What Happened to the 92-93 Islanders?
by Mark D on Jul 23, 2010 5:21 PM EDT
in Islanders of Yesteryear
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Print[Note from Dom: Bumping this back up to make sure this historical piece isn't buried by the Jaffe discussion...]
Truthfully it doesn't feel like the Islanders' magical 92-93 playoff run was nearly 20 years ago. It was the first season I started watching the Islanders and probably the most fun I had watching them 'till this last season. It was somewhat amazing how quickly the team was dismantled following this run.
In 93-94 the Isles just barely made the playoffs, beating out the first year expansion Florida Panthers by a point for the right to be destroyed by the Rangers. In the strike-shortened season the Islanders finished ahead of only the Ottawa Senators. To highlight how quickly and badly the team had fallen, they managed only 7 more wins in 95-96 than they did during the strike shortened year.
The two biggest moves didn't even involve anyone on the ice: Bill Torrey was the obvious architect of the '93 team despite being forced out just the year before. Add Al Arbour's retirement following the 93-94 season and the Islanders lost two Hall of Famers. It isn't surprising that Torrey turned the Panthers into a Cup finalist in only three years, as he grabbed some character players the Islanders couldn't protect. You really can't say anything about Arbour that hasn't been said before. After he left, the Islanders Head Coaching position became a constant rotating door, with no one lasting more then two years until Scott Gordon.
But when it comes to the on ice players, it's amazing how quickly players from the Islanders playoff run were scattered throughout the league. For this list I'm mainly sticking to players who produced for the Islanders' 93 run and played a good amount of the playoff games.
Glenn Healy: The hero of the run, he quickly became a dagger in the heart of Islander fans as he became the long-term backup to Mike Richter for the Rangers. An infamously repeated story says after the Lightning claimed him in the expansion draft they were prepared to trade him back to the Islanders, but GM Maloney kept Lightning GM Esposito on hold for so long he became enraged and dealt him to the Rangers.
Ray Ferraro: If anyone took the ball and ran with it in the '93 playoffs it was the big ball of hate. Following a season of 46 GP and 27 Points, Ferraro put up 20 points in 18 playoff games. including the assist on the series-winning David Volek goal in Game 7. He left as a free agent in '95, signing with the New York Rangers.
Steve Thomas: He found himself traded on the eve of the '95 season in a three-way deal that sent Wendel Clark to the Islanders. During his four seasons on the Island he had three 70+ point seasons, with the exception being the strike shortened year. During the '93 playoff run he put up 17 points in 18 games.
Derek King: A former first round pick, King had a solid career as an Islander. King put up 14 points in 18 playoff games in '93, but went on a bit of a career slump in '95 and 95-96. In his contract year of 96-97 he put up 50 points and was dealt for a 7th round pick.
Pierre Turgeon: Since we all know this one, the short explanation is he was dealt in April of '95 for an eternally disgruntled Kirk Muller.
Benoit Hogue: In 3 full seasons with the Isles Benoit put up 75, 75 and 69 points. He struggled during the strike shortened season and was traded in April of '95 for prospect Eric Fichaud. Although he had some good seasons following the trade, he never did return to his Islanders form.
Vladimir Malakhov: The former 10th-round pick was traded away in the Turgeon deal. Although his two best seasons were with the Islanders, he was still a solid defenseman for the Canadians and Rangers in his later years.
Patrick Flatley: The long serving Islanders captain was bought out of his contract following the 95-96 season. His veteran leadership was sorely missed on a young Islanders team. To make matters worse, he signed with the Rangers for his final NHL season. Flatley played 245 games as Islander captain; since he left only Micheal Peca has come close playing 222 games as captain.
Tom Fitzgerald: This ended up being Fitzgerald's one full season on the Island. He was claimed in the expansion draft by the Panthers. Ironically Fitzgerald was traded to the Avalanche a few years later for Mark Parrish. It's the Islanders circle of life.
Uwe Krupp: The lovable defenseman was traded during the '94 draft in order for Maloney to move up and draft Brett Lindros (we also got Ron Sutter, who lasted 27 games). Although a bit older, he put together some solid seasons for the Avs and scored the Cup-winning goal in overtime in 95-96.
Darius Kasparaitis: One of the guys without whom the Islanders probably lose Game 7 against the Pens, Kaspar's huge hits are legendary. In November of '96 he was traded to those same Penguins for Bryan Smolinski. Yet another player who finished his years playing for the Rangers.
