Looks like fish sticks are back on the menu.
Hockey fans of a certain age remember the infamous New York Islanders “fisherman” jerseys used from 1996-1997. Gone was the classic “NY” with a hockey stick in front of a map of their Long Island home.
Instead, it was replaced by a cartoonish fisherman who bore more than a striking resemblance to the mascot of Gordon’s fish sticks.
Present-day fans have grown to like the logo enough the Islanders dipped their toes back in the water to wear the jersey as an alternate a few times over the past few years. That is until the tradition was uneventfully ended this past season.
The New York Islanders are ready to have fish sticks back in the organization
Meanwhile their AHL affiliate is ready to go full fisherman for the upcoming season. The Bridgeport Islanders revealed a new logo, a version of the infamous fisherman, earlier this month. The fisherman is a bit updated, with grey and more of the Islanders' primary colors of royal blue and orange.
The Bridgeport AHL team has been an affiliate of the Islanders since their founding in 2001 and was bought by the Islanders in 2004.
Their original name “The Bridgeport Sound Tigers” was chosen because of the city’s association with famous circus owner P.T. Barnum. It never really created a cohesive brand with the parent club, so the team renamed themselves the “Bridgeport islanders” before the 2021-2022 season.
Their then-new logo was an orange “B” with a hockey stick, which cleverly featured the famous “NY” from the Islander’s logo in the form of stick tape on the blade.
The failed Islanders rebrand of the mid-1990s is one of the NHL’s more interesting stories. Nicholas Hirshon wrote the book, “We Want Fish Sticks: The Bizarre and Infamous Rebranding of the New York Islanders”, on the subject.
Long story short, the rebrand failed because the team replaced its beloved logo from the dynasty years with a logo that was worn, and associated, with losing seasons.
The islanders were motivated by booming NHL merchandise sales to try their hand at earning extra revenue. Now the logo has a sort of “retro coolness” to it that fans appreciate.
One interesting thing we’d like to see is if Bridgeport changes its mascot. Back during the Fisherman days, the Islanders had a costume fisherman mascot named “Nyles” (a play on “NY” and “Isles”).
Nyles wasn’t well received his first go around, to put it lightly (read what one young fan was quoted to New York Times in Hirshon's article we linked above).
The Nyles character has come back to Islanders games along with their current and longtime mascot Sparky the Dragon. Making Nyles a permanent mascot in Bridgeport would make sense for the rebrand. Bridgeport’s current mascot is a blue tiger named “Storm”.
Given the renewed fan interest in the doomed Islanders “fisherman” era this makes perfect sense for the organization. The fun and unique promotions and activities of the minor leagues are a perfect place for the Islanders jersey to fit in.
It’s perfect for a farm team that never really fit in with their parent club. Hopefully, it will bring more fans to games, as well.
The AHL as a league finished last year with the third-highest attendance in league history and an average of 5,920 fans per game. Bridgeport finished fourth to last in average AHL attendance with just over 3,100 fans per game.