wasn’t even on Long Island, and somebody recognized me.

  Even though my English wasn’t great at the time, I was comfortable on camera. I remember winning a game early in my career, quickly taking off some of my gear in the dressing room, and heading to a studio interview with Stan Fischler without my T- shirt. I don’t think players today get away with bearing their chests in an interview, but this was one of my first times on SportsChannel and I didn’t know any better. I probably weighed about 165 pounds back then, and my arms didn’t have much muscle. My teammates were watching, and Scott Lachance crashed the interview with a two- pound dumbbell, the type the players used for rehab. He said, “Fitch, we’re looking at you on TV, and we think you might need this.” That was on live television. Scott handed me the dumbbell, and I started posing like I was bodybuilding.

  Stan told me it was one of the most fun interviews he had ever done.

  The Islanders had a lot of young players with talent and chemistry, and we hoped that we could develop into a good team together. But as we kept losing, many of us were traded away. In my last season on Long Island, Bryan McCabe was sent to Vancouver in February 1998.

  My teammates were close to tears when we said good- bye. Then I was traded twice in a four- month span, to Edmonton in June and then to Nashville in October. The next January Bryan Berard went to Toronto.

  We were so far away from each other, and we realized the good times we had together were coming to an end. It was like losing your brothers.

  xiii

  FOREWORD

  I know we didn’t play well, and I understand if people remember us as a terrible team engulfed in chaos. But from my perspective as a player, it wasn’t all bad. When I look at the fisherman jersey today, I think about the start of my NHL career and my relationships with teammates, trainers, and fans. As players we wanted to win for each other and for Long Island. I am sorry we never could, but I am glad our story is being told.

  xiv

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This project relies on insights from many people associated with one of the most colorful periods in sports, the rebranding of the New York Islanders from 1995 to 1997. I am indebted to the fifty- three hockey insiders who agreed to be interviewed for the book. By sharing memories of the rebranding process, they allowed me to depict its complexities and peculiarities, although I alone decided how to construct the narrative.

  Several men who engineered the rebranding were generous with their time. Fred Scalera, the former vice president of licensing for NHL

  Enterprises, offered a nuanced explanation of the league’s branding strategies, while former Islanders executives Tim Beach and Pat Calabria provided important perspectives from within the organization. Ed O’Hara, whose firm designed the Islanders’ fisherman jerseys, and the late Pat McDarby, who sketched the mascot, were also helpful. Given the widespread mockery of the logo over the years, I am grateful that they trusted me to tell this story responsibly.

  I contacted former Islanders players with the assistance of Dan-ielle Bernstein of the San Antonio Rampage, Mark Caswell Jr. of the Utica Comets, Brian Cobb of the Spokane Chiefs, Rob Crean of the Rochester Americans, Jeff Moeller of the Los Angeles Kings, Radim Prusenovsky of the Czech Ice Hockey Association, Todd Sharrock of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Dylan Wade of the NHL Alumni Association, and Jonathan Weatherdon of the National Hockey League Players’ Association. Thanks to Éric Fichaud, an Islanders goaltender in the fisherman era and a hockey analyst for TVA Sports in Canada, for sharing his experiences in the foreword.

  Special gratitude goes to Rolando Pujol, director of digital strategy xv

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  at WPIX Channel 11, who indulged my request to view period news-casts. I am also appreciative that Ricky Abarno and Michael Matteo Jr. loaned Islanders game programs and that Art Feeney provided copies of a fan newsletter he edited. Arnold Leo, secretary of the East Hampton Baymen’s Association, and Andrea Meyer, archivist at the East Hampton Library, steered me to valuable documents.

  This manuscript began as my doctoral dissertation at the E. W.

  Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, where I benefited from the counsel of my committee members, Catherine Axinn, Roger Cooper, Marilyn S. Greenwald, and Michael S. Sweeney. As committee director, Greenwald was a continuous source of encouragement.

  Several colleagues in my program were also supportive, including Carol Hector- Harris, Lu Sirui, Pamela Walck, and Xinying Wang, as was my friend Will Mari.

