Weird Islanders: The Podcast! - Episode 20 - Brent Sopel (with guest Matt Kammerer aka @ExIsledUsher)

Along with their friend Matty, a Nassau Coliseum usher since 2001, Mike and Dan remember eventual Stanley Cup champion defenseman Brent Sopel’s brief time with the Islanders.

They talk about the strange circumstances that brought Sopel to the Island and the high hopes management had for his veteran leadership and offensive skills. Sadly, the Islanders were a bit of a dumpster fire at the time, and his trade to Los Angeles just a few months later was greeted with relief and enthusiasm by the blueliner.

Later, they discuss Sopel’s place on the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks of 2010, the admirable charity and humanitarian endeavors of his playing and post-playing career, and how Matty once got the death stare by Jeff Tambellini, the weirdest Weird Islander to have played too many games to be an actual Weird Islander.

Thank again to Matt for coming on and for his kind words. Find him on Twitter at @ExIsledUsher. If you’re not following him there by now, you should be.

WEIRD BONUS MATERIAL!

• An actual free agent signing?! How?
• Video evidence that Brent Sopel was, in fact, an Islander.

• A few months later, the dude was happy to be free of the Islanders. Hard to blame him.
• But he did get a small measure of revenge.
• You can find out more about The Brent Sopel Foundation here.
• Preorder your Anders Lee Reverse Retro Bobblehead today from the fine folks at FOCO. This is a fantastic limited edition collectable that you won’t want to miss out on. Preorders are only open for a few weeks, so get yours in today at this link: https://www.foco.com/products/anders-lee-new-york-islanders-reverse-retro-jersey-bobblehead

What makes a “Weird Islander?”

We’re always open to suggestions about other Weird Islanders to discuss. Remember the criteria. Candidates must fulfill one of the two of the following:

• Played one (1) season or less for the Islanders or very short stints over multiple seasons.
• Be a veteran NHLer who is not generally associated with his time on Islanders.

Visit our friends!

• Vintage Ice Hockey has t-shirts, hoodies and jerseys with hundreds of classic hockey logos, and our Al Arbour and THE ISLAND merch, which benefit dementia research. Use the code ANXIETY to save 15%.
• The Pinot Project has Rosé, Pinot Grigio and a Pinot Noir that was named a 2022 Top 100 Best Buy by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. All are under $15 a bottle and are available at local wine shops and at UBS Arena.

Please subscribe, download, rate, review or spread the word about all of our Lighthouse Hockey podcasts any way you can. All of it helps to raise the show’s profile and maybe could get us another fancy sponsor to sell out to in the near future. And if you give us an iTunes review, write a comment here or even send us a tweet, we might just read it on our next show.

Theme song: “Knuckles” by Björn Falk. Hear more of his music on Spotify and at Bandcamp.

Drum sfx via Zapsplat.com.