Koules gets the nod in Tampa; Islanders fans can empathize
by Dominik on Jun 23, 2009 4:34 PM EDT
in This, That & What-Not
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PrintWe interrupt this week of pre-draft hype (Tavares! Ta-var-es!) to shed a sincere tear of empathy for fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning, whose team is the subject of custodial dispute between two wacky parents. Der Commissioner ruled this afternoon that Oren Koules gets to keep calling the shots, which -- according to reports of Koules' desires -- could mean Vinny Lecavalier is back on the table.
God Bossy knows Islanders fans are all too familiar with the experience of rooting for a team run aground by mismanagement and underfunded (sometimes fraudulent) ownership. That simply isn't fun, and leads one to existential questions best left unanswered.
As James Mirtle pointed out this morning, the Tampa Bay market was a success story just a few seasons ago, which goes to show how it's quite often the management -- not the market -- that determines the fate of NHL teams. Whether we go back to the pre-Ilitch Red Wings and the Ballard era in Toronto, or to the current ownership messes in Atlanta, Phoenix and Tampa Bay, mismanagement can suck the life out of any fanbase and make the team appear lost, if not hopeless.
Hopefully the Islanders -- continuing with Friday's pick of ... Tavares? -- are continuing to climb their way out of the depths they encountered for several reasons, so many of which pre-date the current leadership. If we are indeed on the rebound, as the roundtable at Puck Daddy unanimously (if guardedly) said, it's a shame there will be other NHL brothers left behind at the mercy of ownership car wrecks.
As for the Rangers, though, may every Dolan whim be their destiny.
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I still say Spano gets a bad rap. He announced his first move as owner was going to be to fire Milbury.
Ha! Well, you know he got as far as he did by saying the right things…
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1979-80
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May 24, 1980: Tonelli to Nystrom. At long last, the steady build of the New York Islanders from expansion doormat to surprise semifinalist to annual contender reaches the promised land: Buoyed by a late season trade for Butch Goring that gave the team the depth up the middle GM Bill Torrey had been seeking, the Islanders knock off the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.
The victory justified the faith in coach Al Arbour who guided them from their second season to their first Stanley Cup seven seasons later. The Islanders would not be the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, but they would be the only one capable of a dynasty.
1980-81
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May 21, 1981: This time it was much easier. After falling to "only" 91 points in the 1979-80 season, the Islanders returned to their division title tradition, piling up 110 points -- a whole 13 points over second-place Philadelphia.
Between the quarterfinals (where they beat the upstart Oilers in six games) and the finals, the Islanders reeled off eight consecutive wins -- with a four-game sweep of archrival Rangers in between. As they defeated the Minnesota North Stars in five games for their second Cup, their goal difference in the final was a combined +10.
1981-82
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May 16, 1982: Another year, another landslide title. The Islanders won the Patrick Division by a whopping 26 points over the second-place Rangers, and were seven points clear of their nearest competition for the President's Trophy, the still-not-quite-ripe Edmonton Oilers.
A first-round scare against the Pittsburgh Penguins turned in the Isles' favor thanks to John Tonelli's heroics, and a true dynasty was on its way: Past the Rangers in six games, then an eight-game sweep of the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks to run away with the Stanley Cup.
1982-83
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May 17, 1983: Not so fast, whipper-snappers. The Edmonton Oilers' steadily rising challenge for league supremacy took them all the way to the finals for the first time, where the New York Islanders summarily dispatched them in a four-game sweep. For the Islanders, the Dynasty was secured. For the Oilers, it was a powerful lesson in where talent ends and the demands of playoff hockey begin.
Four years, four Cups, 16 consecutive playoff series wins (a record that would grow to 19 until the rematch with the Oilers the following year). Mike Bossy scored 60 goals yet again, and Wayne Gretzky became acquainted with Billy Smith's crease.
