Sparky Surprises Hockey Dads Ahead of Father's Day

In celebration of Father's Day, the New York Islanders and Sparky surprised three Long Island hockey dads with balloons and gifts, presented by CardWorks Acquiring. All three dads were nominated by someone close to them in the last month as the "Ultimate Hockey Dad."

The first stop of the day was in Levittown visiting the Green household with balloons, an Isles Lab gift card and two tickets to a game in the 2023-24 regular season for hockey dad, Mike Green.

"It's pretty awesome," Mike Green said. "We put a lot of work into the boys. We take the kids to the rink all the time, travel around the east coast with them. It's a pretty cool honor."

Hockey is what brings the Green family together. Through taking the kids to the rink for practice, hitting the road for a tournament or watching an Islanders road game, the Green family has been on a number of road trips just this past Spring.

"We're constantly on the road, we've done four or five this spring so far. It gives us a lot of time in the car together."

Mike's favorite part about all of this is watching his kids on the ice and reminiscing about his childhood.

"It just brings back my youth, everything that I was taught. I can teach them what to do and not to do."

Mike was nominated by his wife Melinda who wanted to make sure he was recognized for everything he does for not only his own children, but the children in the community.

"He does a lot for the kids and the kids on the team he coaches," Melinda Green said. "He likes to see other kids succeed. I just wanted to make sure he was recognized for all he does."

For our next stop, we headed a few minutes up the road to surprise Al Fazziola who was nominated by his son AJ.

Al may have had an inkling about what was happening, but didn't fully know until Sparky approached him with balloons and a large sign noting him the "Ultimate Hockey Dad."

"This is a great honor from my kids," Al Fazziola said. "We're big fans, it's really the only team in New York we root for. So this was a great surprise and a great honor."

The Fazziola family may not play hockey, but Islanders hockey is a huge part of their life and how they spend time together as a family.

"It's family time. We all get around the TV, we watch, we go to [games] together, the playoffs were amazing," Al Fazziola said. "The first things they got were hockey onesies, Islander onesies and teddy bears. So it's been in the family since they were born."

Al mentions teddy bears, which his son, AJ, remembers his father giving him as his first Islanders items when he was a baby.

"The first little thing was a little ceramic bear with an Islanders hoodie on," AJ Fazziola said. "Then he got a plush one to match that I could actually sleep with at night."

AJ and his dad watch every game together to support the team. He believes he would never have gotten so attached to the Islanders let alone hockey, without his dad.

"My dad is the biggest hockey dad I know, so I took the time and nominated him."

For our third and final stop, we headed east to Melville to surprise Michael Iglio with four tickets to a game in the 2023-24 regular season and an Isles Lab prize pack.

"I'm really flattered," Iglio said. "I can't believe it. I'm really shocked about this."

Michael was nominated by his host child, Flavia, who is an exchange student from Italy. In her submission, Flavia talked about the Islanders merchandise that decorates the walls in the Iglio household. She had never seen a hockey game before coming to the U.S. Her curiosity continued to grow and Michael taught her everything she needed to know and answered any questions she had about the sport.

Unfortunately, Flavia has returned to Italy for the Summer, but she was able to watch the surprise unfold on FaceTime.

"I like having an Islanders fan in Italy," Iglio said. "Flavia's great, I've gone to Islanders games with her and I have a great time going with her. We're Season Ticket Holders, so we're looking forward to going to games again."

Flavia will be back in September and will be ready to head back to UBS Arena to watch the Islanders on the ice with her host dad.