The New York Islanders Fisherman Shall Return...for Charity

It's easily the most hated jersey in New York Islanders history and commonly seen as a mistake around the NHL (which, to be fair, was a league of sartorial mistakes during the late '90s).

But not all Islanders fans hate the "Fisherman" jersey -- the design process called it "the bayman" -- and some recall it with affectionate nostalgia. You still see it worn in crowds today, and it's a good bet it will have some ironic street cred in Brooklyn.

According to Newsday's Neil Best, they'll get to relive that nostalgia for a brief promotion in the last season at Nassau Coliseum.

Just as the Islanders and other teams wear special warmup jerseys around certain holidays (Halloween, St. Patrick's Day) and causes (Cancer awareness/funds) to auction off for charity, Best reports there will be a night this season where the team wears a warmup jersey with a "modernized version" of the logo.

The original jerseys were essentially dead on arrival, and the logo was replaced as quickly as the league would allow. Ironically, the part that won't be revived this season -- the vertigo-inducing wavy hem and shoulder lines with equally wavy numbers -- lived on for a few more seasons but with the original Islanders crest restored.

Both elements were very '90s efforts -- breaking from traditional horizontal trims and avoiding block numbers -- and were actually thematically appropriate for the era and the area of the team.

But they didn't evoke "New York Islanders." At least, not the storied franchise founded and brought to dynastic success by Boe, Torrey and Arbour. More the "Fishsticks" of your local grocery aisle and a symbol of the string of criminal and/or fraudulent owners who let the team wilt.

Anyway, while neither element survived very long, one will make a brief, altered return to be auctioned for a good cause. Since the imagery is part of franchise history, this sounds like a perfect way to acknowledge it (...and probably test how it does in merchandising for future one-offs).