New York Islanders: The best Twitter follows for the 2020-21 season

The New York Islanders have a stellar group of writers and bloggers. Here are three new people you should be following this upcoming season.

For the New York Islanders fanbase, there is a variety of personnel who bring us day-to-day updates.  When you think of the top dogs, you think of Arthur Staple of The Athletic, Brian Compton of NHL.com, and Andrew Gross of Newsday. While these guys are a must-follow given their credibility and stellar work, there are more people you should be following as we get set for the 2020-21 campaign.

James Nichols

This 28-year old journalist and Twitter savant has been at it since 2014, writing for various sites such as Islanders Insight and Isles Blog, before landing a gig with The Hockey Writers last February.

The Staten Island native fell in love with the Islanders due to his father, who watched every game growing up. When I asked him to think of that one memory that got him hooked, he thought back to a moment that happened on April 24, 2002. A night that Islander fans, who were old enough to remember (not me) will never forget.

“My first memory is the Shawn Bates goal,” Nichols said. “The excitement in my house after Bates scored will always make that my first memory and what hooked me to the game for life.”

https://twitter.com/NYIslanders/status/1121136335643979776

Legend has it that the Nassau Coliseum almost collapsed that night.

Growing up, Nichols was infatuated with the skill of Peter Forsberg, one of the best players ever to wear the Colorado Avalanche jersey. When he thinks of his favorite player in the NHL today, his unbiased opinion, obviously, is Islanders’ Mat Barzal.

I love his game and he has plenty of growing left to do. He’s already a top center in the league and his game is just getting better. A little different than Forsberg, but he has his own creativity with the puck and I really admire his skating and ability to create space for himself to make a play. Really exciting to watch on the ice.

Writing about the Islanders is not all Nichols does. After graduating from the College Of Staten Island with a BA in Literature and Writing, he went on to get his Master’s in Special Education. As much as he loves teaching, he hopes to break into NHL media full time one day.

When asked about this upcoming season, Nichols had high expectations for the team, a team that fell just two wins shy of the Stanley Cup Final:

In what is sure to be an interesting season, the Islanders have to hope they have a better run than most of last year. The 17-game point streak was great, but that’s the only thing that got them to the playoffs. After the run, the team played .500 hockey the rest of the way. 56 games means there are 112 points up for grabs, and to make the playoffs, a team will need about 60 points. With a full year of J.G. Pageau, a healthy Adam Pelech, and an upgrade in net with Ilya Sorokin sitting shotgun to Semyon Varlamov, I anticipate more consistency from the lineup, returning to what they were in the 2018-19 season. The Islanders should eclipse the 60 point threshold with a record of 30-18-8, 68 points overall.

You can follow James Nichols on Twitter at @JamesNicholsNYI and listen to him talk Islanders hockey by subscribing to the Nassaumen Hockey Podcast.

Michel Anderson

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A backstory like no other, Michel Anderson is not your stereotypical Islander fan. He does not hail from the island. He is actually not from anywhere remotely close to the island.

Reigning from the suburbs of Ottawa, Ontario, the 38-year old blogger would occasionally visit his grandmother, who lived in the nation’s capital. When he would walk around town by her residence, he would pass this extravagant mural. On that mural was Denis Potvin, the player who captained the Islanders to their four consecutive Stanley Cups, and his brother, former Islander Jean Potvin (1972-1978).

This mural was made to commemorate the two homegrown talents.

He became interested and wanted to learn as much as possible about these players and whatever place Long Island was.

When Anderson started to get more involved in following the NHL, the Ottawa Senators were gearing up to become an expansion team. The easy choice was the hometown club, but Anderson went against the grain.

“I don’t want to be an Ottawa fan. Everyone is going to be an Ottawa fan,” said Anderson. “Everyone else is a Montreal or Toronto fan. So boom. I went with the Islanders because it was weird, and Dennis Potvin was from here.”

When discussing who his favorite player was growing up, he went with a guy who was only on the team for a short time. Pierre Turgeon, who played for the Islanders from 1991-1995, became his favorite player, as the team’s playoff run in 1993 is what got him hooked. That team fell to the Montreal Canadiens in the Wales Conference Finals three games to two, the eventual Stanley Cup winners.

Today, his favorite player suits him as an Islander fan. Going against the grain seems to be a niche for Anderson, as he is a major supporter of Josh Bailey.

