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	LaFontaine Enters Another Hall
	June 24, 2003: Pat LaFontaine today was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minnesota. He joins defensive greats Ken Morrow and Dave Langevin as former Isles in the U.S. HOF. Pat was elected to the hockey HOF in Toronto last week.

- Along with LaFontaine to be inducted into the U.S. hall during a ceremony in October will be three-time Norris Trophy runner-up Mark Howe, former New Jersey Devils and Hartford Whalers coach John Cunniff and Richard Dougherty, a member of the silver medal-winning 1956 U.S. Olympic hockey team. Also, the entire 1980 "Miracle on Ice" gold medal winning U.S. Olympic team will be inducted as well. They will be the second team inducted as the 1960 U.S. gold medal winning U.S. Olympic Team was admitted in 2000. Both teams won their medals in Lake Placid, NY. That makes Morrow a double member for individual accomplishments as well as being a member of the 1980 team.

	No Awards, But a Presence
	June 12: Mike Bossy was present last night at the NHL's annual awards ceremony in Toronto. Unfortunately he did not witness any current New York Islander players win an award. But there was an Islander presence thanks to Mike and some others....

- Bossy was present last night to present the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy to the NHL's leading goal scorer in 2002-03. That award went to Colorado Avanlanche Milan Hejduk who scored 50 goals, the only NHL player to do so last season. Mike was introduced as Mr. 50, since we all know that the greatest goal scorer in NHL history reached the 50 goal plateau 9 straight times. Mike was one of the few presenters that spoke in both English and French.

- Former Islander draft pick in 2001 goaltender Andy Chiodo was a presenter along with some of his Toronto St. Michael's Major's teammates and Ottawa 67's players including 2003 draft eligible Corey Locke. The junior stars presented the 2002-03 first and second all-star teams. Chiodo announced the two goaltenders. Former Islander Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks was named first team right wing.

- 2002-03 Frank Selke Trophy Voting: Michael Peca, winner of the trophy for the second time in 2001-02, finished 5th in voting with 118 points(2-6-6-5-11). The Islanders actually had four players receive votes: Dave Scatchard got one third place vote for 5 points(0-0-1-0-0) finishing 25th in voting. Both Shawn Bates and Jason Blake each got one fifth place vote for 1 point(0-0-0-0-1) finishing tied for 38th. Jere Lehtinen of the Dallas Stars won the Trophy for the third time since 1998.

- The Professional Hockey Writers Association handles the balloting for the all-star selections. Two Islanders were named on ballots. Both were defensemen: Roman Hamrlik finished 18th with 2 third place votes for 2 points(0-0-2). Adrian Aucoin finishes 20th in voting with 1 third place vote for 1 point(0-0-1).

 

He Learned from the Greats
June 11: Pat LaFontaine was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame today, the 6th former Islander player to do so. From the time he was drafted in 1983, to the Olympics in 1984 and later the Isles, Patty was a special player.

In 1983 the Islanders drafted Lafontaine 3rd overall behind only Brian Lawton and Sylvain Turgeon. The Islanders earned the 16th overall selection in 1983 and selected Gerald Diduck. But a couple of years before the 1983 draft GM Bill Torrey pulled off a steal by pulling the wool over the eyes of the Colorado Rockies, later to be the New Jersey Devils. He sent defenseman Bob Lorimer and forward Dave Cameron to Colorado in exchange for Colorado's 1983 first round draft pick October 1, 1981.

Pat had one of the most successful junior careers with Verdun of the QMJHL and smashed some of their scoring records prior to being drafted by the Islanders. After scoring an incredible 324 points in 79 games with the Detroit midgets in 1981-82 Pat decided to go the Canadian junior route and as a rookie recorded 104 goals and 130 assists for 234 points in 1982-83. Instead of joining the Islanders for 1983-84 Pat had aspiration of playing for Team USA in the 1984 Olympics at Sarajevo, the first since the US won in 1980 at Lake Placid. Pat played on the famous Diaper line with David Jensen and Eddie Olczyk, named so because of their baby faces.

Once the Olympics were completed in February of 1984 both LaFontaine and Patrick Flatley of the Canadian Olympic team joined the Isles for their "Drive for Five" run at the Stanley Cup. LaFontaine joined the likes of Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin and Billy Smith, all currently in the Hockey Hall of Fame. And he also got to play under hall of fame coach Al Arbour. LaFontaine would learn under these players and became a star of his own, especially when the other stars began to dwindle and Pat was the only one remaining.

