Islanders fans serenade former star player with ‘where’s your jammies’ chant
We may have to change that famous quote to “hell hath no fury like an Islanders fan scorned.”
On Thursday night, former Islanders star John Tavares returned to Long Island to face New York, and fans were not in a forgiving mood.
Tavares was the top pick in the 2009 draft and was the best player on some pedestrian Islanders teams. Before becoming an unrestricted free agent after last season, Tavares said he intended to stay with the Islanders.
Even though he grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Tavares told a radio station there that “I would not count on” a return to his hometown team.
Guess what happened?
Yep, Tavares signed a seven-year, $77 million contract with the Maple Leafs last summer.
He tweeted a photo from his youth that showed Tavares sleeping in Maple Leafs sheets with this message: “Not everyday you can live a childhood dream.”
Because Tavares proclaimed his desire to remain with the Islanders, the team never sought to trade him before he became an unrestricted free agent. The Islanders got nothing in return after losing their best player.
Fans were furious, and they vented Thursday night when the Maple Leafs visited. They booed, ran over his jersey, had signs that said Tr91tor (his number is 91), threw plastic snakes on the ice and much more.
The Islanders crushed the Maple Leafs 6-1, and in the third period, fans made reference to that Twitter photo when they chanted “It’s your bedtime” and “where’s your jammies?”
“It’s not, I would say the common thing I experience, but some of it is what I expected,” Tavares told reporters after the game. “I just tried to go out there and play, and it is what it is.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2019 at 8:22 AM.
