Islanders: Biggest and most devastating hits by Thomas Hickey

1 of 4

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 18: Thomas Hickey #14 of the New York Islanders hits Chris Kunitz #14 of the Pittsburgh Penguins into the boards during the first period at the Barclays Center on November 18, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Thomas Hickey has been with the New York Islanders for seven years. Here are three of his biggest and most devastating hits.

Thomas Hickey has been a solid defender for the New York Islanders since they picked him up on the waiver wire from the Los Angeles Kings back in 2013. The 31-year-old former fourth-overall pick in 2007 has played 449 games over seven seasons so far scoring 115 points for the Isles.

His best statistical season was 2017-18 when Hickey scored 25 points with an offense-first Islanders team coached by Doug Weight. But since then, Hickey hasn’t factored for the Islanders as much.

In 2018-19 he was limited to 40 games due to injury and due to the rise of Devon Toews. This season, Hickey fell down the Isles depth chart to the fourth-ranked lefty behind Adam Pelech, Nick Leddy, and Toews. With Noah Dobson stepping up to the NHL Hickey was placed in the AHL with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

We know all about his overtime heroics and we all know about his abilities to be converted to a winger. But something we forget about with Thomas Hickey is how he came up with big hits for the New York Islanders.

With 486 hits over his 449 career NHL games, Hickey isn’t known for tossing his body around. But going over his NHL career so far, he’s had some big hits for the Islanders.

Why am I going over Thomas Hickey’s hits? Simple; YouTube. I watched video after video of Islanders highlights until a video came up of Thomas Hickey laying a devastating that I just had to watch over-and-over. So I decided to find more and write this piece.

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 03: Thomas Hickey #14 of the New York Islanders checks Jonathan Drouin #27 of the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Barclays Center on May 03, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Destroying Drouin

This is the hit that I watched on a loop and that sparked this post.

In 2016, for the first time in 23 years, the New York Islanders made it to the second round of the playoffs after dispatching the Florida Panthers in the opening round.

After winning game one against the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 5-3, the Isles fell in game two to the Bolts 4-1.

With the series transitioning to New York, the Islanders were looking to re-take a lead in the series against the Lightning. Six minutes into the second period and the score tied at 1-1, Jonathan Drouin was racing through the neutral zone to establish some offensive zone pressure.

Thomas Hickey though, had Drouin lined up the second he crossed the red line. When Drouin entered the Islanders zone Hickey unloaded on the Lightning forward with a devastating hit.

The Barclays Center erupted after the hit. You can certainly argue that the hit was high. But you can also argue that Drouin’s head was down. Either way, the officials didn’t see anything wrong with the hit and didn’t give Hickey a penalty for the play.

Drouin would leave the ice and wouldn’t return until much later. Losing Drouin was a huge loss for the Lightning (even if he was just out for a bit).

You better believe that Drouin has nightmares of Thomas Hickey and now keeps his head up when he crosses the blueline.

UNIONDALE, NY – JANUARY 29: David Krejci #46 of the Boston Bruins and Thomas Hickey #14 of the New York Islanders battle for the puck during their game at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on January 29, 2015 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

Where Yo Teeth At?

Ever see a player get hit so hard that his teeth get knocked out?

In the dying seconds of the second period of a tied game at the Boston Garden David Krejci tries to get out of the defensive zone and past Hickey by flipping the puck out for David Pastrnak. Thomas Hickey wouldn’t let Krejci get around him so easily.

Hickey stepped up on Krejci and drove his shoulder right through the Bruins forward. Hickey hit Krejci so hard that the Bruins forward not only crumpled to the ice but he did so with a missing chiclet.

Nothing beats a big clean open-ice hit. They aren’t a common occurrence in a regular hockey game, they are typically explosive and they typically come out of nowhere. This one had the same effect.

No one thought Thomas Hickey would unload on Krejci the way he did. It’s just not something Hickey did often. And with the period coming to an end everyone from the broadcasters to the people at the arena was ready for the whistle to blow, not for Hickey to light up Krejci with a monstrous hit.

Good on Johnny Boychuk for poking around the ice and locating Krejci’s lost tooth and returning it to his former teammate for safekeeping.

Tom Wilson

Tom Wilson isn’t liked league-wide. I’m sure his teammates like playing with him. I’m sure he’s a nice guy in the locker room. But for opposing players he’s a liability to their health and safety.

On numerous occasions, Wilson has thrown a dirty hit like this one against Alexander Wennberg. He’s also known to go head-hunting, like this time he launched into Zach Aston-Reese‘s head during the 2017 playoffs.

For the Islanders, Tom Wilson has been in their black book at least since the 2015 playoffs when he leveled Lubomir Visnovsky with this devastating hit. Visnovsky wouldn’t return to this game or the series and wouldn’t return to the NHL.

Thomas Hickey was on the ice and right in Wilson’s face after the hit. Fast-forward to February 2016 and Thomas Hickey used some of Tom Wilson’s own dark-arts against him with this seemingly fair hit and certainly less-than-legal follow through.

You won’t find a single Islanders fan complain about the hit or the follow-through. This is the type of compensation a player like Tom Wilson is bound to receive for playing the type of game he plays. Thomas was given a minor penalty for elbowing on the play.

Want your voice heard? Join the Eyes On Isles team!

Write for us!

Hickey still wasn’t over the hit Wilson put on Visnovsky in 2015 and he wasn’t going to let Tom Wilson forget it either.

If you weren’t already a Thomas Hickey stan this hit likely converted you to one. There isn’t a single person that bleeds Blue and Orange that doesn’t remember this specific hit and the significance it carried.

Home / Editorials