travis green

I loved Travis Green from the second time I met him.

The first time was at Nassau Veterans' Memorial Coliseum during the 1992-93 season. No big deal. Well, yeah, in a way it was since it was the start of an endless friendship.

This was in one of those Islanders rebuilding years when memories of the four-Cup dynasty had disappeared from the rearview mirror.

General manager Bill Torrey was rebuilding with a kiddie corps and this lad from British Columbia was greener than green.

Having attracted Isles birddogs with his Western (Major Junior) League skill, Green was plucked 23rd overall in the 1989 Draft. Two years later he turned pro with the Isles AHL Capital District team, playing out of RPI Field House in Troy, New York.

After two plus years paying his minor league dues, Green was elevated to the big club early in the 1992-93 season. Take my word for it, this was a halcyon year to be an Islander and Travis fit snugly among such Young Turks as Brad Dalgarno, Derek King, Benny Hogue and Rich Pilon.

He was a 61-game freshman on a team en route to a miracle - and that's when we met. In those days, one of my jobs with SportsChannel, the Isles’ TV network, was to do post-game interviews with home team stars and - while knowing nothing much about him - I chose Travis.

There was something neat and fresh with this curly-headed kid who clearly was enjoying life in The Show. I noticed that he liked to talk and, better still, knew what he was talking about. In my old Brooklyn neighborhood, we'd have called him "a cool cat."

I wouldn't call it my best interview of all-time but I knew that I'd like to chat with this effervescent center again - and again. But I didn't fall in love with him until our second meeting. We met in the dressing room the next day at his stall. He had a half-smile on his face.

"Listen up," he told me. "I want you to know that my grandma back in British Columbia saw that interview you did with me. Shereallyliked it."

"YIKES!"I thought to myself; now I'm appealing to grandmas. Still, I asked for more information about this nice lady. And if I'm not mistaken, I may even have asked to meet Grandma Green.

No matter, Greenie and The Maven had become pals as the Isles gained a (for them) rare playoff berth. They then upset Washington in the first playoff round before knocking off defending champion Pittsburgh in a Game 7 upset on David Volek's unexpected OT goal. Green played a role in one of the biggest upsets in National Hockey League playoff history.

Travis spent five more years on the Island and - among his many accomplishments - managed to change my traditional nickname, The Maven, with something streamlined and snappier.

This was in Hartford when the Whalers still were in the league. I was staying at the hotel across from the arena. It was early afternoon and having nothing else to do,I strolled over to the visitors’ dressing room.

Nobody was around so I started to walk out when I heard a voice from the stick room. At first, I couldn't make it out so I walked closer and the second time around it was: "HEY, MAVE!"

At that historic moment in the Fischler life I graduated up from the old-fashioned Hockey Maven to just plain MAVE. I was tempted to congratulate Young Travis on this etymological advance in my semi-meteoric career, but I decided to see if MAVE stood the test of time.

It did. And so did Mave and Travis. He eventually left the Island and played for Anaheim, Phoenix, Toronto and Boston before hanging up the skates in 2008. And that's when we met again.

Portland Winterhawks general manager/coach Mike Johnston hired my pal around the time my wife Shirley and I were visiting my older son, Ben, and family who had moved to Oregon.

Green and I had our grand reunion over coffee downtown at the famed Powell's Bookstore. Later, I watched Travis work the Hawks bench with Johnston and I was impressed. Eventually he became head coach in 2012-13 and finished with a gasp-inducing 37-8-0-2 record.

In the playoffs that memorable season, Travis orchestrated his Portland sextet to the Western Hockey League title and then all the way to the Memorial Cup final round where they lost to Halifax.

We stopped seeing each other when the Vancouver Canucks signed him to coach their AHL farm team in Utica. In 2014-15, he guided the Comets to the Calder Cup Final before losing out to Manchester.

Our paths crossed again in 2019-20 when I still was on the beat for MSG Networks. Now the Canucks head coach, Travis had his club on pace for an admirable 36-27-6 record and the second playoff round when they almost knocked off heavily-favored Vegas.

During his team's Met Area trip to play the Devils, we met at a Downtown Manhattan hotel to do a one-on-one interview for MSG Networks.

Now an accomplished 50-year-old, my pal still possessed that vibrancy of his playing years but with a noticeable touch of major league coaching sophistication. But he was the Travis I knew from Long Island and I still was "Mave."

A chain reaction of front office upheavals eventually led to Green's Vancouver exit in 2021-22. That was the bad news.

The good news is that during this past summer Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald was on the lookout for a savvy associate coach and hired my buddy, Sir Green.

Frankly, I don't know who could have been happier, Fitz, Travis or the Mave.

Don't matter, Green is back and the Devils got him.

I only wish that Travis' grandma was around to share our joy!

And just one more Mave interview with her beloved grandson!