Isles Remember: Anders Lee's memorable Islanders debut

Anders Lee made his New York Islanders debut way back on April 2nd of 2013, against the Winnipeg Jets. Looking back at it, nobody could have predicted the impact he would go on to make not only on the Islanders team, but the fanbase and Long Island community as well. Let's take a trip down memory lane on this edition of "Isles Remember," and go back to the NHL debut of Anders Lee.

On March 30th of that season, Lee skated in his final game as a member of the Norte Dame Fighting Irish. He scored 20 goals and had 38 total points in 41 games that season. Two days later, on April 1st, Lee signed his NHL entry level contract with the Islanders, who drafted him in the 6th round of the 2009 draft. The Isles would make the decision to give him a shot on the main team rather then sending the young forward down to Bridgeport to finish the year out, as most players in similar situations do.

Anders Lee, welcome to the NHL.

In the first period of the Isles contest against the Jets, the day after he signed with the team, Lee would make an immediate impact. Taking a pass from longtime Islander Matt Martin into the offensive zone, Lee fired what Jets goalie, Ondrej Pavelec, perceived as a harmless shot on net. The only thing was, it was anything but harmless, it wizzed past Pavelec off the post and into the back of the net for his first NHL tally.

Lee, with his mouth guard hanging out of his mouth, was estatic. First NHL goal on his first NHL shot in his first NHL game, an incredible feat for someone who was at college two days earlier. In a YouTube video released by NHL in 2023, Lee spoke about if his goal was "Ugly or Pretty?" He had a great response. "Probably a little bit of both to be honest," Lee said, "Shot from pretty far away but it did go post and in, so probably shouldn't have gone in. But hey you don't ask how. I'll tell you that."

Former Islanders play-by-play announcer, Howie Rose, put it perfectly. "His parents are the happiest people in the building," Rose said, "while their son, looked as though he was the most surprised in the place."

Lee finished that game with only 9:36 min of time on ice, and one shot on goal. His line mates, Cizikas and Martin, picked up the assists on the goal. Lee would end up drawing back into the lineup one more time on April 6th, against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Where he once again would make an impact, picking up the primary assist on the game winning goal scored by Martin in a 4-2 victory.

As we all know, Lee would end up becoming a cornerstone of the Islander teams throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s. He has played 923 games, all with the Islanders, and scored 308 goals. Both land him in the top five of each categories in Islanders history. He is also tenth all-time in points for the Isles.

But Lee has arguably impacted the Islanders fanbase more with his work off the ice. In 2017, he held the first annual Anders Lee Kancer Jam. This event raises well over $100,000 at each event they hold, with all money going to help the fight against cancer. Lee has shown up on the ice countless times for the Islanders, but his lasting impact to the community will be remembered for years to come.

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