Islanders Anxiety: A New York Islanders podcast Islanders Anxiety

Joined by Pitchfork managing editor and Islanders fan Matthew Strauss, we remember the short and unmemorable but indicative tenure of Austin Czarnik. Joining the Islanders after productive stints in Boston and Calgary, Czarnik looked like he would be a fine depth piece or perhaps more for a roster that would be hit hard by injuries, Covid and bad luck. Even after he was lost on waivers to the NHL's (now second) newest team, he would find his way back to Long Island in a rare move by Lou Lamoriello. And although his final totals aren't much to write home about, Czarnik would come to personify a very weird brief time period in recent Islanders history. Matthew tells us why Czarnik still fascinates and haunts him, how rare he is among current former Islanders and how Billy Joel helped change the sound of heavy metal (yes, for real).
Subscribe to our Patreon! Plans start as low as $2 a month and patrons get ad-free episodes of the shows, bonus podcasts, written posts, discounts and much more.
Visit our friends:


Vintage Ice Hockey for t-shirts, hoodies and jerseys with hundreds of classic hockey logos, and our Al Arbour and The Island merch which benefit dementia research. Use the code ANXIETY20 to save 20% off an order of two items.


The Pinot Project has a Rosé, a Pinot Grigio and a Wine Enthusiast Best Buy Pinot Noir, all under $15 a bottle. Available at local wine stores and UBS Arena.

Visit Lighthousehockey.com for the most up-to-date Islanders news and discussion.

Islanders Anxiety podcasts are part of the Fans First Sports Network (@FansFirstSN).


Our theme is "Knuckles" by Björn Falk. Hear more of his music on Spotify and at Bandcamp.
Drum sfx via Zapsplat.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Dan react immediately following the Islanders' third period meltdown in Game Two against the Hurricanes, when a 3-1 lead became a 5-3 loss. No goal-by-goal recap for this one. You all saw it. The Islanders stopped playing after going up 3-0 on 12 shots, let Carolina take over the game and now come back home down 2-0 in the series. It was as embarrassing and unforgivable a loss as the franchise has ever seen at the most important time of year, and even a win on Thursday won't be enough to fully get us back on board.

Subscribe to our Patreon! Plans start as low as $2 a month and patrons get ad-free episodes of the shows, bonus podcasts, written posts, discounts and much more.
Visit our friends:


Vintage Ice Hockey for t-shirts, hoodies and jerseys with hundreds of classic hockey logos, and our Al Arbour and The Island merch which benefit dementia research. Use the code ANXIETY20 to save 20% off an order of two items.


The Pinot Project has a Rosé, a Pinot Grigio and a Wine Enthusiast Best Buy Pinot Noir, all under $15 a bottle. Available at local wine stores and UBS Arena.

The fine folks at FOCO have two new Islanders bobbleheads commemorating the Stadium Series game at Met Life Stadium. Order your Ilya Sorokin or Sparky The Dragon bobblehead today at FOCO dot com. These are limited to 124 pieces so act now.

Visit Lighthousehockey.com for the most up-to-date Islanders news and discussion.

Islanders Anxiety podcasts are part of the Fans First Sports Network (@FansFirstSN).


Our theme is "Morning Haze" by Family Dinner. Hear more of their music on Bandcamp and on Spotify.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Dan recap Game 1 of the Islanders-Hurricanes series, which featured a good performance but more bad luck against Carolina. For a large part of the game, the Islanders were the better team, showing prognosticators that they can hang with the presumptive Stanley Cup favorites. But just like 2019 and 2023, a bad bounce at the wrong time turned the tide and left the Islanders (in some cases, literally) scratching their heads. But as well as they played, there were some that could be better, which makes the outlook for Game 2 more optimistic, even if it means repeating their performance almost verbatim to achieve a different result. We also discuss the Coyotes one more time, as the franchise heads to Utah in a way that doesn't seem to make anyone happy (despite what the NHL wants you to believe).
Subscribe to our Patreon! Plans start as low as $2 a month and patrons get ad-free episodes of the shows, bonus podcasts, written posts, discounts and much more.
Visit our friends:


Vintage Ice Hockey for t-shirts, hoodies and jerseys with hundreds of classic hockey logos, and our Al Arbour and The Island merch which benefit dementia research. Use the code ANXIETY20 to save 20% off an order of two items.


The Pinot Project has a Rosé, a Pinot Grigio and a Wine Enthusiast Best Buy Pinot Noir, all under $15 a bottle. Available at local wine stores and UBS Arena.

The fine folks at FOCO have two new Islanders bobbleheads commemorating the Stadium Series game at Met Life Stadium. Order your Ilya Sorokin or Sparky The Dragon bobblehead today at FOCO dot com. These are limited to 124 pieces so act now.

Visit Lighthousehockey.com for the most up-to-date Islanders news and discussion.

