LaFontaine savors one last visit to Nassau Coliseum

About three months ago, I received a message from Garth Snow, the general manager of the New York Islanders, asking me to get in touch with him. He mentioned to me that the Islanders were going to be bringing back a lot of the players who have banners hanging from the rafters at Nassau Coliseum.

Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith, Clark Gillies, Bobby Nystrom, all of those guys who won championships, along with other players from different eras were going to be brought in to say goodbye to the Old Barn and to salute the fans in the last season on Long Island.

Garth explained that they wanted to end the final season on a high note and asked me to come out for a ceremonial puck drop and to do some “meet-and-greets” with the fans and sponsors. I told Garth that I was honored by the gesture he and Charles Wang had extended to me, and it would be my pleasure to attend.

PHOTOS: LaFontaine and Brown

Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine and Clinton Brown. (Photo: Pat Lafontaine)

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I later found out that the club had selected the evening of March 24, because that was the anniversary of the night in 1990 when I scored the goal to give me my first 50-goal season with the Islanders.

I was honored and excited to have this opportunity to go back and say farewell and thank you to the fans at the Coliseum -- where it all started for me at the NHL level. Long Island has always been a special place to me. I met my wife there. We had our first daughter there. We still have a house on Long Island, and it is home base for my charity, Companions in Courage Foundation (www.CiC16.org).

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When I joined the Islanders, it was right after my time with the United States Olympic team and competing in the 1984 Sarajevo Games. I had just turned 19 on February 22, and I joined the Islanders just one week later, on Feb. 29, 1984.

I always like to tell this story. When I was 15 years old, we were doing some spring cleaning back in Michigan. My dad always had us doing stuff like that to teach us the value of hard work in life. There were some leaves that needed to be cleaned up, and my brother and I were hard at work. A few hours later my dad popped out the back door and said, 'Hey, the Islanders are in overtime [in Game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup Final] and it's on TV.'

We caught the overtime and watched live as Lorne Henning passed to John Tonelli, Tonelli passed over to Bobby Nystrom, and the rest is history.

We were so excited by the play that we were jumping up and down in Waterford, Mich., celebrating Nystrom’s goal. At the time, hockey was growing in the United States but the doors kind of blew open when the 1980 team won the gold medal three months earlier and those players went on to play in the pros. One of those players was Kenny Morrow for the Islanders. As an American, I took special interest in all of those young U.S. heroes as they transitioned to the NHL. The dream level and the bar started to rise for a kid like me.

I had no idea that just four years later, I’d be making my NHL debut centering a line for Bob Nystrom and John Tonelli!

At one point, my aspiration was simply to get a college scholarship. Here I was, playing for the four-time Stanley Cup champions as I tried to help them get a fifth. We went on a heck of a run in those playoffs and almost won that fifth.

I had to keep reminding myself that this was real. I'd be sitting there and just watching guys after practice as they came off the ice. It was almost surreal to see these guys win the Stanley Cup and then to be playing with them.

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I woke up feeling pretty good, and I was excited to drive out to the Nassau Coliseum for the team’s morning skate and a scheduled press conference. I haven't been there in a long, long time. I was going to meet up with my son Daniel, who had just come home after playing this season with the Buffalo Junior Sabres.

I was 19 when I joined the Islanders and now my son, who is 19, could come and meet some of his favorite Islanders and have a chance to hang out with his dad at his old workplace.

When we got there at 10 a.m., I went right in and had a press conference. Just walking into the building brought back so many memories. I was greeted by some of the old security guards and tradespeople who have been working in the building for decades.

It reminded me of that old feeling I used to get on the morning of games, as the guys were going through the physical preparation and mental preparation. It’s nearing playoff time, and the intensity level was certainly heightened. It was really important for my son to experience that.

I did the press conference and saw a lot of old friends. When we were through with the one-on-ones, I got to take my son into the locker room. It has changed. I really like what they’ve done with the old place!

My son really wanted to meet John Tavares, and the Islanders' captain was just great with him. He came over and took pictures with Daniel and we had a real good chat. We were able to meet a few of the other players and congratulate them on the season they're having.

I've always had the philosophy since I retired that I had the chance to score my goals and I was able to know what that is like. What is fun now are the assists. I get to assist others and I like to see other people get excited. I get more excited to see them reach their goals or score their goals or have an exciting moment like this.

My son Daniel wasn't born yet when I played for the Islanders. I was set up on a blind date by Lorne Henning and his wife Kathy. I was 19 at the time and the Stanley Cup Playoffs were about to start. Lorne put his arm around me and said 'Hey, my wife and I think you and the girl next door would make a great couple.'

I jokingly said, "Not the 'girl next door' Lorne," and he said, 'No, she really does live next door." Sure enough, I called Marybeth and she lived in Huntington, [N.Y.], and we dated for three years. We were married when I was 22, and we're coming up on our 28th anniversary!

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I also had an extra special guest, a man I met when he was just a young boy. I met Clinton Brown when I was 19 years old. He was recovering from one of the many surgeries he had early in his life, and his parents would bring him to practice at Cantiague Park. He became a favorite of all the guys on the team, and I would sometimes take him out on the ice after practice.

Clinton has a form of dwarfism, and he had to go through 30 surgeries in his life. He was one of the most courageous young men you could ever meet. He had the best attitude. We've kept in touch through the years, and we've known each other for 31 years now. He's got a job, and he was just named "Employee of the Month" at Cablevision. He drives his own custom-fitted car, has a girlfriend (who is a model) and recently moved into his own home!

He's the epitome of what having a positive attitude can do for you. I was really happy to be able to share this moment with him. I was humbled that the Islanders wanted to honor me, but what I thought needed to happen was for the club to also recognize the wonderful fan base that has supported the team through more than four decades. I don’t know of a more passionate and loyal Islander fan than Clinton, so I asked if he might be able to drop a puck too.

Kimber Auerbach and Ann Rina from the Islanders were totally on board to have such a special fan there to help drop the puck. Clinton thought that he and his parents were simply going to be my guest in the suite that night. When I told him (about five minutes before puck drop) that he was coming on the ice with me, his expression was priceless!

We had it staged where we were standing down by the Islanders entry way onto the ice. Ann pulled out my jersey, but then she also pulled out a jersey for Clinton.

Afterwards, he kept saying, 'Is this really happening? Did I really just do that? This is the best day ever." Those are the types of moments I was talking about before with my son. It’s all about "assists' these days. It really helped make it an extra special day for me.

I was really just so excited about the chance to thank the fans and reminisce about all of the great moments we had together. Thirty-one years later, you look at the on-ice experience a lot differently and it was just a flood of memories that came back to me.

The fans were tremendous. The building was rocking, as it has been rocking all year. The team has had such a tremendous season.

To have that moment, and to share that moment with the fans and my family and my friends and to have a chance to show my gratitude was such an honor. To get to watch my friend Clinton take it all in and experience it was so great.

My wife and I were reminiscing about that great trip down memory lane after the game on the drive home. We were so young when this journey started. I hadn't been in the building for a long time. But the thing that made it so special for me is the season the Islanders are currently having, and how it has allowed the club’s final run at the Coliseum to be so positive.

It was an emotional night and one I will cherish.