The fanbase has mocked Bailey for years after failing to live up to high expectations. But his play during this past postseason gained him many more supporters, as he posted 20 points in 22 games. 18 of those points came via assists.

When asked about his favorite memory, he chose a historical moment.

“My favorite memory has to be the John Tavares double OT goal in 2016. It just meant so much to win a series after waiting for so long.”

That was the first time the team made it past the first round since 1993.

Anderson got his start in journalism back in 2016, as he covered the league before getting a role with Eyes on Isles, a FanSided site, where he has been typing away for the last five years.

Graduating from Carleton University with a Political Science degree and a minor in Foreign Relations, Michel has put his minor to good use during this pandemic. With the NHL season being delayed, Anderson has kept Islander fans up to speed on the prospects currently playing overseas.
When asked about his predictions for this upcoming season, he believes this team can continue where they left off.

“I figured they’d hit 97 points over a full 82 games, so pace that out over 56 games, and that’s 66 points,” Anderson said. “But I could be talked into more.”

You can follow Michel Anderson on Twitter at @TLOMitch, as well as hear his take on the Islanders by subscribing to the Eyes on Isles Podcast.

Christian Arnold

Before we get into Christian Arnold, I need to thank him for what he has done for me in my career thus far. In my sophomore year of college, I decided that sports journalism was the route I wanted to take. Adamant to get started, I reached out to as many Islander sites as possible, hoping one would give me a chance.

At the time, Christian’s site, Islanders Insight, gave me that opportunity that has changed my life. Since that day, he has taken me under his wing, and I would not be where I am today without his help and support.

Christian has been covering the Islanders since 2009, becoming a credentialed writer back in 2010. A lot of his memories of the team are professional, whether it be lockerroom interacts and other exhilarating moments that happen behind the scenes.

From a fan mentality, two memories come to mind. One being the playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013 and the 2015 playoff series against the Washington Capitals. While the Islanders lost both those series, it was more about the atmosphere to Christian than anything else.

“Those stand out so vividly because it was really a time when you saw how special the fan base can be and how special the Nassau Coliseum is during the playoffs.”

At an early age, going to Islander games became the norm.

“I always enjoyed going to hockey games with my dad. He was around in the 80s and saw the four cups and was an Islanders fan, so naturally, he started to take me to games while I was growing up. It started as one or two that first season, which I’d say was that 1999-2000 year. Then it increased that following year… If you remember that 2000-01 team, well then you can understand it was very, very easy to get tickets. Just enjoyed it from the jump and going to games.”

His favorite player growing up was Kenny Jonsson, who played for the Islanders from1995 to 2004.  He was fortunate enough to cover the game in which Jonnson was inducted into the Islanders Hall of Fame back in 2012.

When trying to find out who his favorite player is today, he stated that he tends to stay away from playing favorites given his professional position.

“I think that there are certain guys that you talk to in the locker room on or off the record that are just great people to have a conversation with. For instance, one I’ve gotten the chance to know a bit over the years is Scott Mayfield. He’s a great person as well as a very interesting guy to talk to. He’s definitely very insightful on a lot of things and you see it when it comes to hockey or anything else.”

His dream of becoming a sports journalist manifested back in his junior year of high school, circa 2009. He religiously read Islanders Point Blank, which was a blog run by the great Chris Botta.

“One day, I just thought to myself, hey, I think I can write too,” Arnold stated.  “So I tried it. I opened up a Blog Spot account and gave it a whirl. It’s still out there on the internet somewhere and makes me cringe every time I read some of the stuff I used to write. And no, I will not tell you how to find it.”

Do not worry, Christian. I did not spend two hours stalking the internet to find your long-lost blogs… which I may or may not have found.

Graduating from LIU Post with a degree in journalism, he has made the most of his opportunities. He has contributed to a variety of sites, including the New York Hockey Journal, Islanders Insight, Islanders Point Blank (ironically), and the Associated Press. Away from sports, he has had work published in Metro New York, the Miami Herald, York Daily Record, and WABCRadio.com.

His latest venture is NYI Hockey Now, a go-to site for all things Islanders, which launched this past July before the playoffs.

Arnold played it safe when I asked him about how the team will fair this year. “I try and stay away from predictions. Need to keep up that perception that I know what I’m talking about.”

You can follow Christian Arnold on Twitter @Christian_Arnold01 for his fantastic coverage of the team as well as listen to his weekly hockey show, Hockey Night New York.