On the Islanders Beat

This is news? I beleive I posted this about Wang about six months ago.

Wang was an unindicted co-conspirator in the CA case. As someone who was directly involved with more then one hundred Rico or Hobbs Act cases, I can tell you that if the Feds had the goods on the Wang man, they would have nailed him to the cross. Just because he didn't get indicted doesn't mean he was innocent. It just means that the Feds couldn't get enough evidence to convince a jury that he was guilty.

Besides corrupt cops or politicians, there is nothing a Federal Prosecutor likes more than to hang a big CEO's scalp on his belt.

Why? Because when he (or she) leaves the US Attorney's Office, he (or she) can the make millions defending the same crooks that they were looking to put away before they left. They know the system and can keep a CEO from getting indicted or from being found guilty. It's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Anybody wanna bet that Wang's legal team included former Assistant US Attorneys?.............Sir William

On another site I was reading an article by a guy (Hdrak maybe?) who was going team by team and naming the teams best forward, d-man and goalie ever to play for that franchise.

He has not gotten to the Islanders yet and I was thinking that the D-man (Dennis Potvin) Gaolie (Billy Smith) were easy. The forward came down to Bossy and Trottier. Bossy was the best pure goal scorer to ever play in the NHL. But Trottier was brilliant at all facets of the game. Besides scoring (and setting up Bossy) he was a merciless checker and hitter. He did it all.

So I have to give the edge to Trottier based on his all around value to the team.

How about you? Especially those of you who actually saw them play in their prime......Sir William

Trottier.

Wang can join Kumar and Spano in prison.

The first post was NOT ME...As usual it was my troll buddy who is obsessed.

I do find the news VERY funny though. Been saying since day one this guy is no darn good. Simply a liar and a bad person.

Okay trolls you can now go back to using my sign on and other sign on's to rip me. Often immitated....NEVER duplicated.

Hope all you regs are doing well. I rarely post anymore until all the kids go back to school and the grown ups talk hockey again.

Rock on

Sir W....... Trotts was the best. My favorite was always Bossy, but Trotts did it all.

Bossy best sniper.
Potvin best Def.
Smitty best money goalie EVER.
Gillies best Isles fighter.
Tonelli best grinder.
Goring best with the best trade deadline move.
Gordie Lane worst. :)
Sutter best scrappy player.
Bourne best end to end play ever.
Gary Howatt best lil man fighter
Nystrom best of the rest.

Just my opinions......Now back to the trolls!

I agree almost 100% with Steady's list. Gillies may have been the best "fighter", but he is in the HOF because he defined the POWER FORWARD position. There aren't too many guys who could have skated with trottier and bossy (without giving up offensive potential) and protected the whole team. When you list the best all-time Islander forwards Gillies has to be in the top 5. Trottier would be my first choice. Lafontaine the second and then Bossy. Bossy had the best hands in the NHL...ever... but the next check he throws will eb his first. For those of us that watched him play I challenge anybody to picture him making a defensive contribution before March 15th. In the playoffs he at least made a defensive effort. I'd rank Gillies #4 and then Ziggy.
Trots did everything at the highest level. He was on the ice for all facets of the game (same as Potvin), EV, PP and PK. Lafontaine was used the same way, though he didn't have the physical strength that trots did. If Bossy wasn't on a line with trottier and Gillies (and accepting tape to tape passes from Potvin) his goal production probably would have been less than 75% of what it was. The other forwards in my top 5 would have been HOF players where-ever they played. Boss might also have been inthe HOF, but it may not have been such a no-brainer had he played his whole career in Washington or Colorado (rockies, not Avs).

to set the question askew a little how about the best of each decade:
1970-79
Trottier-Potvin-Resch (people forget that Resch was the work horse in the pre-cup years)
1980-89
Lafontaine-Potvin-Smith (Lafontaine was magic, but never had the supporting cast that trottier did, after 85 the Isles were his team)
1990-99
Palffy-Darius Kasparitus(personal favorite)-Healy (only playoff series winner)
2000-present
Jason Blake (only 40 goal scorer)-Kenny Jonnson-DP (If Osgood had not been traded this response would have been different, and the Isles might have had a playoff series win by now)

Steady,

What's up with the hating of Gord Lane? Gord-o was the Sean Hill of that cup winning team. He doesn't get much credit becasue of the talent above him like Potvin, Persson, Langevin, Jonsson, Morrow...etc But Lane was one tough SOB, and played like Smitty without the goalie equipment. Not every defenseman is going to score 15 goals a year... look at our present crop... they can't score 10 as a team.

Trottier, Sir William...hands down.