David Volek: The hero of Game 7, a herniated disc the following year forced him to retire. He was another Round Ten diamond in the rough on the team.
Travis Green: Green went from being either the third or fourth line center up to playing major minutes on the second line during the series. He did alright and had the best years of his career on the Island. Ended up being traded for scraps in Feb, of '98.
Rich Pilon: If you ever watch the video of Dale Hunter's cheap shot, Pilon is the human cannonball that comes flying into the screen after the hit. Although he lasted with the Islanders till '99 he was always injured and if memory serves me right he was waived to make room for Eric Cairns. The Rangers claimed him off of waivers.
Mick Vukota: The Islanders career leader in Penalty Minutes, he found his one-dimensional play less popular following the change in GM. He played 96-97 on the Isles but only for 17 games. He played with the Lightning and the Habs for a season before playing in the IHL and then retiring.
Mark Fitzpatrick: A solid backup, he actually split starts during the season with Healy. The Islanders tried to replace Healy and sent Fitzpatrick to the Nordiques for Hextall. He was then picked in the expansion draft by the Panthers.
There's two interesting trends here. First that the Rangers appeared to at one point or another signed almost every player who was part of the '93 Playoff run. Secondly, by the time the Islanders were going into the 95-96 season almost every important piece from the 1993 playoff run was gone. It's no surprise then that the 95-96 team was one of the all-time worst Islanders teams. They gave up the 3rd most goals against in team history, had the third worst point total and the third highest amount of losses.
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Thanks, much appreciated!
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I agree, really good post.. I don’t know why this has only 16 comments and the Jaffe story has almost 100. I remember that season really well, and the incredible playoff run. I really enjoyed watching that team, and I think it was really talented and balanced between offensive guys and good checking guys. They had a good 1-2 punch with the Turgeon-Thomas-King line and the Ferraro-Hogue-Flatley line. It was heartbreaking that they disassembled that team after one disappointing season.
Islander fans love drama?
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'Genius'
I love the photo caption too, dripping with WebBard’s bitterness for Maloney.
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Because I was born during the cup run, Kasparaitis remains my favorite all time Islander. The guy was an animal.
Behind Pierre
Kaspar was probably #2 on the heartbreaking. I’m a huge Lu fan, but his trade just infuriated me.
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At 36 yo this too is the year I remember most...
I’m a life long fan, but ages 6-9 for the dynasty I was only a casual fan, who was just learning the game.
rec’d
Thanks Judge, much appreciated. I’m only a few years behind you, so I know what you mean.
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The Heals and Flats Show
Glen Healy and Patrick Flatley had this great (ridiculous) pregame show on sometimes that season where they would poke around in the locker room and give fans access to the behind-the-scenes areas of Nassau Coliseum. It was hilarious in a slightly above public access sort of way.
Both were huge favorites of mine, especially Flatley, who still remains my favorite Islander of that era. He was not the prettiest player on the ice, and often injured because of his playing style, but he had heart, some finish and was reliable and a great second line RWer.
Through all the tough years since it is amazing that this team is the last to win a playoff round. I really hoped and believed that the playoffs in 2001-2 against the Maple Leafs would be a winning round, and again, stupidly, I believed that that season was the turning point for the franchise. Of course, ten years later, the team, and us fans, are back to square one once again.
I miss the days of Sportschannel. It always came off as a wild west show and just whatever you felt like putting on the air you did. I remember a running bit of Stan Fischler and someone else trying to find the new C, and it ended with them under the stands with a placard that had the letter “C” on it. I also loved how towards the end of the season the color guy was always replaced by an Islander 4th liner from the previous season.
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THE ROLLER COASTER
It’s amazing how this franchise has gone through its many phases, both on and off the ice. There have been signs of their rise like the drafting of Potvin, and their demise(s), like the retirement of Al Arbour, the Turgeon trade, and this.
Why doesn’t Wang just sell the team before he makes it worthless. For somebody so “comitted” to keeping the team on Long Island he sure does ex-isle a lot of good people.
The NY Islanders are about to redo the salary cap floor with russian marble!
turgeon
he was the linchpin,and was never the same after dale hunter. i still have nightmares of the day they traded him. arguably worse was trading fan favorite cheap shot artist( he went for the knees Always) kasparaitis. in retrospect the only true star we had since pierre turgeon was ziggy pallfy cause ysshin doesnt count
by Lakewood Islander on Jul 23, 2010 11:11 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
I’m going to have to argue for Kaspar here, he was a hip check specialist, and the hip check is so rare that it can appear he’s going for the knees but he isn’t.
