New York has had its share of great sports rivalries; Yankees – Mets, Jets – Giants, Dodgers – Giants, Knicks – Nets, but none have been more intense for both the fans and players alike than the four decade old feud between the Rangers and the Islanders.
That rivalry has now been chronicled in great detail in a new book called Ice Wars, The Complete Story of New York’s Greatest Modern Sports Rivalry by Gil Martin.
The book features a chapter for every season from 1972 when the Islanders joined the NHL along with the Atlanta Flames through the 2015-16 season
Each chapter begins with the league standings for that season, a review of the each team’s performance that year as well as head-to-head records and statistics. Then there are recaps, sometimes humorous, of each regular season and playoff game between the two rivals that season. Milestone games are highlighted and each chapter includes a profile of a Ranger and Islander player, some famous, some infamous. Included in the text are comments from the over 50 former players, coaches, broadcasters and front office personnel that Mr. Martin interviewed for the book.
The book also contains many little known facts about both clubs especially the Islanders. For example, when the Isles hosted the Blueshirts for their first ever home pre-season game in October of 1972, the brand new Nassau Coliseum was not fully completed. Seats were still being installed in a makeshift press box and they didn’t have a scoreboard, so they had to borrow one from Skateland, the Rangers practice site in New Hyde Park. Little tidbits like that make the book an entertaining as well as informative read.
At 495 pages, the book is a tome and not meant to be read cover-to-cover. It’s more like an encyclopedia that I guarantee you will refer to many times during the season. In his introduction, Mr. Martin states that this was “a book that he was born to write” and I’m glad he did. It’s the most complete history of the Islanders – Rangers rivalry that I’ve seen and would be a great addition to any serious fans’ hockey library.