Fastest goal I never saw.
Bunch of us flew down to LA in 83 (from AK) for a Kings/Isles game
Had seats in the Kings end.
Faceoff was to the left of the goalie, Trottier with Bossy in the high circle. As the linesman was getting set to drop the puck, I made the mistake of looking and reaching down to grab my beer.
As I grabbed it the crowd reacted to a goal by Bossy, and I could see the reflection of a red light out of the corner of my eye.
It was that quick. From Trottier to Bossy and in.
Never saw a thing. Except the Kings players were all still in the same positions they were holding when I reached down. None of the had moved an eyelash.
One of my buddies said it was comparable to a good Foosball player executing a pull shot with his front men.
At least the beer was cold.

Even though my vote goes to Trottier, most hockey fans outside the Island only know Bossy. If you read any other sites, you will always see comments from outside the Metro area like "Islanders..oh yeah, Mike Bossy."

Which brings me to my second point. Who is the all time MVP of the Islanders. My vote will always goes to Denis Potvin, who I feel
was the greatest all around defensemen to ever play the game. No
defenseman has ever been the most complete package as Denis was.

Orr changed the game with his speed and offense, but he couldn't hit worth a damn and he never really played defense. Same with Coffey. Doug Harvey was close but never put up the numbers Potvin did. Nick Lindstrom probably comes as close as anyone, but he too, never possessed Potvin offensive ability.

So there you have it. In the borring pre camp, dog days this is what we have to chat about.........Sir William

JP.....I gotta go with Turgeon over Palffy. He lead the Isles on their last really good playiff run and was a franchise player for the few short years he was here. If that coward Hunter had not bushwhacked him, who knows what would have happened. In my opinion Turgeon never recovered from that hit. He was never the same player after that..............SW

14:28 and 14:30 were not me....Duhhhhhh

All time Isles MVP is so hard to call......They were the perfect unit at the perfect time. LEt's not forget how each one of them did things in those playoffs that will forever be remembered. The goal by Nystrom.....The come back from down 3-1 in the final game of the playoffs by Tonelli.....The goal by Morrow against the Rangers......The constant standing on the head of Smitty....The booming hits by Langevin.....The grit of Goring and Nystrom...The sheer force of Gillies....The Wayne Merricks and Stephan Pearsons.....The end ot end goal of Bourne and his sheer speed. The running of the goalies by Sutter.....They simply DOMINATED.

My all time favorite will always be Smitty.....He was THE FIRST Sean Avery and he was in net.....He got under the best of the best skin...Just ask the best ever Gretzky. He backed up his mouth with unbelievable play when it counted. Best MONEY goalie EVER !!!! Can you imagine what Smitty would of done to Avon if he did that stick act to him instead of Brodeur. LMAO... HE would still be in jail to this day !!!

As for Gordie Lane....Just never liked him. Not sure why....Go back and watch old films of the playoffs and he was the wink link in the later ones. YES, would love him today !! :) :)

**La Fontaine does not belong in the same breath as Bossy. Sorry but Bossy was a pure goal scoring machine. If his back did not go out he would be beyond a hockey legend. Before #99 came along, it was Bossy that was talked about!

505 - Great story !! Bring me back !! I was a teenager, but remember like it was yesterday.

Trottier
Potvin
Smith
That's pretty much a no brainer. As good as many others were on that team, unless you just feel like being contrary, you aren't gonna pick another at any of those positions...arguably NHL-wide for the first two. Listening to guys who played against them tells the story...they made your night miserable in many ways. You'd lose...no matter what style you played...and you'd get a beating in the process.
Having grown up an playing my high school and college hockey during the late '70's-early '80's, I will say that I feel very lucky to have been there for that one-of-a-kind team.
Don't kid yourself about Bossy, he would have scored a ton on any line. He gets recognized for the release, but he could skate, pass, and play in the d-end too. He did not shy away from getting hit either. He had some great passers around him, but you have to do something with those passes...they don't shoot themselves.
I also don't get the rap on Lane. Solid stay-at-home guy who made very few mistakes with the puck, was sound positionally, and hit hard without taking himself out of the play. He didn't have offensive numbers, that was not his job.

Regarding Orr not hitting...not true at all...not even close to accurate. He gets the same style of misinformation that Bossy gets..."offensive defenseman," "didn't play D", "didn't hit"...again...listen to his peers and watch the tapes. Orr dominated in every zone and he was one tough SOB. Potvin or Orr? Both could skate...Orr was smoother. Both could shoot...Potvin shot harder (?). Both could hit...Potvin hit harder. Both had otherworldly hockey sense and an unimpeachable work ethic. Both could lead, fight, were rabid competitors, and made others around them better.. That is a tough call...Potvin was my idol growing up and I wore #5 because of him, but...Bobby Orr...my heart says Denny, but my head says #4. Tie? I don't know...I don't think I am objective enought to make the call.

Again...Not knocking Lane....He was just the guy I remember not liking out of the whole crew....He was a good player surrounded by genius. Just a personal thing...Not sure why ! :) :)

** My buddy up here in Beantown has a tape of O'Reilly's best fights...I keep asking him why he keeps losing to Gillies :) :) **

There fights in the playoffs were legendary!