I coached a Russian kid who was a huge fan of Kaspar along with his brother. He got hurt and missed 90% of the season, he came back for the last game of the year and started throwing huge hip checks everywhere. The moms watching the game for the other team didn’t realize what he was doing was legal and started freaking out and yelling at the refs, the commissioner, the kid and me about it.
I do miss the hipcheck, but it’s so hard to hit it’s not surprising it fell by the wayside.
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after hogue was traded,the next time he faced the isles he made a point of going over to kaspar the unfriendly,to warn him “stay away from my knees”, he as a former teamate knew exactly what the target zone was. sure enough kaspapraitas took him out by the knees and hogue went for his throat. thats exactly why i loved kaspar,he was not big like sutton but played dirty to even the playing field
by Lakewood Islander on Jul 23, 2010 4:57 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
My high school graduating year ...
Great memories of watching that team the whole season and that improbable run in the playoffs. I remember being so pissed off after the Hunter hit and listening to Don Cherry defend him.
Cherry defended him?!
Ack, how could I be surprised? That was the most disgusting, unsportsman, sore-loser, spoiled-brat acts of douchebaggery I’ve ever seen on the ice. And some people think that coward Hunter should be in the Hall…
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So much to love about this
Man, it takes me back.
If you ever watch the video of Dale Hunter’s cheap shot, Pilon is the human cannonball that comes flying into the screen after the hit.Every time! That’s the only part I like about that clip.
Secondly, by the time the Islanders were going into the 95-96 season almost every important piece from the 1993 playoff run was gone. It’s no surprise then that the 95-96 team was one of the all-time worst Islanders teams.Appropriate obituary, that.
Lighthouse Hockey: Adapting forecasts to the disturbance known as Nino.
Excellent post Webby
It’s funny how all of this works out… and what scares me about the current phase of Islander “history”. That team became incredibly bad, completely avoiding the malaise of mediocrity… and allowing them the opportunty that is afforded the first guy on line at the buffett… only to see that opportunity wasted by this guy…
The NY Islanders are about to redo the salary cap floor with russian marble!
by JPinVA on Jul 23, 2010 11:44 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
LOL!!
Great Picture!
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I think Mark Fitzpatrick could have been a great goaltender. He was selected 27th overall in 1987, making him the second goalie selected that year. The isles actually traded Hrudey to get him. I forget the exact details but he contracted some rare disease that could have killed him, and he he fought his way back into the NHL. I looked for details on it but couldn’t find any, maybe someone could refresh my memory of exactly what he had. He won the Masterson trophy for his heroic battle back to the game but was never quite the same after that. He had some good years as a backup to Vanbiesbrouck with Florida and then became a bit of journeyman after that, spending time with Chicago, Tampa bay and Carolina.
Fitz and Healy
I loved that tandem. Wow, I just checked and realized Healy was signed as a free agent from LA, whereas Fitz as you say was in that Hrudey trade (plus, heh, Wayne McBean and futures that became Crossman). In my foggy memory I’d thought they both came over for Hrudey.
That health battle rings a bell, too. That whole post-93 era was surreal, watching Fitz and Vanbiesbrouck in Florida while Healy was with the Rangers; world turned upside down, it was. (Add Beezer’s decaying ashes washing up with the Isles at the end of the decade and it’s too much to digest.)
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He was the only person added to the post that didn’t play a playoff game that year. That the Islanders let both Healy and Fitzpatrick get away, while bringing in the questionable talent of Hextall was one of those horrible moves. I don’t think Tommy Salo solidified himself as starter till late 96-97
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1004659/3/index.htm
I found the story.
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Hextall
What an infuriating, infuriating move that was. Maloney bought stock in ‘87 Hextall when goaltending had moved well past the era of Hextall vs. Fuhr. Seeing the Habs-Nords ’93 series was a great contrast in goaltending movements passing each other like ships in the night: Roy continuing his ascent with his increasingly disciplined butterfly style, vs. Hextall’s acrobatic/reaction style leaving him in an out-of-position mess way too many times.
Hextall still made some great saves that series, but it was clear the percentages were not on his chosen style. If anyone catches the NHL Network’s “Classic Series” episode on Mon vs. Que 1993, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Lighthouse Hockey: Adapting forecasts to the disturbance known as Nino.
