What is the Esoteric?

This all started back in the 70's. Was Nixon still in the White House? Perhaps it was Ford or Carter. Maybe Hendrix was still alive. I don't know I was too young to remember. I do know that my cousin and a bunch of my friends who are older than I am are avid Islander fans. I remember watching the Islanders play on Channel 9. One of the guys, Pat Tracy, would keep track of all the players in one of those black composition notebooks that had the cover with a bovine like pattern.

With pencil in hand he used to keep track of where the players ranked amongst the players that were already part of the team or that were Alumni. Back then there were 50 players, maybe 100 towards the end of that era. Now with over 400 players and Alumni, the advent of Excel and Access I have revived the tradition. I hope that this will bring back great memories, allow you to make nostalgic contact with the past and learn a few things about the current team.

In addition to the Esoteric portion of this blog, we will bring you the reverse stats. This is a true indication of how well the team is doing and their POTENTIAL for success as the season moves on. You will see the current standing presented in a way that you will not see anywhere else. You will see how many games and how many points into the playoffs we are AND who we would currentloy be matched up against.

Lastly, as players move up the esoteric list I will try to bring trivia and other info of Alumni that are prevelant in the Esoteric.

Enjoy yourself. And as always if you see an error let us know about it.