New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at UBS Arena. The Islanders are one of three NHL franchises in the New York metropolitan area, along with the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, and their fanbase resides primarily on Long Island.
The team was founded in 1972 as part of the NHL's maneuvers to keep a team from rival league World Hockey Association out of the newly built Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in suburban Uniondale, New York. After two years of building up the team's roster, they found almost instant success by securing 14 straight playoff berths starting with their third season. The Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships between 1980 and 1983, the eighth of nine dynasties recognized by the NHL in its history. Their 19 consecutive playoff series wins between 1980 and 1984 is a feat that remains unparalleled in the history of professional sports. They are the last team in any major professional North American sport to win four consecutive championships, and to date the last NHL team to achieve a three-peat.
Following the team's dynasty era, the franchise ran into problems with money, ownership and management, an aging arena, and low attendance. Their woes were reflected on the ice, as the team has not won a division title since 1987–88, and went 22 seasons without winning a playoff series prior to the 2016 playoffs. After years of failed attempts to rebuild or replace Nassau Coliseum in suburban Long Island, the Islanders relocated to Barclays Center in Brooklyn following the 2014–15 season. In the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons, the Islanders split their home games between Barclays Center and Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders played all their home games in the 2020–21 season at Nassau Coliseum. Their new arena near Belmont Park was opened in 2021.
Ten former members of the Islanders have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, seven of whom—Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith, Bryan Trottier, coach Al Arbour, and general manager Bill Torrey—were members of all four Cup-winning teams. Post-dynasty players Pat LaFontaine, Roberto Luongo, Pierre Turgeon, and Zdeno Chara were also inducted.
History
The NHL heads to Long Island (1972–1974)
In fall 1972, the emerging World Hockey Association planned to place its New York team, the New York Raiders, in Nassau County's brand-new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. County officials did not consider the WHA a major league and wanted to keep the Raiders out. William Shea, who had helped bring Major League Baseball's New York Mets to the area a decade earlier, was enlisted to bring an NHL team to Long Island. Although Shea had previously worked with upstart rival leagues including the aborted Continental League, the American Football League and the American Basketball Association, his ultimate goal in these efforts had always been to try to persuade the established leagues to grant second franchises to New York as had been the case with the Mets.In contrast, Shea decided there was no need to work with the WHA since unlike the initial results of his previous approaches to established leagues in the other major sports, Shea immediately found NHL president Clarence Campbell to be receptive to adding a second team in New York. Nevertheless, the Islanders' bid faced opposition from the New York Rangers, who did not want additional competition in the New York area. Eventually, Campbell and Shea persuaded the Rangers' owners, Madison Square Garden, to reconsider. Rangers' president Bill Jennings weighed pros and cons. Another local NHL team would be compelled to compensate the Rangers for sharing the New York area. On the other hand, a WHA team would owe the Rangers nothing unless it was included in a potential NHL–WHA merger, a prospect to which both Campbell and Jennings were adamantly opposed. Finally, consenting to the establishment of an NHL franchise in suburban Nassau County would help to ensure the vast majority of the Rangers' fanbase within New York City proper would continue to support the older franchise, and reduced the prospect of a rival league eventually establishing a team and fanbase there. Perhaps remembering the crucial role the Jets had played in ensuring the success of the AFL just a few years earlier as a challenger of the National Football League, Jennings decided to help bring a new NHL team to the New York metropolitan area.
Despite expanding to 14 teams just two years prior, the NHL awarded a Long Island-based franchise to clothing manufacturer Roy Boe, owner of the American Basketball Association's New York Nets, on November 8, 1971. The terms included $6 million franchise fee plus a $5 million territorial fee to the Rangers. An expansion franchise was also given to Atlanta to keep the schedule balanced and to prevent the WHA from entering the growing market at the newly built Omni Coliseum.
The New York Islanders name was unveiled by the franchise on February 15, 1972, at a press conference held across the street from Roosevelt Raceway at a restaurant owned by Burt Bacharach. Many expected it to use the "Long Island Ducks", after the Eastern Hockey League team that played from 1959 to 1973. The team was soon nicknamed the "Isles" by the local newspapers. The Islanders' arrival effectively doomed the Raiders, who played in Madison Square Garden under difficult lease terms and were forced to move to Cherry Hill, New Jersey in the middle of their second season.
Former California Golden Seals executive vice president Bill Torrey was named as the team's general manager at the same press conference as the franchise's name unveiling. The Islanders secured veteran forward Ed Westfall, defenseman Gerry Hart, and goaltender Billy Smith in the 1972 expansion draft, along with junior ice hockey stars Billy Harris, Lorne Henning, and Bobby Nystrom in the 1972 amateur draft. Soon after the draft, Phil Goyette was named as the team's first head coach, however he was fired halfway through the season and replaced with Earl Ingarfield and assistant coach Aut Erickson. Unlike most other expansion teams' general managers, Torrey made few trades for veteran players in the early years, as he was committed to building the team through the draft. Torrey stated, "I told the owners that we're not going to beat this team next door by taking the castoffs from others teams. We'd have to develop our own stars." Before the season began, Westfall was named the team's first captain.
By September 1972, the Islanders were waiting for the Nassau Coliseum to be completed as well as their practice facility "The Royal Ice Rink" in Kings Park. The team was forced to practice as late as October 6, the day before their first game, at the Rangers practice rink in New Hyde Park.
The Islanders' first win came on October 12, 1972, in a 3–2 game against the Los Angeles Kings. In the team's first season, young players such as Smith, Nystrom, and Henning were given chances to prove themselves in the NHL. The young and inexperienced expansion team, however, posted a record of 12–60–6, setting an NHL record for most losses and worst overall record in a season. A highlight occurred on January 18, 1973, when they defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins 9–7.