Go Mets !!!!

***As for #4 Bobby Orr....I was too young....Ask people up here and they will laugh at you if you mention Potvin in the same breath....So I do it constantly to stir the pot !! :) :) **

GA FAN....I don't have to watch tapes. I saw Bobby Orr play many, many times both in the old Boston Garden and in MSG.
And he never hit like Potvin. In fact, he always had a whole host of the big, bad Bruins to protect him whenever anyone went near him. Orr was like Gretsky that way, he always had someone else to stand up for him. Not that he was afraid of contact, but he always had a teammate who would jump in before the gloves got dropped or punches got thrown. The Bruins realized what an asset Orr was and they protected him like he was a china doll.

Bobby Orr singlehandedly changed the way the game of hockey was played. But he didn't hit or play defense like Denis Potvin...........Sir William

Great synopses Ga Isles fan and Sir William.

Tough call on Potvin VS Orr.

Very tough call..

Too close to call.

I watched a lot of Orr and I tend to side with Sir William on his
D ability. I never got the impression that wingers were afraid to skate with their head down against Orr, but he was technically as skilled a D-man as you'd ever find.
As reflected in his lifetime +/-. Including one year of +124.
And as great as Potvin was offensively, Orr kind of wrote the book on offensive d-men.

I'll simply say that they can both be mentioned in the same breath. And should be, whether that breath reeks of beans or garlicky pizza.

Just my opinion.

Insomnia has set in...
LaFontaine v. Bossy
Really, in the grand scheme of things there is no debate. But as far as Islander forwards go, Lafontaine carried the team in dark spot when the the rest of the team had aged past their prime. Bossy was special. Like I said, best hands EVER. But revisionist history is just as special... I bet you can remeber the guy you saw Bossy hit... and if it's on film somewhere you could make an argument that it was an accident.
I will give him this, in a period where guys took real beatings for real estate in the slot... he took it. And that is the definition of TOUGH. Which I won't argue. But please don't tell me he played a defensive role... I bet the rarest Islander photo is one that contains him and an islander goalie in the same frame... EXCEPT in the playoffs. they all knew that support was the key in the playoffs.
In conclusion, I will admit, beyond my personal opinion, that Bossy was more "special" than Lafontaine... but to say that he shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath... That's unfair to a legitimate hall of famer.

Palffy v. Turgeon
Turgeon would be #6 for me. He was another center that carried the team in an era lacking support. (mostly because he did actually replace the last one).
I guess I just liked Ziggy... the guy was just exciting to watch in a way that no other individual islander was. Bossy had hands, Bourne had speed, Gillies had pure brute strength with incredible balance, but zig had zag. (I think that was a line from Jiggs... but I'm not sure) It's a contradiction, on my part, that I would heap such praise on a guy who was a true defensive liability, but he was the last "aaaaaah" guy to wear the jersey. It's one of the debatable points against what Snow did in the draft this year. filatov may turn out to be that kind of special talent... (but I still think that Snow employed the proper strategy for this team to get to where they need to be).
Maybe my only knock on Turgeon was that he was a horrible blackjack palyer.
I sat next to him once in AC, and the guy was splitting 7's when the dealer was showing paint... He also doubled down on a 12... which you never see except when there is an NBA player at the table...
It was around 98 and the Blues were in town to play the devils. Nice guy, but he was on third base and I had to get up before he cost me a Simon fine.

Potvin v. Orr
I am too young to have seen Orr play live, but to me Potvin was the most valuable player on the Islanders from the time he got there. Orr was probably better in many areas, but Pots was the best all around defenseman I've ever seen... Orr was LOVED, Potvin hated... I don't think his own teammates liked him that much. But they all respected the fact that his talent and his WILL were what drove them to 4 stanley cups.
As many pretty shots Bossy made from cross ice passes he tucked in twice as many Potvin rebounds on low sizzling wristers.
And SW hit the nail on the head with the comment about guys skating with their head down against Potvin. It was very much like what LT did for the Giants. There were many teams that were defeated just becasue they spent more time worrying about Potvin than they did about their own gameplan.

7TH WOMAN, ...If you read Canadian sites then you must know how much bias there is against those Islander Cup Teams in Canada.
The Canadian media hated the Isles because they took the Cup away from Canada and held it for so long. They threatened the Montreal record of five straight Cups and they beat the Edmonton Oilers when no one in Canada thought that they could.

Just listen to the oft played soundbite of Bily Smith being interviewed after beating the Oilers in the Cup Finals.......Sir William

These posts were the most enjoyable anywhere, all summer. I saw these Isles teams win cups and it was surreal.Such hard work will never happen again.Somewhere deep down my throat still hurts from screaming.When one fantastic line came off the ice, another one came on.I loved them all, but Bobby Nystrom is my hero.Chico's reg. seasons were highly underrated.What a great thing to have witnessed.