Weird Islanders: The Podcast! - Episode 83 - Vladimir Orszagh (with guest Alex Daugherty)

Friend and Predators reporter Alex Daugherty is back to talk about Vladimir Orszagh, a Slovakian import who was undervalued as an Islander but was instrumental to establishing Nashville's - and Alex's - love for hockey.

The late 1990's were a terrible time for the Islanders. The loses were many and prospects had little support in advancing to the NHL. After a few dozen unimpressive games in North America, young Vladimir Orszagh took a sabbatical to Europe for a season, then returned to the NHL with the fourth-year Predators. There, he became a consistent scorer and joined with fellow Euros Denis Arkhipov and Martin Erat to form "The Vowel Line," the first named unit in Nashville's ice history. The trio helped the Predators make the playoffs for the first time and showed that with a good, hardworking team, hockey in Music City could work.

For Alex, a Predators fan since high school when they played their very first game, Orszagh is among the most important players in the team's early history. He tells us about skipping out of work to see a 1-0 win with Orszagh scoring the lone goal, how he helped the team and fanbase grow in a new market, and about his legacy in Nashville to this day. We also talk about Orszagh's international career, which includes being on one of the sickest rosters ever conceived and serving as the head coach of a Slovakian team that made some noise at the recent Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy.

We can't thanks Alex enough for coming on again, telling us these great stories and saying such nice things about the show. You should be reading him for all things Predators in The Tennessean and elsewhere. We also have a Weird Islanders Extra! bonus episode with him as well, where we share some weird stories about our teams' respective owners.

Visit our friends:

• Vintage Ice Hockey for t-shirts, hoodies and jerseys with hundreds of classic hockey logos, as well as the full line of Islanders Anxiety merch. As always our portion of those sales go directly to the Center for Dementia Research.

• The Pinot Project has a Rosé, a Pinot Grigio and a Wine Enthusiast Best Buy Pinot Noir, all under $15 a bottle. Available at local wine stores and UBS Arena.

• The fine folks at FOCO are having a Buy Two Get One Free sale on T-Shirts all through March. Go to FOCO.com or use this link to browse the store, then use the code ANXIETY2FOR1 to take advantage. The offer ends March 31st, so don’t wait.

• Visit Lighthousehockey.com for the most up-to-date Islanders news and discussion.

• Islanders Anxiety podcasts are part of the Fans First Sports Network (@FansFirstSN).

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