Islanders to use updated Fisherman jersey as 'Hometown Remix' NHL alternate jersey this season

What’s old is new again for the Islanders as they reintroduced their much-maligned Fisherman logo from the 1990s for this season’s Hometown Remix alternate jersey.

The NHL released alternate jerseys for all 32 teams on Monday. Newsday solicited fan reaction via e-mail and, based on the submissions, the Fisherman is still a polarizing figure though not everything was negative.

“I like the colors, but I am not a fan of the fisherman jersey,” said Hicksville’s Karen Johnson, 50. “I didn’t like it in the past and am still not a fan of it.”

“I was never a fan of the Fisherman,” said Michael Klinck, a 57-year-old Islanders fan who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. “As time has gone by, I guess I am just used to seeing it more and more and it doesn’t bother me as much. It has more of a liking by the younger fans, so the Islanders feel that they should continue to use it. They used it as an option for the fan-designed jersey contest earlier this year. As far as the jersey itself, I think it’s well done.”

The Islanders will debut their new sweaters when they continue a three-game homestand against the Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes on Thursday night at UBS Arena. It’s the first of 10 games the rest of this season to feature the jerseys – nine at home and April 1 in Pittsburgh – but they are not expected to be worn next season.

“We’ve already seen the impact today and early on, how the fans welcome it,” Kelly Cheeseman, the Islanders’ president of business operations, told Newsday. “It certainly always creates a conversation. Any jersey creates a conversation but it’s a very cool jersey that ties into the nostalgia and history of the organization. I think what it also does is connect the young kids of today to the impact of the past.”

The fan-designed jersey featuring a lighthouse logo, submitted by Elmont’s James Doyle, 22, to beat out more than 80,000 submissions in this offseason’s wildly popular, first-of-its-kind contest, will debut next season.

The new alternates are white with the Fisherman logo – which has hints of tonal gray in addition to the primary colors - and have blue, teal, orange and navy blue piping on the arms and the waistline. The navy blue shoulder yoke features an updated lighthouse logo and nods to both Long Island and New York.

“I think the wave/tidal piping is great and the lighthouse logo I enjoy as a secondary logo only,” Brett Cooper, 35, of East Rockaway said. “If I could jettison the fisherman logo to the moon, I would.”

Per the team, the Fisherman crest is updated to give it a more streamlined appearance.

“I was never a fan of the Fisherman logo but I must admit these are sweet,” Steven Manzo, 54, an Islanders’ fan from East Rutherford, New Jersey said. “Taking out the net and the orange trim give these a much sharper and cleaner look. And the color scheme really makes the jersey pop in a good way.”

The Islanders initially introduced the Fisherman logo for the 1995-96 season but fan backlash forced the team to scrap it in favor of the team’s original logo after two seasons. It was a time of great flux and shaky ownership for the franchise.

But time healed some wounds and the Fisherman was originally brought back during the 2022-23 season for the team’s Reverse Retro jersey.

“When the Fisherman first came out in 1995, I hated it,” Don Becker, 53, of Valley Stream said. “Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated it! I've softened my stance on it since and can accept it as a third jersey. The Hometown Remix edition is a huge improvement on the Reverse Retro Fisherman from a few years ago. That said, $315 at Isles Lab is WAY too much money for a jersey.”

https://x.com/NYIslanders/status/2117270543799857494

The Fisherman was also used for their AHL affiliate last season in Bridgeport, Connecticut, before the team was transferred to Hamilton, Ontario and renamed the Hammers.

“When I was 13 years old in 1995, I was the target audience for the Fisherman logo when the Islanders unveiled it,” said Glenn Giangrande, now 45, of Forest Hills. “There was nothing wrong with the classic logo. The Fisherman looked terrible and that was before it became an emblem representative of one of the most embarrassing eras any North American sports franchise has ever experienced. Now I’m middle-aged and crazy but my opinion of this logo remains the same. Why revisit this era and invite opposing fans to bring back, ‘We want fish sticks,’ chants.”

Added Jeff Camp, 60, of Clifton, New Jersey, “For those of us who lived through it, that logo represents an era of embarrassment, ineptitude, and some of the darkest years in Islanders history. This is a franchise that won four consecutive Stanley Cups and established itself as one of the greatest dynasties in professional sports. Bringing back the Fisherman isn't nostalgia; it's a reminder of how far the organization fell from those heights.”

Newsday's Ben Dickson contributed to this report.