Islanders Anxiety podcasts are part of the Fans First Sports Network (@FansFirstSN).


Our theme is "Morning Haze" by Family Dinner. Hear more of their music on Bandcamp and on Spotify.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 around and how not to get gaslighted by an "x-" next to the team's name in the standings. In the second half, Staple gives us a look inside the locker room and how the players felt about their rollercoaster campaign. He tells us how Patrick Roy's positivity has changed them on the ice, how the series might be closer than his colleagues might think and why people outside of Long Island really should start paying attention to the Islanders. It's a packed show to get you ready for Game 1 on Saturday.
Subscribe to our Patreon! Plans start as low as $2 a month and patrons get ad-free episodes of the shows, bonus podcasts, written posts, discounts and much more.
Visit our friends:


Vintage Ice Hockey for t-shirts, hoodies and jerseys with hundreds of classic hockey logos, and our Al Arbour and The Island merch which benefit dementia research. Use the code ANXIETY20 to save 20% off an order of two items.


The Pinot Project has a Rosé, a Pinot Grigio and a Wine Enthusiast Best Buy Pinot Noir, all under $15 a bottle. Available at local wine stores and UBS Arena.

The fine folks at FOCO have two new Islanders bobbleheads commemorating the Stadium Series game at Met Life Stadium. Order your Ilya Sorokin or Sparky The Dragon bobblehead today at FOCO dot com. These are limited to 124 pieces so act now.

Visit Lighthousehockey.com for the most up-to-date Islanders news and discussion.

Islanders Anxiety podcasts are part of the Fans First Sports Network (@FansFirstSN).


Our theme is "Morning Haze" by Family Dinner. Hear more of their music on Bandcamp and on Spotify.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 regular season finale versus Pittsburgh, plus we debut a new Master Leaf Theatre spinoff, Master Pens Theater (48:34-1:01:00), in which the real architect behind their run for the playoffs is revealed (spoiler: it's the bespectacled GM). Finally, we talk about the Coyotes' plight and upcoming flight to Salt Lake City, and how the NHL apparently wants to do more business with the crook that made it happen.
Subscribe to our Patreon! Plans start as low as $2 a month and patrons get ad-free episodes of the shows, bonus podcasts, written posts, discounts and much more.
Visit our friends:


Vintage Ice Hockey for t-shirts, hoodies and jerseys with hundreds of classic hockey logos, and our Al Arbour and The Island merch which benefit dementia research. Use the code ANXIETY20 to save 20% off an order of two items.


The Pinot Project has a Rosé, a Pinot Grigio and a Wine Enthusiast Best Buy Pinot Noir, all under $15 a bottle. Available at local wine stores and UBS Arena.

The fine folks at FOCO have two new Islanders bobbleheads commemorating the Stadium Series game at Met Life Stadium. Order your Ilya Sorokin or Sparky The Dragon bobblehead today at FOCO dot com. These are limited to 124 pieces so act now.

Visit Lighthousehockey.com for the most up-to-date Islanders news and discussion.

Islanders Anxiety podcasts are part of the Fans First Sports Network (@FansFirstSN).


Master Pens Theater theme is "The Rule" by Kevin MacLeod, available at FreeMusicArchive.org.
Our theme is "Morning Haze" by Family Dinner. Hear more of their music on Bandcamp and on Spotify.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 eye-opening in context. Somehow, this guy who was on a different team every year had a knack for instantly making himself one of their most important players just before he moved on to the next place. Adam tells us about Robitaille's role on the pre-Crosby Penguins, how dire those seasons were in Pittsburgh and rumors or Jaromir Jagr getting traded to the Islanders that were news to us. We also hear why you should never ask Randy if he's related to Luc Robitaille...
Thanks again to Adam for coming on. You can follow him on Twitter at @AGretz. He’s one of the good Penguins fans.
NOTE: This episode was recorded around the trade deadline and before the Penguins starting making a charge for the playoffs. We still had a good discussion about the state of the team so it was left in. This episode is also dedicated to the memory of Chris Simon.
Subscribe to our Patreon! Plans start as low as $2 a month and patrons get ad-free episodes of the shows, bonus podcasts, written posts, discounts and much more.
Visit our friends:


Vintage Ice Hockey for t-shirts, hoodies and jerseys with hundreds of classic hockey logos, and our Al Arbour and The Island merch which benefit dementia research. Use the code ANXIETY20 to save 20% off an order of two items.


The Pinot Project has a Rosé, a Pinot Grigio and a Wine Enthusiast Best Buy Pinot Noir, all under $15 a bottle. Available at local wine stores and UBS Arena.

Visit Lighthousehockey.com for the most up-to-date Islanders news and discussion.

Islanders Anxiety podcasts are part of the Fans First Sports Network (@FansFirstSN).


Our theme is "Knuckles" by Björn Falk. Hear more of his music on Spotify and at Bandcamp.
Drum sfx via Zapsplat.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices