IslesInfo - 1990 Draft

Irony. After not making the playoffs in 1989 for the first time in 15 years, the Islanders were desperate to make the post season dance in 1989-90. A thin roster headed by star Pat LaFontaine, Brent Sutter, Patrick Flatley and second year man David Volek battled it out all year as their playoff hopes came down to the final day of the regular season. It came down to three clubs: the Isles, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers. That set up a showdown on March 31, 1990 between the Isles and Flyers that ended in a 6-2 Islander win. With the Flyers now eliminated, the Penguins needed to beat or tie the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo to surpass the Islanders 73 points. Pittsburgh had 72. After the Islanders beat the Flyers they went into their dressing room to watch the end of the Pittsburgh-Buffalo game. The end of the game was broadcasted for Islanders fans on the Nassau Coliseum scoreboard. The game went into overtime and wasn't looking good. That was before Uwe Krupp fired a shot from the blueline past the Buffalo goaltender to eliminate the Penguins and vault the Islanders into the playoffs. The Isles broke out into jubilee in the dressing room, excited of events to come. Little did they know that this would possibly be a stepping stone for the misery the team would suffer throughout the 1990's.

The Islanders ended up losing in the first round to the hated rival New York Rangers 5 games to 1. Being the fact that they made the playoffs on the last day of the regular season, the Islanders held the 16th best record which in a 21 team league gave them the 6th overall pick in the draft. The draft was considered to have 4 marquee players the summer of 1990: Owen Nolan, Petr Nedved, Mike Ricci and Keith Primeau. The Penguins held the 5th selection, and took a little known player from the Czech Republic by the name of Jaromir Jagr. He would go on to become one of the most dynamic players in the NHL during the 90's and into the new millenium. The Islanders had their sites set on yet another western hockey leaguer by the name of Scott Scissons, who scouts compared as "a young Brent Sutter." Scissons would go on to play 3 games in his entire NHL career, one in the playoffs of 1993 against the very same Penguins, who the Isles dramatically upset in their drive to a third straight Cup. Now it's unknown if whether the Islanders ever even had an eye on or perhaps even the knowledge of Jaromir Jagr. Who's to say they still wouldn't have selected Scissons even with the 5th selection. Only former GM Bill Torrey and his scouting staff know the answer. Also, who's to say that Jagr would have ever developed into the player he is if it was not for playing with the great Mario Lemieux. A lot of ifs and who knows, but still perhaps one of the biggest draft stories in Islander history. Another ironic chapter in this story? Uwe Krupp would later become an Islander as part of a blockbuster trade early in the 1991-92 season.

To finish up on Scott Scissons, one reason contributed to his struggles was a bad shoulder injury he suffered in the tail end of his junior career with Saskatoon. The injury deterred him from making the Canadian National Team preparing for the Olympics in 1992. This draft would turn out to be one of the most pitiful for the Islanders during the 90's as it produced only 195 man games played. 159 of those games were played by third round pick Dan Plante. Second round pick Chris Taylor was dubbed as the "steal of the draft" because most felt he should have gone somewhere in the first round. He was never able to show the consistency to really get a chance with the Islanders. Finally, the only other notable was fourth round pick Chris Marinucci. The former Hobey Baker award winner was given a chance by the Islanders late in the lockout shortened season of 1995. His career was poorly handled by the Islanders, as perhaps Taylor's was, and he fell out of favor with Mike Milbury when the coach came into the picture in camp of 1995-96.