Players Only: New York Islanders captain Anders Lee joins

Players Only: New York Islanders captain Anders Lee joins

B, we got New York Islanders captain Anders Lee. We appreciate you swinging by just in Detroit here with the New York Islanders going to be playing game, but I got to start off with some heavy stuff, dude. I don’t mean to be setting the mood as being down in the dumps. How did Notre Dame not make it to the college football playoff, bud? I think I don’t know. They were campaigned against themselves, I guess, a little bit at the end, but bummer not to see him in it. That was that was uh it was tight. I mean, they’re just bumping back all the arguments on who’s in, who’s out. They’re just going to expand it. I think they got to They have to now. I think enough people are upset about this one. They should be in it. It’s the the best team should be in it. No, is it not? Or because how they distinguish who What is it? What’s the What’s the smaller market team that got in? JMU? I don’t even know, man. What What would the spread be on that game? What would the line be on a Notre Dame JMU game? Like I agree. I think I would have picked up my ball and gone home just like Notre Dame. Would you agree with their decision not to play in any bowl games? Well, you know what I mean? These kids have so much on the line now. You know, I mean, few of the seniors trying to go play in the NFL, get ready for the combine. Um, you know, you can there’s other schools that have pulled out as well. It’s an interesting thing. I mean, you you hate to see it at the end of the day, but you know, these big bowl games now are the playoff ones. Uh, so just to stay with that, maybe some fans don’t know, we’ve talked to you about it before, but you had quite the the background of playing football and hockey from Edina and you had scholarship options at in both sports and some schools for both sports at that school. Can you kind of take us through that process and and uh did did Notre Dame ever approach you about playing football there? I wish they did. I wish they did. I was a freshman on campus and uh we always had a good time going to the games and and watching those guys. But different level different level of uh you know at the helm there as a quarterback to play at Notre Dame. But um you know just fortunate enough growing up in Minnesota where we could play multiple sports and still have access to the highest levels of it. Um you know playing in the elite league in the fall uh for hockey which is this kind of league where a lot of us get recruited. uh we play that on the weekend so allowed us to play football during the week playing that on the weekend and before the high school season started. So uh kind of get us in front of some scouts and all of that but uh you know some very fond memories of playing all those sports with uh buddies I grew up with and uh grateful I was able to do that. Now Anders have you spoken with Mason West? He’s the first round pick from Chicago who was well documented. He went back to school, finished his senior year playing football as a quarterback from Edina as well. You’ve heard of this kid. Has he ever reached out to you or have you spoken with him? Have you followed him at all? Yeah, absolutely. Uh I was super happy for him to have gone back and made that decision to play and obviously lead the the town to a state championship that hadn’t happened in a really long time. But uh I was I was talking with him last last spring, last summer trying to get him to ND. uh he ended up going to Michigan State which is is great for him. I’m happy for him and um but it is great to see you know these kids that are able to play multiple sports and excel in both and show that it’s possible and you know the specialization is great and all that stuff but being an athlete is pretty important too and I think he’s a great example of that. He’s just another young phenom out there. You he’s got one of the the biggest ones that people are talking about now in in New York there with the Islanders and Matthew Schaefer. What has been your first impression of him as far as just how he is as a player, but how he is as a kid, too? Yeah, I mean, he’s he’s mature kid. I mean, he he’s handled all this, you know, pressure being the first overall pick. It doesn’t even doesn’t even phase him. He just goes out there and plays. And, you know, his skill levels um on a different level. I think, you know, from the get-go, first few days in camp, it was pretty obvious that he was going to be sticking around. Uh but for him to perform the way he has first 35 games in the NHL, it’s it’s impressive. He’s uh it’s uh been a great turn of events for us as an organization to, you know, be able to get that first overall pick last summer and and bring him in and, you know, really help us change our team a little bit. Eli, you certainly made you guys extremely exciting to watch. I’m sure that’s contagious. Now, switching gears a little bit to a different teammate of yours. I mean, one of the coolest, saddest plays of the season happened to, you know, our buddy Kyle Pomeary. Just what I mean, now that the dust has settled a little bit, have you guys talked about just the gravity of what he was able to accomplish after a catastrophic injury that he probably had some idea was going to be bad, but then making the play that he made trying to get to the bench. Do you guys have you guys spoken to him about that or is it just like legend