Finishing last in the standings that season, they received the right to select first in the 1973 draft. Off the ice, the Islanders struggled financially, a situation that was exacerbated by the then-unprecedented $11 million in franchise and territorial fees. Montreal Canadiens' general manager Sam Pollock was keen to acquire the Islanders' pick so he could draft French Canadian junior star defenseman Denis Potvin, who had been touted as "the next Bobby Orr" when he was 14 years old. Pollock made several lucrative trade offers including cash to the Islanders, but Torrey turned the Canadiens down and selected Potvin with the first overall pick. During the off-season, Torrey convinced former St. Louis Blues coach Al Arbour to come coach the Islanders. Even with Arbour as the team's head coach and Potvin, who won the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year, the team again finished last in the East Division during the 1973–74 season, but allowed 100 fewer goals than the previous season. The season included their first win against the Rangers, on October 27, 1973, which also happened to be the game where Potvin scored his first NHL goal. Although they failed to make the playoffs, their 56 points represented a 26-point improvement from the previous season.
Ascendancy and playoff inability (1974–1979)
With the 4th and 22nd picks in the 1974 draft, the Islanders added young forwards Clark Gillies and Bryan Trottier to continue Torrey's building plan. In the 1974–75 season, the Islanders made one of the biggest turnarounds in NHL history. Led by Potvin, forwards Westfall, Harris, Nystrom, Gillies, and goaltenders Smith and Glenn "Chico" Resch, the team earned 88 points, 32 more than the previous season and two more than their first two seasons combined, earning their first playoff berth. They defeated the rival New York Rangers in a best-of-3 first-round series as J. P. Parise scored just 11 seconds into overtime of the third game. In the next round, down three games to none in a best-of-seven series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Islanders rallied to win the next four and take the series-winning game 7 on a late third-period goal by Westfall. Only four other major North American professional sports teams have accomplished this feat. They were close but not as lucky in the following round, rallying from another 3–0 deficit to force a seventh game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers before the Flyers took the decisive seventh game at home and went on to win the Cup again. Despite a disappointing playoff finish, Arbour remained complimentary of the team's attitude and maturity, saying "If I called a practice next week, every one of them would show up."The Islanders continued their climb up the standings in 1975–76, earning 101 points and the fifth-best record in the league. It was the first 100-point season in Islanders history, in only their fourth year of existence. Rookie center Trottier finished the season with 95 points and won the Calder Memorial Trophy; his points and assists totals set a new league record for most in each category by a rookie. It would be the first of four consecutive 100-point seasons, including the first two division titles in franchise history. Despite the emergence of young star players and regular season success between 1976 and 1979 the Islanders suffered a series of playoff disappointments. In 1976 and 1977 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Islanders were knocked out in the semifinals by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens posted a 24–3 record in the playoffs during those two seasons with all three losses coming at the hands of the Islanders.
File:Mike Bossy 1978.JPG|thumb|upright|Mike Bossy was selected with the 15th overall pick in 1977 and became the third Islander to win the Calder Memorial Trophy.
In the 1977 draft, Torrey had the 15th overall pick and was deciding between forwards Mike Bossy and Dwight Foster. Bossy was known as an emerging scorer who lacked physicality. Foster was known as a solid checker with marginal offensive ability. Arbour persuaded Torrey to pick Bossy, arguing it was easier to teach a scorer how to check. In the 1977–78 season, Bossy became the third Islander to win the Calder Trophy, and scored 53 goals that season, a rookie record at the time. The team earned their first Patrick Division and Campbell Conference championships. Six players finished the season with 30 goals scored or more, with five of them Islanders draft picks, showing the success of the draft building process. The season ended with a familiar result in the playoffs, as the team lost in overtime in game 7 of the quarterfinals against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In 1978–79, the team finished with the best record in the NHL, clinching it with three goals in the third period of the season's final game against the Rangers. Trottier won the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP and captured the Art Ross Trophy for the most points, while sophomore Bossy scored 69 goals, which also led the league. Despite their regular season dominance, the Islanders exited the playoffs with another upset playoff loss, this time to the Rangers in the semifinals. As the team was leaving Madison Square Garden following their game 6 elimination, Rangers fans rocked and threw objects at the team's bus. Hockey professionals and journalists generally questioned whether the Islanders were capable of winning the important games needed to win a Stanley Cup championship. Islander players would cite fear of repeating the pain of this loss as spurring their later success. After transferring the captaincy to Gillies the season before, Westfall retired and shortly thereafter became a color commentator on the team's telecasts.
Off the ice, the Islanders were on shaky ground. Boe was losing money on both his franchises, even as the Islanders quickly surged to NHL prominence and the Nets became an ABA power. The Islanders were still far behind on the $10 million they had paid in startup costs, and the expansion and territorial fees associated with moving the Nets to the National Basketball Association threw Boe's finances into a tailspin. Eventually, Boe was forced to sell both his teams. He readily found a buyer for the Nets, but had less luck finding one for the Islanders. Torrey orchestrated a sale to one of the team's limited partners, John Pickett. In return, Pickett promoted Torrey to team president, though Torrey had already been operating head of the franchise before then. Soon after purchasing the team, Pickett signed a very lucrative cable television contract with the fledgling SportsChannel network as their owner, Charles Dolan, thought the up-and-coming Islanders would be a perfect centerpiece for his new network. Dolan gave Pickett a long-term guaranteed contract intended not only to keep the team on Long Island, but give area governments an incentive to renew his cable contracts. The Islanders have remained on the network, now known as MSG Sportsnet, for over four decades.