Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: Win or Lose, Boston Celtics' New Big 3 Era A Success

Fun Islanders trivia - can you name our Masterton trophy guys?

Mark Fitzpatrick popped up in the comments thread of the LaFontaine to Okposo post.

To recap it briefly: Fitzpatrick was the young, promising goalie prospect the Islanders got back from Los Angeles for Kelly Hrudey.  He posted three shutouts as a 21-year old in 1989-90; his .898 sv% that year might look horrible to us Dead-Puck refugees, but it was good for fifth in the whole NHL among qualifying goalkeepers.  The future looked bright.

Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick contracted a new, dangerous neurological disease called Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome, and missed most of the 1990-1991 season.  He returned to play two games that season, losing to the St Louis Blues, 3-2, on March 23rd of 1991, and then beating the Boston Bruins 5-3 a week later.

But EMS, though treatable, has no known cure, and causes symptoms that are often mistaken for things like Lupus: muscle pain and weakness, swollen joints, shortness of breath, and excessive fatigue plagued Fitzpatrick whenever the illness flared up.  He fought through and appeared in 30 games in 1991-92, going 11-13-5 with a .902 sv% and 3.20 GAA.  And again, his sv% was fifth among qualifying goalies.  The NHL recognized Fitzpatrick with the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 1992, honoring him for his perserverance and decication to hockey.

Star-divide

This led me to wonder, aloud, about the other winners, and I said that six other players who had Islanders ties were also honored with the Masterton - but only one of them was an Islander at the time.

Turns out that this was a Trivia Fail on my part.  The actual number of those players is EIGHT, not six.  I had left one off on purpose, because he hadn't played for the Islanders yet (so you get a hint on him); but entirely overlooked another guy.  Shame on me.

Anyway - this is the Official Corrected Islanders Masterton Trophy Trivia List and Contest, Ltd.  Enter your guesses in the comments below (and scout's honor, no looking it up!), and I'll update with the correct answers later.  No money, but you will receive kudos and admiration from your peers here at Lighthouse Hockey, and I'll try to get a retweet of your accomplishments from Grabs or Matty Mo.  Have fun!

UPDATE - High Praise to the following for hitting some of our answers:

The Blogfather, Dominik, got Jason Blake, who won in 2008 with Toronto.
Pretty Good Idiot got Bryan Berard, who won in 2004 with (surprise!) Chicago.
The Magus and JW1970 both got Ed Westfall, who won it with the Isles in 1977.

So... there are still five names left for all y'all.  For added fun, try to also get the teams these players were playing for at the time.

Submitted FanPosts do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog or SB Nation. If you're reading this statement, you pass the fine print legalese test. Four stars for you.

Comment 11 comments  |  0 recs  | 

Do you like this story?

Comments

Display:

It's sad, but this makes me brainstorm for diseased Islanders

So…was Jason Blake one?
Wonder if Arbour ever won it as a player? (I don’t even know how old the Masterton is, much less who’s won it. I’m trying hard not to Google it.)

Lighthouse Hockey: A flute with no holes is not a flute. A Dane with no holes is Frans Nielsen.

by Dominik on Jul 28, 2011 3:58 PM EDT reply actions  

Masterton started in 1968

We may be in the box, but you get the penalty.
Lighthouse Hockey - a beacon of greatness on the rocky coast of sports blog mediocrity
Non-hockey scribblings at nightflyblog

by mikb on Jul 28, 2011 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions  

Berard

was one, no?

I look forward to the day when DiPietro wins it. Seriously. If he plays a full season with a decent record, he’s got to at least get consideration.

"He's depriving some small village of a pretty good idiot" - Mike Milbury on Ziggy Palffy's agent Paul Kraus during Palffy's contract holdout in 1998.

by PGI on Jul 28, 2011 4:20 PM EDT reply actions  

So far

Dom has Jason Blake, with Toronto from 2008.
PGI is correct with Bryan Berard, with Chicago (!) from 2004. (I kind of forget he was a Blackhawk.)

We may be in the box, but you get the penalty.
Lighthouse Hockey - a beacon of greatness on the rocky coast of sports blog mediocrity
Non-hockey scribblings at nightflyblog

by mikb on Jul 28, 2011 5:01 PM EDT reply actions  

This question was in another post yesterday....

My answer Eddie Westfall.

"If the bell needs to be answered, we've got the guys to answer it." "If they want to start something, that's fine."- Trevor Gillies

by JW1970 on Jul 29, 2011 11:10 AM EDT reply actions  

Knew Ed Westfall

Shows my age. Did Mike Sillinger ever win?

This IS the year.

by since70too on Jul 30, 2011 1:26 PM EDT reply actions  

To answer my own question- NOPE

Was the one you overlooked the 97-98 winner? Who knew 87-88 even played there, biggest surprise I was unaware.

This IS the year.

by since70too on Jul 30, 2011 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions  

Wow, 1987-88 was a surprise

And ack, I forgot about several I should have remembered there (94-95, 97-98).

Lighthouse Hockey: A flute with no holes is not a flute. A Dane with no holes is Frans Nielsen.

by Dominik on Aug 1, 2011 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions  

1988 I actually remembered

At the beginning of the year, that honoree was one of the co-recipients of the SI Sportsman of the Year award.

Oh, and spoilers.

We may be in the box, but you get the penalty.
Lighthouse Hockey - a beacon of greatness on the rocky coast of sports blog mediocrity
Non-hockey scribblings at nightflyblog

by mikb on Aug 1, 2011 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions  

yes, exactly right

And Mike Sillinger is not a Masterton winner, though I think he was the Islanders’ nominee one season.

We may be in the box, but you get the penalty.
Lighthouse Hockey - a beacon of greatness on the rocky coast of sports blog mediocrity
Non-hockey scribblings at nightflyblog

by mikb on Aug 1, 2011 11:36 AM EDT reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

A New York Islanders blog for fans near and far. Hip and shoulder surgery not required.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Small
Being Reasonable About Garth Snow’s First Rounders
Billy_smith_si_cover_small
LightHouse Hockey game on!
Gigantor15_small
LHH Poster's 25U25 Consensus
Jt_small
The New York Islanders and The Rebuild

Recent FanPosts

Moulsondealwithit_small
Islanders Jerseys throughout history. Which is your favorite?
Jt_small
And With the Fourth Pick, The Islanders Select...
Warlord2_small
Breaking Down the Cloutier - Salo Fight
Dutchlogo_small
LHH off-season fantasy league
890_1__small
Expectations: Strome
Small
The Angstlander -- Inside the mind of an anxious Islanders fan (that means you!)

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

Featured Poll

Poll
What else is Russian sports media telling us?

  141 votes | Results

Isles Reading

Islanders Schedule

1979-80


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


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


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


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.


Blog Bossy

Lhh-square_small Dominik

Enforcers & Snipers

Warlord2_small Mark D

Lighthouse_hockey_logo_2_medium_small Keith Quinn

Tubby_goalie_gif_small mikb

Hg_small Chris McNally

Master of FIGs and Power Tablature

Icon3_small ICanSeeForIslesAndIsles

Emeriti

Officials_sweater_1_small IslesOfficial

Headshot_small Michael Schuerlein

71096_479208120482_1257968_n_small David Hanssen