Richie Hansen put Islander in New York Islander

On Feb. 1, 1977, Richie Hansen put the Islander into New York Islander.
The Northport native became the first Long Islander to suit up in blue and orange when the Islanders took on the Buffalo Sabres at Nassau Coliseum.

Hansen called Northport home, though he was born in the Bronx before his family moved to Long Island. His early hockey career - playing roller and ice hockey - still meant plenty of trips into city limits, as Hansen spent the 1971-72 season playing for the Brooklyn Stars in the New York Metropolitan Junior Hockey League.
Hansen was playing junior hockey in Canada when the Islanders played their inaugural season on Long Island. After a pair of 70- and 80-point seasons with the Sudbury Wolves, Hansen was drafted by the Islanders in the seventh round (119th overall) in 1975.
"Head Scout Jimmy Devellano gave me a call and said, 'I liked the way you play,' but also he said 'it would be so nice to have a kid from Long Island to play here,'" Hansen said. "It's great just to get that call."
When word spread about the local kid playing for the hometown team, it was a big deal.
"I needed at least 30-40 tickets for that game," Hansen said. "Everybody came, my dad was there, my mom, everybody showed up, so it was a big deal for me. Growing up a Rangers fan and you know, was I hoping to get drafted by the Rangers? I don't know, I was just happy back then just to get drafted at all. And for me it turned out great."
You can forgive Hansen for growing up a Rangers fan, given they were the only game in town when he was a kid. Those allegiances changed after he was drafted and it was extra sweet to score his first NHL goal against New York on Feb. 3 - becoming the first Long Islander to score for the Islanders.
"Scoring against Rangers, how you had to go wrong with that?" Hansen said.
The game and goal cemented Hansen's place in Islanders history, even if he only played 18 games with the team over three seasons. Hansen was also a mainstay for the Fort Worth Texans in the Central Hockey League, the Islanders farm team,
winning an Adams Cup in 1978
.

The Hansen's ties to the Long Island hockey community predate the Islanders. Before the team arrived in 1972, Hansen's father was an official in the Eastern Hockey League, meaning he'd officiate Long Island Ducks games in Commack.
"Coming off the ice the players now have that tunnel they walk under, but back then there was nothing and he'd come home with mustard and coke and beer all over you know after games," Hansen said. "But it was a great experience watching John Brophy and a couple of guys. We actually had some guys that lived in the area around us that we got to meet so it was pretty cool."
Hansen still lives on Long Island is part of the team's alumni community. He appreciates his time with the organization.
"They were good to me, the Islanders," Hansen said.
While Hansen was the first Long Islander to play for the Islanders, he's not the last. Smithtown native Kyle Palmieri is the latest in the Long Island lineage and that makes the trailblazer smile when he's at UBS Arena.
"It's nice. When I was growing up there, there weren't too many guys from the Island," Hansen said. "The hockey has gotten a lot better. And you know, we just hope that USA Hockey and that brings more people into this game."