status? I mean it I don’t know how it can’t be. I mean I’ve been through that injury and I was not able to get up and you know he goes down finds his way up and not only when he got the puck like he didn’t just toss it or he like kind of looked and made a little bit of a play throw some sauce on it. I it’s just uh Palms is an impressive guy. Uh his pain tolerance is extremely high and a tough player for a long time. And um you know if that’s going to be your last play of the season for a little bit here um it was a it was a hell of a one. Oh my gosh. I I was watching that. I’m like this is unbelievable. The fact you know what do you know what actually got me before he made that play is that the fact that he got up and grabbed his stick even. You know what I mean? Like in that moment I would have thought like I just want to try to get off the ice. I understand that as far as just trying to get off on your own ability. But none of that play happens if he doesn’t pick up his stick. And he had the whereabouts pick up the stick. Now let’s look around. I It blows my mind. Two, three stick handles, backhand saws. It’s unbelievable. He didn’t even watch the play he made, you know. He’s in the tunnel. He’s in the tunnel. Um going to get checked out. But impressive play by him and he’s doing well now and on his road to recovery, which is great as well. But uh like I said, just a hell of a way to to go out uh even under the, you know, tough circumstances. It’s a good leader with you guys. uh you are the leader uh as far as the captaincy with this team and and it’s not just the stuff you do on the ice, stuff you do off the ice. Um you do great work with the your charity Jam Cancer uh in Jam Cancer in the can and uh you got any plans coming up for for the holidays with the with the foundation? Yeah, we do. We kind of turn our focus here to um you know the holidays. Uh families that have been dealing with a cancer diagnosis and um and have been you know so focused on that that things can get tough around the holidays. Uh those who are struggling to put presents under the tree. Um we try to come in and lighten their load. Um kind of figure out what the kids are looking for for Christmas. Uh and try to deliver as much as we can to them. and you know, like I said, just make the holidays as special as they can. Uh even though they’re going through a tough time or um struggling with, you know, all the treatments and everything. So, it’s a it’s a fun part of the year for us that we can reach out and and make a difference and, you know, go back to kind of what the holidays are all about and looking out for one another and being grateful for everything. Yeah, we have some stats on the page there from your charity. I remember you reaching out to me. Unfortunately, I got traded too often. and I didn’t I wasn’t good enough to sign long-term deals uh when you did. But how long have you been doing this? Because I remember we spoke about it years ago and it was so interesting to me. It was such a great idea. I’m glad you’re still doing it. It’s doing well. But how long when did this start? When and how long have you been doing it? Yeah, we’re we’re coming up on 10 years here. Um wow. You know, kind of that 2016 2017 season was uh when we kind of got things knowing going. I met a kid named Phenov and um who had neuroblastto and made a big difference on my life and uh we had a wonderful friendship and uh started you know understanding what it meant to him to have someone looking out for him or helping him out or anything like that and kind of just continued to do it because I think we were able to reach so many kids and families. Um, and you know, our fans, my teammates, everyone’s been so supportive of the cause and our event that, you know, kind of allows us to do everything throughout the season and throughout the rest of the year. Um, so we’ve been been really excited to just keep this thing going and um, and we’ve been enjoying it. We know we’re going to have a lot of Islander fans watching this, but also just NHL fans in general. If they want to get involved with this, where can you direct them? Jamcancerinthecan.com. uh typically have something going uh like this right now. We got the holiday event going and trying to get um everyone uh some presents for the holidays as well as you know in the spring. Um we’ll get uh ask for some some applications, hand out some scholarships for kids that have uh made a difference in their own communities with someone with cancer. Um and anytime you can reach out as well, you know, you have a family that’s going through it that would love to see a game, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Uh we’d love to have you. I’ll say hello after and uh we can make a make it a nice night. Uh new tradition this year for you guys on the ice or in the locker room I should say is the uh Iron Man mask. Where did you guys come up with that idea? Where where did it come from? We saw uh some fan in Dallas, Cowboy fan had it on. his mask. He He was ended up drinking a beer out of it. But we thought that was a good idea and found this thing on Amazon and put the order in. Uh and then few of us older guys that were in on it uh surprised the boys after the first game with it and uh it’s kind of taken off a little bit. Do you drink the Do you guys drink the beer if you win it? I mean, not Matthew Schaefer, but Yeah, exactly. Yeah. No, there there will be uh hopefully after the big ones. Yeah, there