Maven's Memories: How The Draft Built The Isles Dynasty

Bill Torrey was the architect and he made his blueprints for building a championship team as clear as blue skies at Jones Beach.
"We'll build through the Draft," the Islanders original general manager asserted, "and hope for the best."
Islanders fans got the best. In record time, the club made the playoffs, won four Stanley Cups and set a standard never to be equaled -- 19 consecutive playoff series victories.

"But it wasn't easy," Bowtie Bill added. "The Original Six teams weren't giving us any breaks and the new World Hockey Association was raiding us left and right."
So, how did the Draft construct the Dynasty?
The acquisition of six players -- beginning with the first shot at players in 1972 -- provided much of the championship core.
They included (alphabetically) Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies, Lorne Henning, Bob Nystrom, Bill Smith and Bryan Trottier.
Now I'll explain, chronologically, how each piece snugly fit into the Torrey puzzle:

1. BILL SMITH:

Chosen in the 1972 Expansion Draft, Torrey admired the truculent goalie for two reasons: He had won a Calder Cup (AHL Title) with Springfield in 1971 and Smitty was a battler. Although the Isles leaned on vet Gerry Desjardins in the beginning, Bill worked himself into the lineup as a regular.
When Chico Resch signed on, the Smith and Resch act meshed two of the most diverse personalities possible but they worked well together and were good friends through the first (1980) Stanley Cup. After the first Cup, Torrey dealt Chico and the job was Billy's.
He would go on to become the NHL most reliable clutch goalie and the club's balance wheel in successive Cup Final victories over Philadelphia, Minnesota, Vancouver and Edmonton. Smith performance in Game One of the 1983 Final round against Edmonton to this day remains an all-time classic. "He was phenomenal," said Oilers defenseman Kevin Lowe. "One of the best ever."

2. LORNE HENNING:

While most of the 1972 Amateur Draft attention was directed at the Isles first-overall pick, Billy Harris, Torrey found gems further down the line. In the 17th position he chose Lorne Henning, a center out of Melfort, Saskatchewan who had starred for the New Westminster Junior club. A Lorne-of-all-trades, the native of Melfort, Saskatchewan blossomed into the quintessential utility player not to mention of the National Hockey League's best penalty-killers; usually aligned with captain Ed Westfall.
A cerebral player, Henning played nine straight seasons for the Isles, loyal to the core. His value never was more apparent than in Game Six of the 1980 Stanley Cup Final. The Nassaumen led the series three games to two, needing only one more W for their first Stanley Cup.
Coach Al Arbour had lost his regular third-line center, Wayne Merrick, to injury and wasted no time plugging Henning into the pivot spot between John Tonelli and Bob Nystrom. "That was an easy choice," said Arbour. "I had Lorne with me right from the day I took the job and knew he'd come through."
Game Six was tied and went to sudden-death overtime. At about the 7:05 mark, the Henning-Tonelli-Nystrom unit pulled off one of the all-time one-two-three passing plays in NHL Annals.
It began with Henning snaring a loose puck at center ice. Lorne spotted Tonelli making like a speeding locomotive on the right side and skimmed him the puck. In full flight, Johnny T saw Ny breaking free of defenseman Bob Dailey. Tonelli's pass was deftly backhanded past goalie Pete Peeters at 7:11 and the Isles had their first Cup.
Thank you, Lorne Henning!
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3. BOB NYSTROM:

A good 16 picks after Henning was chosen in the 1972 Draft, Torrey again struck gold. This time it was Stockholm-born left wing Bob Nystrom whose family moved to Canada when he was four years old. He cut his puck teeth on the ponds of Hinton, Alberta and worked his way up to the Calgary Centennials.
"Bob was still raw at the time," said Jim Devellano, Torrey's top scout. "But we liked his toughness and his drive. He was super-motivated to make the big club."
Success didn't come just around the corner. The club sent him to its New Haven American Hockey League farm club for most of 1972-73 where he worked on all aspects of the game. He later would hire power skating innovator Laura Stamm to hone his strides to sharpness.
By 1973-74 Nystrom had become an Islander to stay and one of the NHL's most dependable overtime goal-scorers. In all he had four OT playoff goals with the most famous detailed above. In 1982, he saved the Nassaumen from what would have been a humiliating defeat as they were hellbent for their third straight Cup.
An upstart Penguins team took the Isles to overtime in what would have been an ousting if Al Arbour's club had lost. But it was Nystrom who helped set up John Tonelli for the series-winner. "The thing about Ny," said Tonelli, "is that he never stopped trying."
He also could handle his dukes although he never went out of his way to start a fight. Bobby's most intense bout was with the Rangers Toy Bulldog, George McPhee. The free-swinging affair seemed to go on forever and only ended when Ny head-butted George.
Bob took some heat for that until McPhee came clean and allowed, "I head-butted Bobby first!"
Ever ready for any situation, Ny had his career cut short when he accidentally took a stick in the eye during a team scrimmage. At a Coliseum ceremony celebrating his dedicated career, Bill Torrey acknowledged that picking Nystrom 33d in the 1972 Draft was one of the best moves he ever made.

