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Weird Islanders: The Podcast! - Episode 64 - Arnie Brown (with guest Greg Prato)

Arnie Brown walked so that Kirk Muller and Dan Boyle could run.

By Dan Saraceni and Michael J. Leboff
1 Comment / 1 New / new

With author Greg Prato, Mike and Dan travel back to the Islanders’ inaugural 1972 season to learn about Arnie Brown, a former Ranger who did not enjoy his short stay on Long Island.

The original Islanders were worse than bad. They were, at the time, the least successful team in NHL history. When he acquired the 31-year-old Brown in October of 1972, Bill Torrey was probably looking for a veteran leader and someone who knew how to play defense. What he got was a combative malcontent who openly wanted to be traded and was ready to play the heel, often to hilarious ends.

But Brown’s eventual trade months later led to the acquisition of not one but two Islanders legends - one four decades later.

Prato tells us about his indispensable book “Dynasty: The Oral History of the New York Islanders, 1972-84” as well as his latest, “Hapless Islanders: The Story Behind the New York Islanders’ Infamous 1972-73 Season” and some of the stories surrounding that season. Along the way we discuss names like Ernie Hicke, Brian “Spinner” Spencer, Denis DeJordy and...uh... Tony Orlando and Dawn? It’s a wild ride in the Wayback Machine.

Thanks again to Greg for coming on. Order “Hapless Islanders” from Amazon today and also pick up a copy of “Dynasty” if you don’t already have it. And check out his music writing at Allmusic.com and Ultimateguitar.com among other outlets. Here’s the brand new interview he published with the great Alex Lifeson of Rush.

WEIRD BONUS MATERIAL!

  • By the time he was 15, Arnie Brown was being scouted by the Leafs. He played with the Marlies at 20 after Punch Imlach got into a dispute with his junior team, St. Michael’s Majors.
  • Brown was traded from Toronto to the Rangers in a massive trade in 1964. He wasn’t thrilled at the time but he ended up playing with Hall of Famers Harry Howell and Brad Park. Not a bad gig.
  • His best season with the Rangers was 1969-70, when he scored 15 goals. This vinyl record of “The Rise of the Rangers,” narrated by Marv Albert, captures a couple of them.
  • After getting traded to Detroit and spending a couple of disappointing seasons as a Red Wing, he was sent to the expansion Islanders in October of 1972. He was… not happy on Long Island. At all. He was booed by their own fans (who he tried to physically fight) and once said, “The league is laughing at us, the fans are laughing at us. But they created us, and they’re laughing at themselves.” After constantly asking Bill Torrey to trade him, he was sent to the Islanders’ expansion cousin Atlanta Flames shortly after that quote. Shocking.
  • He was eventually part of the Michigan Stags of the WHA, who moved to Baltimore halfway through their first and only year of existence. He finished with the Vancouver Blazers.
  • The NHL paid tribute to Brown when he passed away in 2019.
  • We touch on a few other inaugural Islanders as well including Ernie Hicke, the man Brown was traded for. Hicke was critical to an important early Islanders trade - the one that brought J.P. Parise to Long Island and led directly to them beating the Rangers in their first playoff series that Spring.
  • Here’s Hicke fighting Boston’s Bobby Schmautz, a pretty tough customer in their era:

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.

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