If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you probably know that I’m a fan of the New York Islanders’ infamous Fisherman jersey. That’s not to say I’m not a fan of the traditional Islanders jersey, nor am I trying to compare the two in terms of which is better, but I always thought the Islanders were ahead of their time when the Fisherman debuted. The fact that the jerseys only lasted two seasons after Islanders fans demanded the team go back to the original logo didn’t give the jersey any time to become part of the identity, and today’s book looks at that as Teebz’s Book Club proudly reviews We Want Fish Sticks: the bizarre and infamous rebranding of the New York Islanderswritten by Nicholas Hirshon and published by University of Nebraska Press. If you’re looking for a direct examination of why the Fisherman jersey failed, this book pulls back the curtain on what happened in Nassau County!
Of his biography on his websiteNicholas Hirshon, a former New York City journalist, is an associate professor of communications at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from St. John’s University, a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in mass communications from Ohio University. Hirshon won a 2014 AEJMC Promising Professors Award and the 2019 New Jersey Journalism Educator of the Year Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2015, his students at Ohio University nominated him for a Graduate Associate Outstanding Teaching Award, and he became the first journalism instructor to win the award in eight years. He has published three books on New York City sports during his career.We want fish fingers is the kind of writing I appreciate because it feels like Hirshon put no effort into his quest to understand and illustrate the reasons why the New York Islanders logo and jersey redesign failed so spectacularly in the mid-1990s. He doesn’t soften the stories or soften the words he chooses to describe some of the evidence he provides. In what feels like a journalistic style, Hirshon simply puts things matter-of-factly and lets readers come to their own conclusions based on the evidence he presents.
For me the key to We want fish fingers Being a credible and reliable source of information about an era that took place thirty years ago is Hirshon speaking to “fifty-three hockey insiders” about that 1995-97 period of Islanders hockey. While Hirshon constructed the book’s narrative, these fifty-three insiders gave Hirshon their honest thoughts on that era in Islanders’ history. Players talked about wearing the Fisherman jersey. Designers talked about the process it took to get the logo and jersey on NHL players. Others simply told stories that seemed larger than life. In the end, We want fish fingers is an incredible look into the rebranding process of an NHL team.
Hirshon makes it clear in We want fish fingers that there were missteps at almost every major point in the New York Islanders rebranding. Whether it was rushing to get it into production from the design aspect, ignoring market research, having a non-competitive NHL team, hiring the wrong people, absentee owners, and a con artist who was eventually thrown in jail, all of these factors seemed to contribute to the Visser’s failure. It wasn’t one big problem, but… We want fish fingers points out that the Islanders rebrand failed due to death by a thousand cuts with the mistakes made.
Not surprisingly, Hirshon illustrates this well when he wrote:
Within the franchise, the logo quickly became a scapegoat for the Islanders’ poor play. Just two months into the season, the team was already on two four-game losing streaks, and the players’ distaste for the jerseys caused them to look for other motivations to get through a long season. Rich Pilon said he stayed driven by focusing on the guys sitting next to him on the bench. You put on the jersey for the team, so to look past that when you wear that jersey where “I didn’t care about it on my side – neither did many of the players – then you play for teammates, right?”
Such a summary of how the first two months of wearing the Fisherman went probably won’t give anyone a good feeling. You could say that the jerseys had nothing to do with how the team played, which is true, but it seems like the Fisherman logo was symbolic of the problems behind the logo within the Islanders franchise.We want fish fingers However, it is not all doom and gloom. Hirshon also spoke about some of the positives the franchise experienced during this time. The emergence of players like Žigmund Pálffy and Travis Green gave fans hope for better times to come, and the acquisitions of Bryan Smolinski and Mathieu Schneider strengthened a lineup in need of some star power. Wins over the hated New York Rangers were celebrated by all Islanders fans, and people cheered John Spano’s reported purchase of the team until they didn’t. We want fish fingers emphasizes all this and its consequences.
General, We want fish fingers is an incredible look at the four-year period in which the idea of a rebranding of the Islanders began, from its inception to its ultimate conclusion. Hirshon’s interviews and research give fans an incredible look into the NHL’s branding process as they follow the rather sad fortunes of the Fisherman Islanders jersey. We want fish fingers won’t change my opinion of the Fisherman jersey, nor will it make me want to sell the one I have, but Hirshon’s incredible take on the New York Islanders’ most forgettable period in their history definitely deserves credit Teebz’s Book Club Seal of Approval!
We want fish fingers was published in 2018, but can still be ordered from the University of Nebraska Press website if one would like a copy. Alternatively, you may be able to find a copy at your local bookstore or library. Wherever you find a copy, We want fish fingers is a good read for all hockey fans, especially New York Islanders fans, and recommended for anyone without the mocking chants!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
#TBC #fish #sticks