you go. I like it. I love seeing those different traditions after the game and getting a little backstory on them. Um, listen man, last year your contract with the Islanders, but uh you you’re currently fifth all time in goals and and you’re talking about a pretty rich history with this franchise. Like that’s got to mean a ton to you. Like look at this list right here. Yeah, it’s it’s honestly crazy, boys. I mean, it’s um been fortunate enough to be uh in the Islanders organization for my whole career. Uh it’s been a special special time and uh growing up uh in this organization in many ways and uh to start seeing those guys myself up there with them. It’s it’s a little surreal. Um and been fortunate enough to have played with so many great players through this entire run. Um that have uh got the pucks to the net or or found me around the net and um you know, found a way to put a few in and but like I said, it’s just been an honor being an Islander and moving up like this is something I never would have thought about uh when I first got here. Well, uh we are going to do a little fun thing with you before we let you go. I know you got to go get dinner with the boys in Detroit there, but uh you got a part called What Were You Thinking? We’re going to show you some pictures, videos in your career. Maybe you remember these moments. If you need help, we can give them to you, but see if you remember these. Oh, yeah. That’s that was uh after I opened my eyes after my first shot on that or in the NHL. I think I got across the blue line, closed my eyes, and just ripped it. And no, no business going in. Uh, and was a little green those first few games in the in the NHL. First shot. First shot, too. Right. Yeah. I think it might have been the first time I touched the puck. That’s so I just threw it on net. That’s amazing. Goalie wasn’t ready. You got to surprise him sometimes. Then you got all the rest of your goals from right in front of the net. It seems like I think it’s still the first goal I scored. All right, we got a we got another one here. What What are you thinking here? Uh, not much. That was after gotten in a little uh, scrum with uh, Brennan Smith and he uh, he he got me pretty good in this one. So, I think that was probably my way of he got me there. Hand handling it uh, the best way I could. Tried to get it going for the boys. Well, that’s good. A little scrap there. It’s like a scene out of Gladiator uh, right there. U,, but those are two big boys, but there’s two bigger boys that fought, too. You fought this guy right here. And I think we got the clip here. That’s not in the uh that’s not in there. Oh god. You and you and the big man are fighting here, too. I remember that. Yeah, there was I I was a little disadvantaged with the reach there. Uh I think Boiler was taking it easy. How was that? How’d it start? Do you remember? I I think he uh he just pushed he pushed over P and I caught caught the end of it and probably thought it was worse than it was. You know how I remember it too and I I just I always had so much respect because I heard you come and you yelled to me and in that sense if you thought I did what the rest of your bench and Barry Trotz thought I did. I probably wouldn’t have done the same to an opposing player what you did. You gave me the second just to sort of brace myself and get ready. I kind of knew something was coming. What did you just finish him with a hit or I hit him really hard. his own stick like broke in his own face and they all thought I kind of elbowed him or cross-cheed him in the face which if that’s what someone thinks you do, you’re going to just try to destroy him. And he gave it a heads up. He did. Yeah. And I I I appreciated that. That was a And he’s as we’ll see later, he’s a strong fellow this Andersonly. Yeah. Well, they still gave me the instigator, so it didn’t matter. Yeah. I think that uh here we go. We got the next one here. This is exciting. Do you remember what you’re celebrating in this pile? That might be uh when we got back to the coliseum. Is that that one? First career hattrick. No hat here. Yeah. Got lucky on this one, too. Yeah. You snuck one in at right before the buzzer, right? Right before the buzzer. I think we had a late power play and uh came right to me and the goalie was not in the net. So, that was uh it’s one of those nights, one of those nights where all of a sudden three shots go in and you know, you play a good game all the time and nothing to show for it and then you have a night like that where it seems like the puck’s following you around and it goes well. All right, I think we got one more. We got one more here. That’s you. I mean, like I know you’re throwing a football at Metife, buddy, but like the quad the quad game’s on point, I got to say. You own pants. I lost you, but that that’s pregame warm-up. That’s We were uh over at Metife and chucking the ball around. I lost a bet on this one, though. Were you trying to throw up her deck? Boys thought I could get it up to that second that second level. I was a little short. Maybe if you did some leg workouts, you could get some more uh you could have more, I guess, of a base where you could really throw with your legs, right? Just kidding. And those licks, those quads are massive.

Islanders captain Anders Lee talks about his foundation, Kyle Palmieri’s inspiring play while on torn ACL and the impact of Matthew Schaefer.
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