Newsday, June 30th 1995

 IN THE SENTIMENT of one disgruntled Islanders fan, General Mills might have grounds for a lawsuit based on the striking similarity between the Gorton's Fisherman and the hockey team's new logo.

To paraphrase others, it should be deep-sixed.

At least that's what readers said in response to Newsday's request to react to the logo change. Over a week-long period, from Friday to yesterday, Newsday received 1,006 responses, most of which called for a return to the original logo.

"By replacing their noble, title-evoking crest with an image of a bearded seafarer, the Islanders have lost their last bit of dignity," responded Douglas Guarino of Islip Terrace. "It is no longer easy to associate them with historic hockey institutions such as the Montreal Canadiens or the Boston Bruins."

Whether the old Islanders crest of blue and orange seemed outdated, too New York or just unprofitable for management, it represented one of hockey's great dynasties to many followers. Four straight Stanley Cups can give a team that's been around just over two decades a century's worth of tradition and history.

But Islanders brass thought reaching deep into Long Island's roots for a new logo would give them the local flavor that was overshadowed by the presence of an NY hockey stick emblem since the team's inception in 1972. They were trying to expunge the big-city image that fans knew never existed and replace it with Long Island fare.

The answer, Islanders co-chairman Steve Walsh announced last week, was the "Islander" - a fuzzy andnot-so-warm-looking seafarer in a slicker, poised to strike with a hockey stick and guarding the goal in a pose not unlike the Grim Reaper. They surrounded him in waves of pastels with an enormous ISLANDERS emblazoned in cutting-edge calligraphy. The intent of the design, as slick as the seafarer is scruffy, was to carry the Islanders into the 21st Century.

Instead, fans took it as a slap shot to the face. Seventy-eight percent of those who responded did not like the new logo, compared to only 20 percent who did. And 74 percent, when asked if the Islanders even needed a new logo, said no.

"It flies directly in the face of the reaction it got here and the reaction it got out in the street," said Pat Calabria, the Islanders' vice president / communications. "And that's the reaction that matters most.

"We have gotten a tremendous volume of calls and the message has been, `We were concerned about this, but now that we've seen the uniform, we love it.' "

A resounding number, whether in agreement or not with the need to change the team's logo, offered their thoughts on what to do with the new emblem. One fan wanted to ship it to Nashville; others thought it would look good on a can of clam chowder. Still more thought the "Islander" looked out of place without a pipe in his mouth, or minus the trademark red garb and reindeer.

A third of the respondents wanted to drop the "Islander" altogether, saying he looks too mean or too old, has nothing to do with hockey or should stick to peddling fish sticks.

Fifty said they favored the lighthouse patch, which will be on the new jersey's sleeves, as a more suitable logo.

And 77 said to forget the logo - they want a new general manager.

"Changing the Islander logo is a disgrace to every fan who struggled with the team in the early 1970s," wrote Chris Goltermann of Seaford. "To me, the team's logo has always symbolized home and I am always proud to show off my favorite team when traveling around the country. I cannot do that now, and I refuse to accept this change."

Based on merchandise sales thus far, Bob Silver, the manager of Herman's World of Sporting Goods at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, said he believes the Islanders did the right thing. After receiving a shipment of 120 T-shirts and hats last Friday, Silver said only a handful remained yesterday.

"And they are going to sell a lot more stuff," Silver predicted. "Everyone that wears jerseys to the game will have to go out and get new ones when they come out. People might hate change, but I like it."

The jerseys are expected to be in stores by Aug. 1.

"Modell's {Sporting Goods} tells us that they are already reordering, that they can't keep the stuff in the stores," Calabria added. "That's the proof right there."

One final suggestion from the fans to the Islanders, provided the logo doesn't get iced: How about adding fish sticks to the Nassau Coliseum menu?