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@New York Islanders

Revisiting the 1983 New York Islanders



More Islanders? Yep, they won it again. I changed the layout for this one as there was so little roster change over.

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21 Comments

  1. Your content is already good, but I think it would be better and more interesting if you incorporated game film into it.

  2. Have to say that I can tell you actually remember this team because it is the most accurate assessment you have done of the Islander Cups.

    One thing most people don't remember is just before the Islanders started emerging from their "dip" as you called it, they had a players/head coach only meeting, where Arbour had each player say what they thought was wrong with the team. A lot of the bitching was thrown Arbour's way, and he listened silently and took all of it. Before the end of the meeting, he stated that he would incorporate their input into his coaching in April and beyond for that year, admitted that he was part of the solution, that there would be no changes made at the deadline, and that they'd move forward together. And that's exactly what happened. – so that's quite a contrast from the coach before the 80' season, where he was feeling the heat of possibly losing his job and being more aggressive and less empathic toward his guys. In 83', he is now able to do a 180 from that because he is secure that his job is his on his own terms, and the players he has had in the room were his guys.

    Just to piggyback on the Smitty thing, Smith actually continued his "83' terrible" into the playoffs against Washington, was pulled for Melanson, then didn't play in the Washington clincher, if memory serves me. He also had a stinker at MSG in the 2nd round against the Rangers. If you think about it the year in which he won the Conn Smythe, he could've lost his starting job before exiting the Patrick Division. And of course that was before doing what he usually ended up doing, which was go on a run where he was totally, completely unconscious against Boston and Edmonton. And as you mentioned, I think, Billy Smith's performances in Games 1, 3, and 4 of the Cup final were just not to be believed.

    I think in terms of consistency, it could easily be argued that Smith's best playoffs were in 82' not 83'.

    I often wonder how the playoff format change halfway through their run (the 75' CBA expired in 81', which ushered in the drastic changes of uneven scheduling and divisional emphasis in the playoffs) effected their play in terms of difficulty to the finals. It has been argued, and accurately so I think, that the Isles in both formats, had a cake walk for about 8-9 rounds of playoffs (from the 81' Leaf series – who in 78' weren't championship caliber, but were not nearly as wretched as they became throughout the 80's, and all the way up to the Boston series in 83', really. Boston was really good that year). I think the 82' Raggies were the only team that was significantly above .500 in that stretch, and I could be wrong about the 82' Rags – I don't remember. Actually in 83', the Caps were above .500, I am almost positive, but it's supposed to be a Championship Playoff. Anyway, that does need to be factored into the discussion.

    Don't get me wrong, for all the nails in the NHL in the early 80's, the Islanders were the unequivocal, undisputed fucking hammer. That raises them, not diminishes them.

  3. I knew Gretzy was going to get schooled.  I had found a $2,100+ ticket at Monmouth the day before the finals, cashed it and went to the bookie joint with $300 to bet 180 on the islanders to win the series and 120 on them to win game one.  Got there five minutes too late…oh well.  Still won a boatload that summer.

  4. Hockey Guy. Life long Islander fan here. From 1972-1973. My folks had partial season tickets for a few years. Was at the Coliseum in 81 to see Denis hoist the Cup. Anyway. The Lady Byng is not just for low penalty minutes. You also have to be very good. I loved Butch but he had 19 goals compared to Bossy's 60. This is the quote from the NHL site. The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability. So we are looking at 118 points for Bossy versus 39 for Butch. And 20 minutes is very low. BTW Butch did win it once but his point totals were 73 points (1977-78) and his penalty minutes were even lower at 2 minutes.

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