Trivia & Records

The 1980 Stanley Cup run was only the Islanders' 8th season in the NHL. No expansion team has ever risen from birth to championship so quickly.

Al Arbour came out of retirement in 2007 at age 75 to coach one final game for the Islanders, giving him exactly 1,500 career coaching games.

Bob Nystrom's Cup-winning overtime goal against Philadelphia in 1980 came at 7:11 of the first overtime period in Game 6.

The Islanders were founded in 1972 partly to prevent a WHA team from moving into the newly built Nassau Coliseum.

Ken Morrow won Olympic gold with the 1980 US team at Lake Placid in February, then won the Stanley Cup with the Islanders in May of the same year.

Clark Gillies wore number 9, which was later retired by the Islanders. He was nicknamed "Jethro" after a character in The Beverly Hillbillies.

Butch Goring wore a distinctive white Jofa helmet throughout his career that became his trademark look.

Mike Bossy scored 50 or more goals in each of his 9 NHL seasons — the only player in history to accomplish this feat.

The Islanders' 19 consecutive playoff series wins from 1980–1984 is an unmatched record in professional sports history.

Bryan Trottier once set a single-game playoff record with 5 points in one period during the 1982 playoffs.

The Islanders are the last team in any major North American professional sport to win four consecutive championships.

Denis Potvin broke Bobby Orr's all-time scoring record for defensemen in 1986, finishing with 1,052 career points.

Mike Bossy scored exactly 50 goals in exactly 50 games during the 1980–81 season, matching Maurice Richard's legendary 1944–45 feat.

Billy Smith was the first goalie ever credited with an NHL goal, on November 28, 1979. An opposing player accidentally shot the puck into his own net.

Wayne Gretzky failed to score a single goal in the 1983 Stanley Cup Final against the Islanders. Billy Smith held the Great One scoreless.