Islanders Anxiety: A New York Islanders podcast Islanders Anxiety

Mike and Dan recap some notable events of the last week including some Islanders press junkets, rookie camp and Josh Bailey's goodbye and PTO with Ottawa. We start with Lou Lamoriello's preseason press conference where he gave updates on Alex Romanov, Zach Parise and the coaching staff, as well as reminding everyone how schedules work. Rookie camp got underway with a few guys, such as 2022 pick and recent ELC-signer Isaiah George, turning heads. But it was Josh Bailey, the forever Islander, stealing some of the spotlight by penning a goodbye letter to Long Island in The Players' Tribune, then signing a try-out with the Ottawa Senators, leading to all kinds of mixed emotions. Finally, they discuss the Mike Babcock fiasco in Columbus, some kind words for Islanders fans from an unlikely source and Mike's brother's upcoming wedding. Compared to the rest of the Islanders' summer, it's been a lot to take in.
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. If you spend $50 or more, use the code FOURCUPS to get a free The Island coffee mug or pint glass or an Islanders Anxiety puck.

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).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a special bonus, subscribers to the main Islanders Anxiety feed can enjoy this month's Patreon-only Monthly Mail Bag podcast. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing at Patreon.com/IslandersAnxiety to receive more exclusive podcasts, written posts, ad-free episodes of Islanders Anxiety and Weird Islanders: The Podcast!, early access to Islanders Award Winners and more.
What a collection of questions! From a sincere wondering if we're ready for this shit, to a philosophical question about Adventureland, this Mail Bag podcast has it all. We answer inquires about the Islanders current roster, the state of their organizational goaltending "depth," historical What Ifs, the NHL media landscape and why exactly are Islanders fans like this? We also ask how Leafs writers and Penguins fanboy writers can coexist at The Athletic, what the best seat to watch an an NHL game from and where the weirdest place we spotted a fellow Islanders fan. It's an answer and laughs packed show so sit back and enjoy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Dan get together in the middle of a quiet summer to discuss an interview with former Islanders GM Garth Snow that tries (and fails) to change people's opinions about the events of July 1, 2018. With his Islanders contract done and with an eye towards getting back into an NHL front office, Snow decided to tell Islanders fans, through the New York Post's Ethan Sears, that they are wrong to boo former captain John Tavares whenever he returns to Long Island as a Maple Leaf. In Snow's eyes, the decision to not trade Tavares before he hit free agency came from owner Scott Malkin, not the player or the general manager. While that might be true, Snow's misunderstanding of why fans still hate Tavares, not to mention the out-of-left-field timing and other petty-sounding quotes, come as a disappointment to many who viewed his work with the team in a positive light. It’s the first real noteworthy Islanders thing that we've seen in months, so the guys have a lot to say.
To get Islanders content all summer long 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. If you spend $50 or more, use the code FOURCUPS to get a free The Island coffee mug or pint glass or an Islanders Anxiety puck.


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. Learn more at Fansfirstsports.com.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special free episode of our Patreon exclusive non-hockey podcast, Mike gets a lesson from Dan on Bravo's Vanderpump Rules and the drama known as the "Scandoval."
From a spin-off of a spin-off to a surprise hit to a dire, unwatchable mess, Vanderpump Rules has been a wild ride. But when star Tom Sandoval cheated on his girlfriend of nine years, Ariana Madix, with her friend (and a former fiancé of a mutual friend) Raquel Leviss, it upended what everyone knew about the show and its stars, and re-contextualized everything viewers saw happen on screen. This revelation, coming a few episodes into the season, meant there were effectively two concurrent stories happening simultaneously: one that was filmed and one that was happening off camera. It made for fascinating viewing for fans but confusing times for non-fans like Mike.
Dan tries to get Mike to understand all of this and the history of the show, despite his natural antipathy towards it and its cast. Some headway was made but it's safe to say that Vanderpump Rules won't replace darts or cricket on Mike's watching schedule.
If you like what you hear, consider subscribing to our Patreon! Plans start as low as $2 a month and patrons get ad-free episodes of Islanders Anxiety and Weird Islanders: The Podcast!, bonus shows like Country Club Atmosphere and the Monthly Mailbag, early access podcasts, written posts, discounts and much more.
Here is some further reading and listening if you are interested in more about Scandoval!


Vulture.com, led by Dame Bryan Moylan, the founder of the Real Housewives Institute for the Reality Television Arts, is the go-to place to read all about this nonsense by people that take it seriously but also, thankfully, not seriously at all.


This article by Roxana Hadidi from Vulture got to the heart of why Tom Sandoval's defense of his actions fell on deaf ears (and blind eyes).

There are many Bravo-focused podcasts (much like sports teams have) but the best of them is Watch What Crappens, by Ronnie Karam and Ben Mandelker. The guys are hilarious, knowledgeable and prolific, covering just about every show Bravo produces. Check them out wherever you get your podcasts, on video or at their own Patreon.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In their (probable) season finale, Mike and Dan react to the Islanders' four long contract extensions from Free Agency Day and the over-the-top national grades the team received. The new contracts for Scott Mayfield, Pierre Engvall and Semyon Varlamov are mostly cheap but very long, but the new contract for Ilya Sorokin keeps the Vezina Trophy runner up on Long Island for the next decade so, frankly, who cares about the other ones? The hosts are fine with the deals but look at some rumored trades the club could make. Meanwhile, hack NHL writers everywhere will tell you that Lou Lamoriello is a war criminal and we've had it with them. Islanders fans deserve better than the coverage we get, but sadly the landscape isn't changing anytime soon. Either way, we'll still be here. Thanks for listening and enjoy the offseason. We'll be back in October.
To get Islanders content all summer long 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. If you spend $50 or more, use the code FOURCUPS to get a free The Island coffee mug or pint glass or an Islanders Anxiety puck.


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).


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recording of Mike and Dan's livestream during the first round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. With the draft broadcast streaming in the background, the hosts talk about, joke, analyze (in our way...) and generally experience the event together in real time, chatting with guests along the way. Somehow they managed to talk for three hours about the Islanders during a broadcast in which they were barely mentioned at all.
This was an experimental project and we're happy to say everyone had a great time. We'll do more livestreams via Playback.tv in the future.
Please note that the audio is unedited so there are long gaps in the recording while we were watching the draft broadcast.
To see the full video version, subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/islandersanxiety.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices