Mike and Dan recap the Islanders clinching a playoff berth, look ahead to another series against Carolina and welcome in Arthur Staple of The Athletic to discuss the season that was. With a win over New Jersey on Monday, the Islanders' secured third place in the Metro Division and earned themselves a very rare meaningless (yet still very bizarre) game against Pittsburgh two nights later. We talk about whether this unstable season was a success, how they match up with the Hurricanes this time...

Mike and Dan recap a successful couple of games that have put the Islanders on the brink of clinching a playoff spot - which is both good and terrifying. An OT win over the Canadiens and a "feel good" shootout loss the Rangers meant huge points in the Eastern Conference playoff race. A win in New Jersey on Monday night would lock up third place in the Metro Division, but this team does nothing easy. So numbers and lineups and probabilities mean nothing. We look ahead to that game and the...

Joined by Penguins writer and fan Adam Gretz, Mike and Dan remember Randy Robitaille, who had a surprisingly productive NHL career for several teams. From going undrafted and getting hurt in his first game to playing for a whole bunch of undermanned units - who needed stunts like student discount passes just to get people in the building - Robitaille was never a star. But when his tour was over, he played over 500 games and averaged about a half a point per contest, numbers that are...

Mike and Dan wade into the aftermath of the Islanders 4-2 win over the Rangers, including a coach disagreement, bad acting, entitlement and anger. Sponsored by Hot Topic. After a blistering first period, the Islanders sat back while the Rangers took shots at a superhuman Semyon Varlamov. In the third period, Adam Pelech and Mika Zibanejad collided, setting off a thousand deranged takes from Rangers fans, who only got madder when Noah Dobson wasn't penalized for a late boarding play on Vincent...

Mike and Dan try to make sense of the Islanders' recent turnaround, that saw them win four straight and vault into third place in the Metro Division. What seemed like a lost cause suddenly became an uplifting triumph, sometimes within the same game. Wins over the Flyers, Blackhawks, Blue Jackets and, most improbably, the Predators included many of the team's bad habits, but also showed they're still capable of grinding out two points and can overcome certain demons when they want to. We also...

Mike and Dan examine an up-and-down trip to Florida and the Islanders' refusal to recognize their precarious situation, and recap their first ever live event. After a gutsy win over the Panthers, the Islanders seemed to gain a tiny bit of momentum in the sad race for the final playoff berths in the Eastern Conference. But then an embarrassing, impotent loss two nights later in Tampa extinguished it, as so many losses have done this season. With only nine games left, we still don't know why...

Dan and Kevin Schultz from VintageIceHockey.com take a look at some Islanders minor league affiliates of the past and the surprising players who skated for them. From the notable New Haven Nighthawks of the early 70's, to their long association with Fort Worth, Texas, to a championship club in Indianapolis to short stops in unique places like Kentucky, Utah and Lowell, Mass, the Islanders have had minor league teams of all stripes in a lot of places. Some players on those teams went on to be...

Mike and Dan recap a week of brief hope and crushing defeats as the hard working Islanders teams of just a few years ago finally disappear for good. Ineffective, embarrassing losses to the Hurricanes, Red Wings and Devils showed that this version of the Islanders has lost whatever spark it had and is only interested in cosplaying like the Islanders we once knew. A surprising victory over the Winnipeg Jets made us think for a moment that maybe they had one last run in them. But a goal-less...

Mike and Dan dissect a rare Islanders segment from Sportsnet's venerable 32 Thoughts podcast about the club's current losing streak and clouded playoff race. Hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman, 32 Thoughts is the most listened-to news podcast in hockey. They also don't watch the Islanders that often. So when they take in two disastrous games in the same weekend, they'll have a few things to say. What happens when two guys who live with the Islanders 24/7 listen to two guys who barely...

Mike and Dan move their scheduled recording up a day to rant about the Islanders' four-game losing streak and lack of response in games. From a "waste of time," to a team and a fanbase that was "different now" to yet another string of losses in a season full of them, this Islanders campaign continues to be exhausting and depressing. Something is still rotten on this roster and we give our theories, all of which end with the team having little to no response when challenged and only a few...

Joined by returning guest Nick Giglia, we celebrate goalie Al Montoya, who took a long road to the NHL and looked for a half season like more found money for the scrappy Islanders. Montoya had all the makings of an Islanders villain including getting drafted high by the Rangers and a preseason fight against Rick DiPietro. But after years of being blocked by other goalies on nearly every team he was on, a rash of injuries across the country and a favor by a sympathetic GM landed him on Long...

Despite the end of their six game winning streak and some scary games ahead, Mike and Dan remain hopeful about the Islanders' playoff chances (and the Penguins' demise). Massive wins over St. Louis, San Jose and Anaheim put the Islanders back into the wild card chase, took a big chunk off their goal differential and made fans rethink what we knew about this team. The killer instinct seems to be back, and Patrick Roy has the entire team playing its best hockey in years. Games against the...

