Relive the Isles’ Glory Days… In Standard Definition

isles box setDespite having tremendous problems over the last decade, the New York Islanders are still a storied NHL franchise with a plethora of magic moments that, for some, trump some of the greatest in the history of the sport. Home to NHL greats the likes of Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies and Billy Smith, the team has seen some of the sports best players don their sweater over the years, playing in some of the most important games of the franchise and sport.

Because of that, it was only a matter of time until the NHL released a collectors’ DVD box set, chronicling the team’s 10 greatest games. However, for many hardcore fans of the team, the set is anything but great, as the NHL has made some serious mistakes that tarnish what could have been a once in a lifetime offering. Nevertheless, it’s still an enjoyable compilation that Islanders fans will enjoy, just not as much as they could have.

On the earlier discs in the set, the biggest problem is the video quality. While it has a rustic and nostalgic feel to it, the fact that the NHL didn’t remaster any of these games is a shame. It’s already an amazing experience to see this team play in their heyday, when no other team in the world could touch them, but seeing it in high-definition would have been a dream come true. Even in the epic game seven against the Pittsburgh Penguins in ’93, the quality leaves something to be desired, as you’ll often find yourself frustrated that such amazing hockey wasn’t preserved better.

Another problem is that aside from the last game on the disc and the 1982 Stanley Cup Final on disc three, all the announcing is done by out-of-town broadcasters, robbing the series of the comfortable feel it should have had. Jiggs McDonald and Eddie Westfall’s announcing of the team was a magical tandem that partly earned McDonald a spot in the hockey hall of fame. Not having them in this box set more is inexcusable. Most of the time, the announcers lack the knowledge of the team needed to do a solid job, especially on the ESPN2 feed for the 2002 Maple Leaf series and the CBC feed for the 1993 series with the Penguins.

Simply put, when an announcer doesn’t make a huge note of Pierre Turgeon coming back to the Islanders against the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions after getting his shoulder separated in one of the cruelest cheap shots in professional sports history, it’s hard to take them seriously.

Again, the broadcasting hurts the overall quality of the box set as well, but truth be told, having all of these games in one place is an accomplishment in itself. Seeing Steve Webb hit everything that moves against Toronto in 2002 and Kelly Hrudey making more saves than the man upstairs against Washington in 1987, combined with the glory days of the franchise is worth much more than the $50 price tag.

The box set is also a great reminder of how much the sport has changed over the years. Most of the hockey featured on this set is rough and tough, and will put a smile on many older hockey fans’ faces. It also serves as a history lesson for younger Islander fans, as they can see lesser-known but important players on several Islanders teams of the past like Greg Gilbert, Alan Kerr, Mikko Makela and Stefan Persson, making it a video encyclopedia of the team’s rich history.

So in spite of all the problems this set has, it eventually succeeds due to the material being presented and not the presentation of the material. If you can deal with that, then you’ll enjoy every minute of the classic hockey action featured on this box set.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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