Friend and Predators reporter Alex Daugherty is back to talk about Vladimir Orszagh, a Slovakian import who was undervalued as an Islander but was instrumental to establishing Nashville’s – and Alex’s – love for hockey.
The late 1990’s were a terrible time for the Islanders. The loses were many and prospects had little support in advancing to the NHL. After a few dozen unimpressive games in North America, young Vladimir Orszagh took a sabbatical to Europe for a season, then returned to the NHL with
the fourth-year Predators. There, he became a consistent scorer and joined with fellow Euros Denis Arkhipov and Martin Erat to form “The Vowel Line,” the first named unit in Nashville’s ice history. The trio helped the Predators make the playoffs for the first time and showed that with a good, hardworking team, hockey in Music City could work.
For Alex, a Predators fan since high school when they played their very first game, Orszagh is among the most important players in the team’s early history. He tells us about skipping out of work to see a 1-0 win with Orszagh scoring the lone goal, how he helped the team and fanbase grow in a new market, and about his legacy in Nashville to this day. We also talk about Orszagh’s international career, which includes being on one of the sickest rosters ever conceived and serving as the head coach of a Slovakian team that made some noise at the recent Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy.
We can’t thanks Alex enough for coming on again, telling us these great stories and saying such nice things about the show. You should be reading him for all things Predators in The Tennessean and elsewhere. We also have a Weird Islanders Extra! bonus episode with him as well, where we share some weird stories about our teams’ respective owners.
WEIRD BONUS MATERIAL
- Written proof of two of Orszagh’s three goals for the Islanders, which happened during one of the franchise’s most woeful seasons. In 1999-00, he scored in a 4-2 loss to the Habs amidst a 2-9-1 stretch at home. Later that season, he beat Glenn Healy in a 2-1 loss to the Maple Leafs in which Darcy Tucker severely injured Steve Thomas. Shocking.
- Orszagh signed with Nashville as a free agent in 2001. He had 15 goals for the fourth year Predators, and counted as a legit offensive threat for them. They signed him to an extension and he gave them 16 goals in each of the next two seasons.
- He scored twice in Nashville’s first ever playoff series, a six game loss to Detroit in 2004. He tied Game 2 and slid face-first into the goal post.
- Then in Game 4, he scored the second of three Predators goals in a 3-0 series-tying shutout. Great, uh, call by Pierre McGuire here. Way to keep your eye on the puck, man.
- After playing in the IHL and the Swedish Elite League, Orszagh was claimed by the Blues off waivers.
- Orszagh was part of Slovakia’s 2002 IIHF gold medal winning team, which had an undeniably sick roster of early 2000’s NHLers, many of whom had Islanders connections: Him, Zigmund Palffy, Miroslav Satan and Lubomir Visnovsky. Here’s the documentary about it.
- The whole reason we’re doing this: Orszagh coached Team Slovakia at this year’s Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. They finished fourth after losing in the bronze medal game to Finland.
What makes a “Weird Islander?”
We’re always open to suggestions about other Weird Islanders to discuss. Remember the criteria. Candidates must fulfill one of the two of the following:
- Played one (1) season or less for the Islanders or very short stints over multiple seasons.
- Be a veteran NHLer who is not generally associated with his time on Islanders.
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