The Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame has its class of 2026 ready to go, and it will recognize some of Long Island’s most gifted athletes on the field, ice, pavement and a talented voice behind the microphone.
“Every induction year is a reminder that greatness doesn’t just happen on big stages, it’s built on local gyms and fields, and through communities that believe in their own,” the hall’s president, Chris Vaccaro, told The Post.
The exciting May 21 event at Flowerfield in St. James will recognize former Yankee and Met Marcus Stroman, whose little brother Jayden just wrapped up his senior season on the Patchogue-Medford diamond in 2025.
Former Rangers and Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid of Farmingville is also a 2026 inductee, as is Northport runner Nina Kuscsik.
Kuscsik, the first female champion of the Boston Marathon, who went on to run over 80 marathons in her lifetime, will be posthumously honored after her June passing at 86.
MSG Network’s Alan Hahn, a Holbrook native and St. Anthony’s High School alum, is also among the class of 2026, along with several more.
The hall, which has big plans tying in local athletics for America’s 250th birthday, will also recognize Babylon-born WWII Army veteran Horace J. McGarity. He made baseball a hit in Italy in the 1950s after the war.
Tickets are available at SuffolkSportsHOF.com.
The bird is the word.
The Islanders are having fun with the little winged critter that made its way onto the ice during Tuesday night’s thrilling 5-4 overtime victory over the Penguins, and quickly fluttered up ornithological “Rally Bird” T-shirts.
Taken as a good luck charm, it smashed into forward Bo Horvat behind the net toward the end of the first period, seconds before he moved the puck, leading to a Matthew Schaefer goal that put the team up 2-1.
“Poor guy,” Horvat chirped on the bench.
The bird, which should have gotten two minutes for interference, was safely released into the vast wilderness of the Cross Island Parkway and Hempstead Turnpike after the game.
The inspired apparel can be found at the Isles East Meadow practice facility in the team’s pro shop at Northwell Health Ice Center starting Feb. 12.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