Unfortunately Pat got into a heated contract dispute with the Islanders in the summer of 1991 and he became upset with the treatment his friend Trottier received upon his release in 1990. But Islander fans will always remember Pat for his great skill and speed. In 1989-90 he had a Wayne Gretzky type season and was named Islander of the year after he scored 54 goals and 105 points, single handedly carrying the Islanders to the postseason playoffs.

LaFontaine, a 38-year-old American, recorded 468 goals with 545 assists in 865 career games with the New York Islanders and Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres.

LaFontaine was traded to the Sabres in 1991. He had his best season in 1992-93, scoring 53 goals and recording 95 assists. His 147 points made him runner up to Mario Lemieux for the Art Ross Trophy. He was the recipient of the Lester Patrick Trophy in 1997. Plagued by concussions during his career, he played his final NHL season with the New York Rangers in 1998.

In his only season with the Rangers, LaFontaine became the third American player to record 1,000 points. He was a five-time all-star and played for the United States in the 1984 and 1998 Olympics. He was also a member of 1996 World Cup championship team.

LaFontaine is currently the sixth all-time leading scorer in New York Islander history. In 530 games he scored 287 goals and 323 assists for 566 points. His 287 goals ties him for fifth on the Islanders all-time list with Brent Sutter.

Also elected along with LaFontaine was former Islander assistant coach Brian Kilrea, more remembered for coaching the Ottawa 67's of the OHL. He served as an assistant coach under Al Arbour for the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons. He went back to the OHL when Terry Simpson succeeded Arbour behind the bench. "Killer" Kilrea will be inducted into the builders category.

Goaltender Grant Fuhr, a nemesis of the Islanders through the 1980's, was also elected in the players category. Mike Ilitch, owner of the Detroit Red Wings, will be inducted along with Kilrea in the builders category. The ceremony will be held sometime in November.

Pat will most likely soon be inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minnesota.

More Pat LaFontaine Accolades:

• 8th member of the Islander organization at some time in his career to be named to the Hockey Hall of Fame: Bossy, Trottier, Gillies, Potvin, Smith, Arbour, Torrey & LaFontaine.
• Named the Islander of the year four straight years from 1988 to1991
• Named as the Islanders representative in the All-Star game 1988-91
• Scored 7 hat tricks for the Islanders
• seventh on the Isles all-time list with 79 powerplay goals.
• eighth on the Isles all-time list with 35 game winning goals.
• one of only four Islanders to score 50 goals in a season(Bossy, Trottier, Turgeon).
• one of only 7 Islanders to score 100 points in a season.
• 1989-90 NHL Dodge Performer of the Year
• Tied with three others for most points in a game for an Islander rookie: 5 points 3/3/84 at Toronto
• Tied with 8 other Islanders for most goals in a game by a rookie with 3
• Hold the Islanders record for most consecutive games scoring a goal: 11 games(18 goals) 1989-90. Began 12/15/89 at Washington and ended 1/11/90 at Minnesota. The previous record was 10 straight games held by Mike Bossy
• Tied with 5 other players for most consecutive games as an Islander with an assist: 9 straight games, 1984-85.
• Shares the Islander record with 14 other players for most points in one period during the playoffs, with 3 against Washington 4/16/87.
• Holds the NHL record for the fastest two goals from the start of a period in the playoffs at 35 seconds. May 19, 1984 at Edmonton vs. goaltender Andy Moog. LaFontaine scored at :13 and :35 of the third period. Edmonton won the game 5-2. It also stands as the fastest two playoff goals in Islanders history at 22 seconds.
• 14th on the Islanders all-time playoff scoring list with 35 points in 50 games.

Congrats from islesinfo.com to the newest member of the Hockey Hall of Fame: Pat LaFontaine!!

- Visit Pat's site: Companions in Courage at companionsincourage.org

	The Easter Epic
	Was this Pat LaFontaine's most memorable moment as an Islander? It's probably what most fans will remember him for. Pat scored the game winner early on Easter morning as the Isles defeated Washington in the 1987 playoffs.

Will Isles Fans Forgive Trotts?
Bryan Trottier coach of the NY Rangers? No way! Could never happen. But it did. And Islander fans felt stabbed in the back by the Isles all-time leading scorer. How could he do this? He's a traitor. Now that's it's already all over, will he be forgiven?