Our post trade deadline Monthly Mail Bag podcast brought questions about the Islanders' lack of moves, future former Islanders who did not become Islanders, the future of the team's first round pick this year, what the 2014 trade deadline would have sounded like as an Islanders Anxiety episode and more. To hear the full episode, which is nearly two hours long and covers many, many more topics, sign up for the Country Club tier at Patreon.com/IslandersAnxiety. We'll be back Wednesday with a...

Mike and Dan recap the Islanders stunning week of huge wins that put them back in the playoff picture, and look ahead at this Friday's trade deadline. Victories over Dallas, Detroit and Boston gave fans renewed hope that this season might not be the waste of time it seemed just one week ago. Structured defense and great individual performances like Mat Barzal's shift in overtime against the Stars, Brock Nelson versus the Red Wings and Kyle Palmieri's natural hat trick against the Bruins made...

First ever Weird Islanders guest Carey Haber is back to chat with Mike and Dan about Justin Papineau, the vaunted return in the trade of Chris Osgood that turned out to not be. With a young Rick DiPietro (allegedly) ready for starting duty, the Islanders chose to trade Osgood to St. Louis for one of the Blues' most tantalizing prospects. Papineau was capable of flashing skill but it was often either in exhibition games or on very rare occasion during the regular season. After two up-and-down...

After two awful losses and one wobbly win in a crucial week, Mike and Dan discuss how this Islanders season has felt like a huge waste of time for everyone. Sure, Adam Pelech (of all people) scoring in overtime against the Penguins felt good. But the goal came after yet another blown third period lead and gave away a point to another team in the same playoff chase. Instead of using the win as a springboard to a streak, the Islanders lost winnable games against the Blues (in a shutout) and...

Mike and Dan react to the Islanders' gut-wrenching loss in the Stadium Series game against the Rangers at Met Life Stadium and a season full of gut-wrenching losses. For 55 minutes, the game was a fun one for Islanders fans who braved the travel and the cold to see the spectacle that only comes around once every 10 years. Then in the blink of an eye, it happened as it has so many times this season. Sloppy plays, penalties and powerplay goals against, then an incomprehensible giveaway seconds...

Joined again by podcaster and actor Michael Paul Smith, we remember when the Islanders were gifted two time Stanley Cup champion goalie Chris Osgood, who helped their quick transformation in the early 2000’s. The late 90’s Detroit Red Wings and Islanders were barely playing the same sport. One was the best team of its era and the other was all but dead in the water. But after making splashy trades for centers Michael Peca and Alexei Yashin, the Islanders - now owned by billionaire Charles...

Mike and Dan look back at an eventful week for the Islanders and elsewhere, with big wins, a frustrating loss, controversies up north and maybe some light tax evasion. They start with Saturday's sleepy loss to Calgary, another missed opportunity for a team that can't afford any, and how things could have been worse if not for a friendly out-of-town scoreboard. Then they go back to electric wins of the Lightning and Leafs last week that had us believing in Patrick Roy and Patrick Roy loving...

Mike and Dan come out of the NHL All Star Break with no idea how the Islanders will fare in the crucial next few games and with an epic edition of Master Leaf Theatre. While the team was on break (sans Mathew Barzal, who was part of the winning All Star team), Lou Lamoriello was making moves, including (officially) hiring Patrick Roy's new assistant coach, waiving frustrating forward Julien Gauthier and activating both Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech, who might be in the lineup on Monday in...

Mike and Dan catch up with NHL.com editor and all around Islanders luminary Brian Compton and remember Michael Dal Colle, a high first round pick who took the long road to become a fine defensive forward. With a pedigree that included bushels of goals and a Memorial Cup, Dal Colle seemed like the perfect pick for the still building Islanders. But before he could take his place on John Tavares’s wing, the young forward would experience a series of demoralizing setbacks. Whether it was...

With a bye week for the Islanders looming, Mike and Dan look at a potpourri of topics including more irritating losses, small strides and the team's big picture outlook. New coach Patrick Roy is trying to get his players on the same page, but hasn't had much time. And so many of the problems that plagued his predecessor are still costing the Islanders points. With a tough but not insurmountable deficit staring at them when they resume play, it makes us wonder about both the present and the...

Mike and Dan recap the first game of the Islanders' Patrick Roy experience, and reflect on some of the bigger stories at play in this new era. While their 3-2 overtime win over Dallas featured a lot of the same mistakes they've been making all season (as well as a fantastic game-winning goal by Bo Horvat), there was a noticeable uptick in energy. That might be just players trying to make a good first impression, but with post game comments from both them and the new coach, it's hard not to be...

Mike is back from Mexico, Lane Lambert is finally out and Patrick Roy is the Islanders' new coach. We try to unpack it all in a special emergency episode. After a dreadful, dreary loss in overtime a barely AHL-quality Blackhawks squad and some pointed comments afterward, Lou Lamoriello finally decided that his team needed a new voice. So on a Saturday afternoon, he decided to not only pull the trigger but bring in a big name that's spent years in Junior after a short, mixed NHL coaching...