The NHL released each team’s reverse retro jersey on Monday, but a few Islanders fans gave theirs a lot of pushback.

“It’s lame,” Judas Patrikeyev said. “For something that’s supposed to be retro or reverse retro, [the team] could’ve played around with it more and they just didn’t.”

Aytan Silverman said the jersey is too similar to what they currently wear. “I wouldn’t have known those were retros if they didn’t tell me,” he said. “Looks the same as the regular jerseys.”

The jerseys are supposed to be a throwback to what the team wore during the dynasty years. It’s a darker shade of blue than the current home jerseys, reminiscent of the team’s home jerseys from the Dynasty era. The jersey also reversed orange and white stripes at the bottom as was the case in the team’s original jersey.

Some jersey concepts before the release predicted the Islanders would reinstate their “fisherman” logo. The Islanders wore the fisherman jersey in 1995-1996 and the majority of the 1996-1997 season. It was extremely unpopular, and Rangers fans used it as a way to taunt the Islanders. The fisherman resembled the fisherman from the box of Gorton’s fish sticks, leading to the infamous chant, “we want fish sticks!” It didn’t help that the team finished in last place that year.

Dylan Cholewka said he wanted the jersey to include the once unpopular logo. “It’s honestly a lost opportunity,” he said. “We could’ve had our fisherman jerseys back but instead we get the same exact jersey but darker.”

Other teams took the opportunity to reinstate an old logo. The Avalanche designed a jersey with the Nordiques logo, the Rangers went back to “lady liberty,” and the Hurricanes got a Whalers jersey.

“Every other team showcased something completely different from what they currently wear,” Zoe Baker said. “It seems like the Isles are given the least thought and effort in everything.”

But Isles fan Rob Gruber wasn’t crazy about the logo since it has a controversial history. “The fisherman logo should be retired to the dumpster and set on fire,” Gruber said. “It was horrible back then and bringing it back every year is just a stupid attempt at ‘retro.'”

Despite the logo not ending up on the new jersey, the Islanders actually released merchandise with the fisherman logo and color scheme on Tuesday.

🔥 Herschel x Fisherman 🔥

Pro Shop at @NHIceCenter hours:
M-F 10am-8pm
Weekends 10am-4pm pic.twitter.com/siPV5mCntC

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 18, 2020

“The fisherman products constantly sellout,” @Stoopkid13 posted on Twitter. “The older generation might hate it, but to the fans who grew up as kids with that logo, it’s nostalgic.”

The fisherman product constantly sellout, the older generations might hate it, but to the fans who grew up as kids with that logo it’s nostalgic.

— Chris (@Stoopkid13) November 18, 2020

Amidst the criticism, there has been some praise for the new threads. “Beauty is simple,” Harry M. wrote. “Nice colors, reverse striping and a gorgeous [navy blue]. I like this a lot and I’ll be rocking it of course.”

At the end of the day, some Islanders fans said they prefer a winning team to a good looking reverse retro jersey. “I don’t care what they wear so long as they win,” Patrick Nilan said. The league has floated the possibility of the season starting on January 1st, and the team will likely debut the new jersey soon afterward.

Ben Baruch

Born and raised on Long Island. Isles fan since 2009. Studying journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.