How Nyisles Got His Name

For roughly 25 years, all Nyisles was, was a name.
The Islanders big-headed, bearded fisherman had last been seen in 1997-98. When he resurfaced on Saturday night, he had a few more wrinkles, an updated jersey and an Isles Lab beanie supporting the goal light above his head, but what remained the same was his name.
If you're Ilana Kariamis, who gave him the name Nyisles back in 1995, that's pretty cool.

"I'm part of Isles history," Kariamis said on Saturday. "It's just something amazing to be part of the history, regardless of what era it is, or when it was like, I'm still part of my team's history."
Kariamis' story goes back to 1995, when she was a 13-year-old girl from Massapequa Park and her last name was Gazes. She was sitting in the family kitchen when she saw an advertisement on TV about a contest to name the Islanders' new mascot. She had no expectations of winning the contest, but figured she had to be in it to win it, wrote out her submission on a piece of paper and had her mom mail it back to the team.
"My mom gets the assist on this, right," Kariamis said. "If she didn't mail it, then we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."
When she got the letter notifying her that she won, which she still has, she hit the roof.
"It was extreme excitement," she said. "Especially because I've been a fan for my entire life, and I still am. So naming a mascot of the team that you've loved for your entire life and winning a contest is the most amazing moment. I still live it as an adult. Like, I still remember the feelings."
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The fisherman likeness didn't have much of an impact on Kariamis' thoughts on the name, who just liked the potential for some word play.
"They're the New York Islanders. Let's think NY ISLES, let's just make a play on words," she said. "I didn't think anything would come from it."
She wasn't the only fan with the idea to make Nyisles a play on NY Islanders. According to Nick Hirshon's book We Want Fish Sticks, Kariamis was one of 16 people with a variation of the name, but she was drawn from the pool of people with similar concepts and was invited to introduce the name at a game against the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 18, 1995. Nyisles had already debuted earlier during the shortened season.
Kariamis went onto the ice to make the introduction alongside Nyisles, who originally was a much larger and rounder figure than the one that graces the cover of Hirshon's book, or the 2022 update. She remembers walking out onto the ice and being awestruck at the situation.
"I don't remember much from that because it was still that surreal excitement for me," she said. "I wasn't really necessarily paying attention to everybody around me, it was more like, everybody's zoned out. I'm like, oh my god, this is amazing."

Nyisles was introduced during the same time period as the new fisherman jersey, but she was not fazed by the attention the new logo was receiving. Kariamis has always preferred the original logo and still has her Pierre Turgeon jersey, with some faded signatures due to an ill-fated wash, but doesn't have the vitriol for the fisherman that sparked protests back in the mid-90s. She knows a lot of people feel strongly about the logo, which she had in t-shirt form, but she's always just been focused on the team.
"I'm indifferent to it," Kariamis said. "Teams go through transitions, teams change things, teams try things out. Do we always have our normal logo? Absolutely. But teams change, teams evolve, colors change, everything changes. It's not the logo and the fishermen that you're standing behind. It's the players on the ice that you're standing behind. I don't care if they're wearing fisherman logos. I don't care what they're wearing. It's the players. It's still the Islanders. Some people hated it. I still love the team."
The team also flew her down to Florida that April to attend a road game as part of winning the contest and she had a chance to meet the team. She had the team sign her Turgeon jersey, save for Kirk Muller, who she asked to sign a less sentimental piece of gear since he was the return for her favorite player.
"The fact that that I got to meet everybody, the players and the people behind the scenes, it's a once in a lifetime thing," Kariamis said.
Kariamis now lives in Florida with her husband - also an Islanders fan from Massapequa - and two young daughters, but has still maintained her Islanders fandom. A former Season Ticket Member, she follows the team closely and makes a point to attend games every time the team visits Sunrise. She joked that her husband calls her stat because she's always listing off player milestones and statistics. She's passing her fandom onto her six-and-two-year-old daughters the same way it was passed down from her parents.
"It's in my blood," she said. "It's something that I'm engraining in my kids, you know. You've got to love your blue and orange."

So far, so good. Her six year old skates in Florida and is a big hockey fan, while Kariamis' youngest daughter was right up against the glass on Saturday, as the family made their first trip to UBS Arena, each outfitted in a blue Islanders jersey.
"The fact that I can come here and experience this with my husband and my kids is the most amazing thing," Kariamis said. "It's not just experiencing with the team. It's like my family is a part of it right now. And it's like that means everything."
Nyisles paid Kariamis a visit on Saturday as she was regaling the naming story during a first intermission interview with Syke. It had been nearly 28 years since she was on the ice with the first iteration of the mascot, but the tides had brought them back together again, reuniting a face with a name.
She remarked on the fact that mailing a letter to the team back in 1995 still had a trail in 2022 and she was happy to be included with the team acknowledging its history, barnacles and all.
"You've got to bring out your memories," Kariamis said. "It's 50 years. We've been around for 50 years, so it's about time to start bringing some things back and having fun with the franchise and enjoying the times that we had."