I know exactly what you mean. Watching those classic games on the NHL network it always surprises me how much goaltending has changed. at first butterfly was seen as a kind of novelty, but when you watch goalies like Hextall you realize that the butterfly style, in my opinion, is just more fundamentally sound. All that acrobatic flopping around just pulls a goalie out of position. You watch those games and see incredable, mind boggling saves, and then a few moments later you see a goal that any goalie now would stop, no problem. Good butterfly goalies make a lot saves look routine.
hehe, my style was always Soderstrom-esque. Imagine Hasek with none of the ability to make the 3rd or 4th save from his back.
I wish I had video, as it stands all I have from 3 years of goaltending almost everyday for 3 years straight is a single picture which I might have lost.
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illness
I recall that he took some L-tryptophan (the substance in turkey that supposedly makes you sleepy) supplements and contracted a debilitating disease. Pehaps eosinophilia–myalgia syndrome (see Wikipedia)?
The L-tryptophan connection sticks in my mind because my mother had bought me a bottle of those supplements a few years earlier and after Mark Fitzpatrick, I constantly accused her of trying to poison me.
I also still have a #30 Fitzpatrick jersey that I wore proudly when I lived in Japan from 1991 to 1994. My old college girlfriend bought for me at Gerry Cosby and it was originally a #30 Hrudey jersey but I got the name changed after the trade. And it has remained Fitzpatrick because I don’t think that the Islanders have had a notable #30 since then.
NYR / NYI Oldies
It isnt really that surprising..if players put down roots they want to stay close to home. It would be just as telling to see how many of those players still have homes on LI or in the NY/NYC area. No one wanted to go to Winnipeg if their home is on Long Island.
by IslesFanForLife on Jul 23, 2010 7:23 PM EDT reply actions
True, I hadn’t thought about that.
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Other Team's Woes
Do you think other team FanPages, specifically teams that have not won a Cup, ponder the really crappy trades, first round disasters and other misfortunes that begrudged their team from winning.
I hope we aren’t the only one.
by IslesFanForLife on Jul 23, 2010 7:28 PM EDT reply actions
Mention Stefan to the Thrashers, or Luongo to the Panthers, lol. Just about any trade if there were a Whalers page.
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Without question
Particularly so when people need their fix but there’s so little going on in July!
Lighthouse Hockey: Adapting forecasts to the disturbance known as Nino.
So much about this team and playoff run
Great post—I think this is a forgotten year in Islander history. Most people act like there was the dynasty and then Sean Bates in 2002. This was my first year as an Islander fan as well and they hooked me real good. My parents remember where they were when JFK was shot, I remember where I was when Turgeon was traded. (For the record I don’t mean to diminish the JFK assassination.)
I could go on, but I have to say that you missed a big piece of the 92-93 playoff run—the banner! If memory serves, those cheapskates auctioned off the banner at the end of the season with the promise that it would be the only official banner and never be replaced. What is that? Who does that? Does anyone know where it is? It pisses me off whenever I look at the banners. No wonder it’s the forgotten stepchild of the Cup Dynasty years.
Actually I do remember that, there’s a facebook group dedicated to the Islanders getting the banner back. I can’t believe the banner isn’t up with all the other ones at Nassau. They supposedly gave it away to a fan.
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Link?
I would SO join it. Not having that banner up in the rafters STILL is so goddamn stupis it isnt even funny.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Jul 26, 2010 12:09 AM EDT up reply actions
stupid
I mean REALLY Stupid. And stupis, for that matter. Any incarnation of “stupid” we can think of works.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Jul 26, 2010 12:10 AM EDT up reply actions
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49578723072&ref=search
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Thank you!
Joined AND passed on! :)
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Jul 27, 2010 12:40 AM EDT up reply actions
LOL
Into the lexicon: Not just stupid, that there is stupis.
Lighthouse Hockey: Adapting forecasts to the disturbance known as Nino.
Getting rid of our last team-earned banner is the kind of organizational blunder that is its own distinct species of stupid: stupis familiaris
All too familiaris, unfortunately.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Jul 27, 2010 8:44 AM EDT up reply actions
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Sat 02/11 | 1:00 PM EST |
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Atlantic Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
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New York Rangers
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52 | 34 | 13 | 5 | 73 |
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Philadelphia
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54 | 31 | 16 | 7 | 69 |
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Pittsburgh
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New York Islanders
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