Weird Islanders: The Podcast! - Relatively Famous (with guest Mike Basile)
“He might be terrible by NHL standards. But you know he could show up in his stocking feet and crush any beer league.” Mike and Dan are joined by Lighthouse Hockey legend Mike B to look at three short-time Islanders with much more famous family members.
You might not remember Nick Vachon, Ted Drury or Todd Okerlund as Islanders, but you probably know Rogie Vachon, Chris Drury and “Mean” Gene Okerlund, all of whom eclipsed the other guys in the notoriety department.
But Mike, Dan and Mike give the lesser-known players the spotlight, and talk about how they got to the Islanders, recap their biggest successes, see what they did after their stints and basically examine how perfectly “Islanders” each of them was.
Thanks again to Mike for coming on. This was his idea and we had a lot of fun with it. If you’re not doing so already, follow him at @NightflyBlog on Twitter.
WEIRD BONUS MATERIAL!
With three guys, there’s a ton. Here’s Nick Vachon getting called up and getting to play against the Kings, his dad Rogie’s old team. These days, he’s coaching his son in SoCal.
And, of course, here he is as Clark, the Canadian Hockey Goalie. The audio alone doesn’t do it justice.
Ted Drury, Chris’s brother, remains a man of mystery. Here he is fighting Future Weird Islander Jason Dawe:
And yes, Todd Okerlund did score a goal in the ‘88 Olympics. And it was immortalized by none other than Al Michaels:
I wonder what Todd’s dad, “Mean” Gene Okerlund had to say about his boy scoring in the Olympics. Whatever it was, I’m sure it was awesome.
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....
Want the trending hockey news in your inbox daily?.
Just add your email, and we'll start sending you the most important hockey news of the day.