  Rob Taylor, my editor at the University of Nebraska Press, had a terrific vision for this book, and I appreciate his enthusiasm and guid-ance. A grant from the William Paterson University Center for Creative Activity and Research made possible the inclusion of period photographs from the Associated Press. I am also grateful to author Douglass K. Daniel for his keen and thorough comments on the manuscript.

  Finally, I thank my parents, who passed away between the completion of this manuscript and its publication, for nourishing the two obsessions of my youth, history and hockey, through trips to countless Islanders games and destinations such as the Hockey Hall of Fame and the NHL All- Star Game. I love you both.

  xvi

  INTRODUCTION

  John Tavares, the all- star captain of the New York Islanders, had to expect some tough questions from the media on February 3, 2015.

  Only two months before the Stanley Cup playoffs, his team sat in first place. The season so far had been exhilarating. The Islanders, playing their final year in the only arena they had ever known, were off to one of the best starts in franchise history and attracted electric sellout crowds almost every night. But the home stretch was unforgiving.

  The Islanders had thirty- three games in the next sixty- eight days.

  Their top right wing, Kyle Okposo, was out with a detached retina. If they did not win that night, in Tavares’s four- hundredth NHL game, their losing streak would stretch to a momentum- killing three games.

  But at morning practice on Long Island, Tavares faced a reporter who did not ask how the Islanders would make up for Okposo’s team-high thirty assists, or fix their league- worst penalty kill, or approach the game versus the young, playoff- hungry Florida Panthers.1

  In fact, the question had nothing to do with the games ahead.

  Instead, the reporter wanted to know: Had Tavares seen the Islanders’ warm- up jerseys?

  “Yeah, obviously I’ve seen them.”2

  On most days the Islanders would warm up in the same jerseys they planned to wear in the game. But on this night the players would skate out and stretch in uniforms bearing perhaps the most infamous logo in sports history. The crest— a bearded, grimacing fisherman gripping a hockey stick— was created twenty years earlier, when the Islanders created a new brand identity in 1995. The effort flopped. Players complained. Fans protested. The logo was declared among the all- time worst by a wide range of media outle
ts, from Bleacher Report to CBS, xvii

  INTRODUCTION

  from Sports Illustrated to Yahoo! For two decades the Islanders had tried to whitewash the embarrassment of the fisherman era, removing signage with the logo from the arena and taking merchandise off the shelves at team stores. But in 2015 the team was playing its last season at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, its arena of forty- three years, before relocating to a new venue in Brooklyn. The Islanders decided to bring back the logo for one final hurrah, no doubt in a ploy to sell tickets and garner media attention.3

  Tavares was diplomatic when asked about the logo. “You know, it was a different time. It was a part of history here. Whether it was good or bad, I think, you know, certainly, I think we’re proud to be Islanders.”4

  Social media was less forgiving. On Twitter, fans called the jerseys dumb and hideous. They made sneering comments like “Ahoy, captain!” and “Yarr!” One person tweeted, “They’re a disgrace.” Another wrote, “MY EYES.” The negativity toward the logo was summed up in a single post: “People are treating the ‘Fisherman’ logo like it’s a swastika.”5 Clearly, the passage of two decades had done little to soften hatred among the fan base.

  In three seasons from 1995 to 1997, the Islanders won only 66 games and lost 119. In defeat and disarray they ditched their original logo, the most salient symbol of their brand for a quarter century, in favor of a new look. But they did more than just change jerseys. The Islanders created a new mascot, altered the arena experience, hired a larger-than- life coach, and transformed the player roster through a combination of high draft picks and blockbuster trades. It was a last- gasp attempt to rejuvenate a small- market team on the brink of collapse, and it failed due to poor planning, penny- pinching, miscommunica-tion, and misfortune.

  By rebranding around a new logo the Islanders hoped to enhance the public perception of a franchise that had been in decline for the previous decade. Every professional sports team is a brand that tries to trigger loyalty among its fans in order to draw media coverage, attract lucrative sponsorships, and increase attendance, ratings, and merchandise sales.6 Through monikers, slogans, signs, symbols, and designs, sports brands identify teams and engender an emotional xviii