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Rare feat: From Islander to Stanley Cup winner

[Note: I'm still surfing the international highway; what follows is a pre-scheduled post.]

So I celebrated the other night as three 2007-08 Islanders -- including one who was captain as late as March 2009 -- won the Cup as members of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Futility jokes aside, how rare is it to leave the Islanders and become a Stanley Cup champion within the next year? Very.

John Tonelli got to the finals with Calgary in 1986, but he was gone to L.A. by the time the Flames returned to finish the job in 1989.

Tomas Jonsson went to Edmonton for their playoff push in 1988-89, but their Smythe Division rivals captured the Cup that year, and the following season -- when the Oilers grabbed their fifth and final Cup -- Jonsson was back in Sweden.

Brent Sutter and Brad Lauer went to Chicago early in the 1991-92 season (swapped for Steve Thomas and Adam Creighton), but they, too, fell short in the finals that year under Mike Keenan.

Bill Berg was shipped to Toronto mid-way through 1992-93. What's that matter, you ask? Well Leafs partisans will tell you all that separated the Leafs from a Cup that year was Kerry Fraser.

Uwe Krupp went to Quebec in the summer of 1994, but the franchise didn't win the Cup (with Krupp scoring the game-winner) until two seasons later, after they'd become the Avalanche. Speaking of the 1996 champions, technically Claude Lemieux was an Islander property on the eve of that season -- but only on paper as part of the three-way deal involving Wendel Clark and Steve Thomas. Later that summer, Brent Severyn was sent to Colorado, but it was too late for a Cup.

In the spring of 1999, the Islanders traded Sergei Nemchinov -- one of the rare players to dress for all three metro teams -- to the Devils, where he won the Stanley Cup (for the second time, after 1994) the next season.

After the lockout, Michael Peca went to Edmonton in exchange for Mike York in 2005, and that following season Peca's Oilers made it all the way to the finals only to loose to Carolina.

So that's from a skim through Zandberg's invaluable NHL Trade History site. There's likely some I missed, particularly in the free agent arena -- although none come to mind. Let me know if you can think of any others, but by my count, when it comes to playing for the Islanders one season and winning the Cup elsewhere the next, there's just a bunch of close calls, plus Nemchinov and the trio of Penguins who hoisted the Cup just last week.

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Guerin looks feral in that picture. Just sayin’.

SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there)

by Doogie2K on Jun 21, 2009 1:25 PM EDT reply actions  

Absolutely. Rabid. Kinda why I like it, since I’m not sure I would look anything close to human if I were in his position.

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Jun 21, 2009 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions  

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GP W L OTL PT
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New York Islanders Roster

# Pos. DOB W H
Josh Bailey 12 LW 10/2/1989 190 6-1
Rick DiPietro 39 G 9/19/1981 190 6-1
Mark Eaton 4 D 5/6/1977 215 6-1
Michael Grabner 40 RW 10/5/1987 185 6-0
Travis Hamonic 3 D 8/16/1990 203 6-2
Milan Jurcina 27 D 6/7/1983 253 6-4
Andrew MacDonald 47 D 9/7/1986 196 6-1
Matt Martin 17 LW 3/8/1989 210 6-3
Al Montoya 35 G 2/13/1985 203 6-2
Mike Mottau 10 D 3/19/1978 190 6-0
Matt Moulson 26 LW 11/1/1983 205 6-1
Evgeni Nabokov 20 G 7/25/1975 200 6-0
Aaron Ness 55 D 5/18/1990 170 5-10
Nino Niederreiter 25 RW 9/8/1992 205 6-2
Frans Nielsen 51 C 4/24/1984 184 6-0
Kyle Okposo 21 RW 4/16/1988 205 6-0
Jay Pandolfo 29 LW 12/27/1974 190 6-1
P.A. Parenteau 15 LW 3/24/1983 193 6-0
Rhett Rakhshani 49 RW 3/6/1988 190 5-10
Marty Reasoner 16 C 2/26/1977 205 6-1
Dylan Reese 42 D 8/29/1984 201 6-1
Brian Rolston 11 LW 2/21/1973 215 6-2
Steve Staios 24 D 7/28/1973 200 6-1
Mark Streit 2 D 12/11/1977 197 6-0
John Tavares 91 C 9/20/1990 202 6-0
Tim Wallace 36 RW 8/6/1984 207 6-1
Calvin de Haan 44 D 5/9/1991 187 6-1

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