Hockey Night In New York - A New York Islanders Podcast · Hockey Night In New York

1/11/26 - Chugging Along! Guest: Kelly Cheeseman, Isles Pres of Business Ops

January 12, 2026·1 hr 10 min·4 clips

Ilya Sorokin is over 20 goals saved above expectation this season.

Sean Cuthbert opens the show from Florida Media Inn in Rockville Center with Arthur Staple alongside him. They sound upbeat after what they call a nice little week for the New York Islanders and make it clear that Kelly Cheeseman, the team's President of Business Operations, will join later in the program, while also inviting live listeners to send in questions later on. The tone stays loose and conversational. They give the Devils game some credit and keep circling back to why the week matters for the Islanders. The show does not sit in one place for long. When the conversation turns to what's ahead, Tuesday's game in Winnipeg becomes the next anchor point, and the hosts treat that city as both a hockey stop and a place loaded with beat-writing stories. Winnipeg gets teased right away. One of the better digressions is the story about getting the flu there and spending half a day in a hotel bathroom because the heated floor was the only thing that made the trip bearable. That sort of detour fits the show. The hosts like to move from the schedule into lived-in memory without making a big production out of it, and the rhythm stays quick because every side story still comes back to the Islanders. The Jets are not framed as a huge problem. Instead, Sean and Arthur note that Winnipeg used to be a much tougher place to visit and say the team is starting to come out of it now. The conversation keeps a fan-table feel throughout. It assumes the audience knows the roster, the recent scars, and the difference between a routine week and a useful one. Kelly Cheeseman's upcoming appearance gives the show a wider lens. He is positioned as the business-side voice who can add another layer to the usual hockey talk, which fits a night that keeps bouncing between form, schedule, and the organization around the team. The hosts stay on the move. They do enough recap to ground the show, enough preview to point ahead, and enough joking to keep it from feeling stiff. By the end, the episode has settled into the familiar Hockey Night in New York cadence. It is Islanders-first, lightly argumentative, and comfortable mixing concrete hockey talk with local memory, travel lore, and a little behind-the-scenes perspective.

As heard by us

A lively Islanders check-in with a Winnipeg detour and Kelly Cheeseman set to appear.

This Islanders check-in stays brisk and familiar, with a good week, a look ahead to Winnipeg, and the business-side promise of Kelly Cheeseman appearing.

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Why you'd press play

You want an Islanders check-in with Kelly Cheeseman, the team’s President of Business Operations, later in the show.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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