Casey Cizikas clarifies comments after condemning Islanders fans
Islanders center Casey Cizikas skates up ice during the second period of an NHL game against the Capitals on Saturday at UBS Arena. Credit: AP/John Munson
EDMONTON, Alberta — Casey Cizikas has spent a career as one of his team’s most popular players, always protecting his fellow Islanders. And while he understands what he said and how it was perceived when he lambasted fans who were calling for coach Lane Lambert’s firing, he wanted to clarify the emotions behind his words.
“Fans boo, that’s part of it,” Cizikas told Newsday on Monday before the Islanders looked to snap a four-game losing streak against the Oilers at Rogers Place. “I have no issue with them expressing themselves that way. That has to do with us, we’re the ones on the ice. We’re the ones that they come to see. And if they’re not happy with the way we’re playing, booing is fine. I’m fine with that part of the game.
“It’s the other things that they’re chanting that was my issue. But they know I love this organization. They know I love them.”
Fans chanted “Fire Lambert” during the third period of the Islanders’ 4-1 loss to the Capitals at UBS Arena on Saturday night. Fans had chanted for president/general manager Lou Lamoriello’s ouster during the previous home game.
After Saturday’s loss, Cizikas said the anti-Lambert chant was, “A joke. That kind of stuff ticks me off.” He finished by saying that fans wishing to do so should “stay home.”
“The way that sports works is that booing happens,” Cizikas said Monday. “It happens all over. It happens in every sport. It happens in every building. But it’s the other things that they’re chanting that I have an issue with.”
The Islanders opened their four-game Western swing on Monday with, perhaps, their season hanging in the balance. Saturday’s loss extended their losing streak to 0-3-1 in which they had been outscored 17-8.
Overall, the Islanders entered Monday in a 1-3-2 slide and had been outscored 11-3 in the third period of those six games.
In many ways, Cizikas’ emotional defense of Lambert was no different than his play on the ice defending teammates.
“You come after one of us, you’re coming after all of us,” Cizikas said. “We’re a family in here and we look out for each other.
“I think the fans that were in the building know what they were chanting. People sitting at home watching on TV, maybe they don’t know what was going on. That’s the message I wanted to get across to the people that were there. If you want to boo, boo. If you start chanting other things, that’s where I have trouble accepting it.”
Cizikas has long been an Islander fan favorite for his bulldog play on the ice, though his comments drew a rash of negative blowback on social media.
So while some fans may be upset with him now, he’s still beloved in the Islanders’ room.
“Casey is one of those guys that everybody wants to have on their team and everybody hates playing against,” Bo Horvat said. “If there’s one guy that’s going to show his passion and his compete on the ice, it’s going to be that guy. He’s been a heck of a player for this team for a long time.
“He just wears his heart on his sleeve, that’s the best way to put it. He really cares about this team and this organization and winning hockey games. He’s an emotional guy.”
Lambert said the Islanders are “lucky” to have Cizikas.
“You get everything the same every day he comes to the rink in terms of his effort, his personality, his passion,” Lambert said. “He shows it every night on the ice.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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