Islanders: Three Reasons bringing back the Fisherman logo is OK

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INGLEWOOD, CA – NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Mike Milbury of the New York Islanders looks on during a game against the Los Angeles Kings on November 16, 1995 at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. The Kings won the game, 9-2. (Photo by Glenn Cratty/Getty Images) /

It wasn’t the logo that was bad

We hate the era, not the logo. The logo is a scapegoat. That’s really what this boils down to. We don’t like the era where the logo was introduced. And that’s absolutely fair. But its an important distinction to make.

In 1994-95, the year before the Islanders unveiled a new look, the Islanders finished third from the bottom in the NHL with 37 points. The only two teams worse than the Isles were the Ottawa Senators (23 points) and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (35 points).

The following season the Islanders would trade a number of big-name players like Pierre Turgeon, Benoit Hogue, Vladimir Malakhov, and Steve Thomas.

After losing all of those star players it’s no surprise that the Isles would end the 1995-96 season near the bottom of the league. Again, only Ottawa and Anaheim would have a worse record than the New York Islanders.

Bill Torrey was gone. Al Arbour was gone. All of those star players were gone. And the Islanders were terrible. This was a very different team than what it was just a decade prior.

You’d think rebranding would have been the last priority. Unfortunately, the Islanders went ahead with a drastic rebrand and introduced the Fisherman logo and jersey right when they were one of the worst teams in the league.

We all know what it looks like. It was a wild departure from the iconic and original Islanders logo. It was the worst possible time for a rebrand. Fans had a visual representation for this new Islanders era that had the team at the bottom of the league.

It didn’t last long. The logo at least. The fisherman was gone the very next year. It would have been gone earlier if the league had allowed them. But somehow it symbolizes an entire era of Islanders hockey.