Which Celeb Should Jump On The Isles Bandwagon? There’s Still Time!

• Mike Myers, Toronto Maple Leafs
• John McEnroe, New York Rangers
• Matthew Perry, Ottawa Senators
• Denis Leary, Boston Bruins
• Vince Vaughn, Chicago Blackhawks
• Alyssa Milano, LA Kings
• Neil Young, San Jose Sharks

The list goes on and on. But, what is this list? No, it’s not the cast of Mighty Ducks 4. This is a list of celebrities who support an NHL team. I am not talking about Carrie Underwood who supports the Predators because her husband, Mike Fisher, plays for them. I am talking true hockey fans. Think Jack Nicholson with the Lakers.

This led me to think hmm, what celebrity should support the Isles? There are plenty of options.  We will get to that. Let’s take a look first at other times the New York Islanders jersey has shown up in the entertainment world.

Remember when Christie Brinkley was a huge Islanders fan because of her son Jack?

It’s been a couple of years since we heard from her. She may still be a fan, but she hasn’t exactly been showing up at every game. If she has, no one told me. And yes, I expect to be told these things. I do know she did show up recently in the Islanders promotional video for the 2013 season. It’s good to know she hasn’t completely left us!

We do have others. Kevin Connolly, best known as Eric “E” Murphy from Entourage, is a huge Isles fan. In fact, he will be narrating the upcoming 30 for 30 ESPN documentary on John Spano. If you don’t remember John Spano, he was quite possibly the best owner the Isles never really had. Unfortunately, he was a criminal and a liar.

Remember this? Flavor Flav getting arrested with a San Jose Sharks jacket and an Isles jersey in the early 90’s.

How about this little morsel from Loudon Wainright III, off his album “A Live One” from 1979:

Here is my favorite one from Ralph Macchio. The “Karate Kid” was the Isles honorary captain for the 91-92 season. He is still a huge Isles fan and even tweeted out a pic of he and his son tailgating before Game 3 vs the Penguins.

There are other instances of the Isles being mentioned in the entertainment world as well. Connolly made sure that an Isles logo appeared in every episode of “Entourage”. On “30 Rock”, Tina Fey’s character’s ex-boyfriend, Dennis Duffy played by Dean Winters,  wore a John Tavares jersey and was an Islanders fan.

So, who can we draft to be an Islanders fan now? We need someone to represent the Isles brand. Someone who is popular, but not hated. Someone who grew up here on Long Island and remembers  “The Dynasty”.

I have a few suggestions.

#1-Alec Baldwin-Alec isn’t the world’s most popular individual. He definitely can be derisive and has had his problems with the media in the past. He has punched paparazzi, and he once called his daughter Ireland, a “rude, thoughtless, little pig”. But, he still is a well respected actor, and he grew up in Amityville with his brothers who are also actors.

As the old saying goes, “all publicity is good publicity”.  It certainly wouldn’t hurt to start seeing Alec in a John Tavares jersey. He could show up to games and cavort with fans after a big goal.

Then again, he probably isn’t the best choice. His personality and work schedule don’t lead me to believe we will be seeing him at a game any time soon

#2 LL Cool J-It’s a known fact that “Ladies Love Cool James”. LL is no stranger to Islanders games. He has been seen at the Nassau Coliseum before, and has even been shown on the scoreboard. With the impending move to Brooklyn coming either in 2014 or 2015, how amazing would it be to have LL Cool J be the celebrity face of the Islanders. He could go on sports radio and talk about his love for the team. He could rock a Ryan Strome jersey in concert.

He once said that he was “representin’ Queens”. Well he could represent whatever he would like, but he was born in Bay Shore.  With the the departure of Jay-Z as the face of the Barcalys Center and everything Brooklyn, why not have another rapper take his place? This makes plenty of sense to me.

#3-Jerry Seinfeld-Who doesn’t love Jerry Seinfeld? And when you think of Jerry Seinfeld and sports, what do you think of? The Mets. Who do most Mets fans root for in hockey? The Islanders! This is a perfect match.

Want to know something else that makes this a great fit? Jerry was born in Brooklyn! I smell marketing idea! Hockey & Humor-“A Night of Sticks & Side Splitting Laughter with Seinfeld and the Islanders.” First, you take in a game at the Barclays Center, then you can come back the next night for a performance from Jerry Seinfeld. Perfect combo!

Jerry frequently calls into shows on WFAN to talk about the Mets, he has even shown up in the broadcast booth. How about we have a 3 man booth. Howie, Butch and Jerry. What if he started calling shows to talk about the Islanders?

Maybe we can get Jerry to roam around town wearing a Griffin Reinhardt jersey. Whatever the man doesn’t know, we can make sure to teach him. The best thing about this is that there are plenty of “puffy shirts” and plenty of players with” man hands”.

So, what do you think? Who should be the celebrity face of the New York Islanders?