- I'll admit, it may take a while before I can forgive Bryan for taking the job with the hated NY Rangers. But right now I feel like he got what he deserved. He was made a puppet day 1 by GM Glen Sather and now all his hard work to get to that position is compromised. In the last week or so it seemed to me that Bryan's heart was not in it. Could he have been troubled by being a former Islander great coaching the Rangers? Or is that just for fans to worry about? It just seems ironic to me that Bryan's greatest win as coach of the Rangers will have been their 5-0 win over the Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum. I hope he enjoyed it, didn't seem like he did. Because now he may not be back behind the bench for a long time.

	Clark Gillies Honored
	Nov 3: Clark Gillies will be honored tonight in a pregame ceremony. Gillies was inducted into the Hockey Hall of fame in early November, the fifth Islander player and 7th person involved with the organization.

- Interesting that Gillies ceremony comes on a night Todd Bertuzzi will be in the building. Gillies, you may remember, was asked by GM Mike Milbury to give Bertuzzi pep talks to boost his confidence, since the Isles felt Bertuzzi could emulate the former Islander great. Interesting in today's Daily News by Peter Botte regarding the situation back when. Bertuzzi recently discussed it with ESPN Magazine and remarked that he still resents the Isles for comparing him to Gillies, now a Hall of Famer, by having him tutor Todd. Supposedly, Bertuzzi's wife Julie once stepped in front of Gillies at an Islanders team function and said, "Can't you just leave him alone?" Read some more comments below in the Quotes section.

 

Clark Honors the "Muckers & Grinders"
A nice ceremony before the game. Gillies thanked the fans and the Islanders organization. He also mentioned how glorious a thing it was to be remembered in bobblehead form.

- The best part of the ceremony was that Clark asked three Islanders to come share his moment. These three players were known more as being muckers and grinders that perhaps didn't get the accolades that some other players did, namely the HOF'ers, but contributed just as much. The three players were: three time Cup winner Billy Carroll, and four time Cup winners "Dog" Duane Sutter, and Bob Bourne. Of course Bourne is 8th on the Islanders all-time scoring list with 542 points. They were each presented with cuff links from the team. Speedy Jason Blake presented to Bourne, who was known for his rink length dashes. Gillies said he was the fastest player on skates he ever saw. Steve Webb presented the cuff links to Duane Sutter. Michael Peca presented a gift to Gillies.

Gillies Enters the Hall
Nov 4: Clark Gillies became the 7th member of the New York Islanders glory years to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto Monday night. It's just a shame the Islanders couldn't win tonight an show some heart that Gillies showed for 12 years.

- Clark was the second player to reach the podium tonight as the HHOF had Bernie Federko make his acceptance speech first. Following Gillies were Rod Langway and then former coach Roger Nielson. Gillies told the most interesting career story. Not following the traditional speech route of beginning from junior career through professional, Gillies decided to work backwards. The first man he thanked was architect Bill Torrey, who was present, for drafting him in what he stated "was perhaps the greatest team of all time". Secondly he thanked coach Al Arbour, also present, for being the biggest influence in his hockey career. He then proceeded to thank former Trio Grande linemates Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy for their part in his career, stating that no one makes it here without teammates. Gillies thanked his best friend Bobby Nystrom for being someone who was really good at motivating Clark when things needed to get going. Gillies went on to thank Earl Ingarfield, before he was ever involved with the Isles, for helping him get his junior career going. After thanking his wife and three daughters, Clark almost broke down in tears as he thanked his father, who unfortunately died before he could see Clark win any of his Stanley Cups. Gillies received a Hall of Fame jacket, pin, and most importantly a plaque with his likeness to be displayed alongside the rest of the greats in NHL history. Congrats go out once again to Clark Gillies from IslesInfo!! 

 

     This site is dedicated to every player who has skated for the New York Islanders from their birth in October of 1972 to the present day. 357 players from all over the world have worn the blue, orange and white with pride and passion during the team's 28+ year history. Among these pages you will find the New York Islanders all-time numerical roster. This roster is a great way for fans to remember their favorite players and hopefully moments in team history, which includes the Stanley Cup Dynasty teams from 1980-83. 

     This site will always be under construction as I will be adding to it at all times. I hope to add in the future more information about players, as well as coaches and general managers. In time there will be an all-time roster done alphabetically. Plans for a Hall of Fame section are also in the works.

Legends - Page 1

Lets Go Isles!