Former NY Islanders first-rounder Josh Ho-Sang drops rap album and unveils new app

Regardless of whatever was happening on or off the ice, former New York Islanders 2014 first-round pick (28th overall) Josh Ho-Sang always kept things interesting. Recently retired from professional hockey, the 28-year-old has now shifted his career focus from creating goals to creating hits with the release of a new rap album, Shape, which came out on March 5.

Among the 18 tracks is the first song entitled "It's Time To Grow Up," where Ho-Sangs raps the following lyrics: "My biggest problem was growing every day / I measure my progress / I wonder when that started stopping / not just my growth, but my celebration of my success / I wonder when my pride turned into stress."

If that wasn't enough, he also recently unveiled a new app for download called Pick Up Pro (PuP).

In a video explaining the project's purpose, Ho-Sang explains that users have the ability to either join or host games, practices, or events and even conduct payments as a coach. "I made PuP because my goal is to help make the activity accessible for everyone and to help create a healthier society," says Ho-Sang. "We must do it together, one game, one practice, one community at a time."

Viewed as a risky first-round pick when Garth Snow selected him toward the end of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Ho-Sang had an immediate wake-up to professional hockey life when he failed to set his alarm and was late for a team shuttle in 2015. Snow, as punishment, had Ho-Sang famously run the Nassau Coliseum stairs. “Enough with the bull—-. It’s time to grow up,” Snow told Newsday‘s Arthur Staple at the time. Ironically, that's now the name of the first track on his new album.

After returning to the OHL, Ho-Sang first flashed his talent on Long Island during the 2016-17 season when he scored four goals and added six assists in 10 games. However, he was unable to carry the momentum forward the next season, appearing in just 22 games, though he did score two goals and 10 assists for head coach Doug Weight.

When Lou Lamoriello was named President and General Manager and then hired Barry Trotz as head coach, his chances of breaking through as a regular in the lineup were perceived to greatly diminish given the no nonsense demands of Lamoriello and the defensively responsible structure of Trotz's system that helped turn around the culture around the Islanders. Ho-Sang played in 10 games during the 2018-19 season, scoring one goal and one assist.

Following that summer, he requested a trade, essentially ending any chance that he would be back up with the Islanders. He sat out the first part of the season in Bridgeport and then was loaned to the San Antonio Rampage. He was then loaned to Orebro of the SHL the following season before getting an opportunity with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. Despite scoring 16 goals and 19 assists for the Marlies in 47 AHL games, he never got another shot at the NHL and finished his playing career in the KHL, skating one game for Ufa Salavat Yulayev.