4. CLARK GILLIES:

Exactly a year after the Islanders captured Denis Potvin, the defense ace who'd be the foundation of their blue line corps, they scored a pot 'o gold, double-dip draft that would secure their offensive corps for more than a decade and provide the nucleus for four Stanley Cup championships.
The first of the pair was a huge broth of a boy from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Clark Gillies had cut his puck teeth with the Regina, Junior team and had only one issue; he was as good a baseball player as he was at hockey. He already had pro baseball offers when the Islanders selected him fourth overall in the 1974 Draft.
It didn't take very long for the left wing nicknamed "Jethroe" to prove his worth. Gaining a playoff berth for the first time, the Islanders found themselves up against the highly-touted Rangers in the best-of-three opening round. While most "experts" predicted a three-game Rangers sweep, the Isles thought otherwise. "We were young and hungry," said Gillies. "We felt we had a chance."
It came in Game One, as the Rangers nursed a 2-0 lead, heading into the third period. But the Isles counterattacked. Early in the final frame, Billy Harris put the Isles on board followed by Jean Potvin beating goalie Ed Giacomin. Some 99 seconds later Gillies took a pass from Ed Westfall to put the islanders ahead to stay, 3-2.
Although the Rangers won Game Two at Nassau, the unfazed Isles returned to The Garden, taking a 1-0 lead on another Gillies' goal. It was 3-0 for the Nassaumen when the Blueshirts rallied, tying the game at 3-3 before sending it to overtime. It took only 11 seconds for J.P. Parise to score the winner but it was Gillies who once again, launched the upset. For Clark's career that '75 playoff would be the start of something big.
He had six seasons of 33 goals or more but he also could hit and, if necessary, fight. "When Gillies goes into the corner," said Denis Potvin, "he's like an 800-pound gorilla. He goes where he wants to go."
Jethroe made hockey history during the 1977 playoffs when he scored four game-winning goals in as many games. His stalwart play on a line with Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy proved El Trio Grande to be one of the most deadly units in NHL history. Interestingly the line's center was drafted 18 players after Gillies.

5. BRYAN TROTTIER:

Unlike his eventual linemate, Gillies, Trots trip to the Draft table in 1974 was rather unique. After two successful Junior seasons with the Swift Current Broncos, Bryan was tabbed by Bill Torrey in a special draft of underage players. However, Trots had signed a contract with the Islanders which gave the club the option of retaining the youngster in a developmental league for one more season.
He then played his year in Lethbridge, moving to the Islanders for the 1975-76 season. At training camp in September 1975 a news team approached coach Al Arbour and asked, "Who should we zero in on for some shots?" Arbour shot back, "Take pictures of Number 19, he's gonna be an ace."
Number 19, Bryan Trottier, was the only rookie to crack the Isles lineup during that camp. Not long after he gained a huge and vociferous following at Nassau Veteran's Memorial Coliseum. In the first period of the Islanders' first home game, Trottier fired a 30-foot slapshot past a startled Rogatien Vachon of the Los Angeles Kings. Before the second period was over, Trots had his first hat trick and by game's end he had gained five points.
Bryan settled down to become the NHL's all-time rookie scorer while helping transform the club's power play into the most explosive in the league. He was a runaway for the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie-of-the-year with 32 goals and 63 assists for 95 points. But that was small potatoes compared to what followed, including the four consecutive Stanley Cups.
The upward spiral continued after Mike Bossy was drafted in 1977. Arbour created a new line with Gillies and Trottier while Bossy replaced Billy Harris on the right side. In 1980 the unit was a key factor in the club's climb to the Stanley Cup. Not surprisingly, Trottier won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP. Trots and the next up genius draft would prove to be one of the best one-two offensive combinations ever seen.

6.MIKE BOSSY:

To this day, hockey historians shake their heads in wonderment when evaluating the NHL's 1977 Entry Draft. "How," many a puck researcher has asked, "could one of the best shooters of all-time not be picked until number 15?"
Bill Torrey's chief scout, Jim Devellano, was equally stunned. "We had our eyes on Bossy and another good player, Dwight Foster," Jimmy D remembered. "But we certainly were worried that somebody between picking first and fourteenth would get Boss ahead of us."
It was a legitimate concern, considering that the Rangers had two picks, eighth and 13th. But the Blueshirts opted for Lucien DeBlois and Ron Duguay in that order. "Now," said Devellano, "we had to decide between Foster and Bossy. Mike's debits were that he didn't check and wasn't tough. Foster was a better all-round player"
Devellano, Torrey and coach Al Arbour debated both players with the team's scouting staff. Finally, Radar broke the deadlock with these words: "If you can assure me that Bossy isn't scared, then take him. I can teach a player to check, but I can't teach a player to score, and we need goals."
Apart from Maurice (The Rocket) Richard, Bossy would become the greatest natural scorer of all-time. Among Bossy's innumerable feats, he became the first player since Richard to score 50 goals in 50 games, helped engineer the Dynasty's 19 straight playoff series winning streak, and scored one of the most spectacular goals in the 1982 playoff final against Vancouver.
Unlike the famous Bobby Orr 1970 airline playoff goal that was scored before he was tripped and then went flying, the Bossy goal was a pure flying score. Here's how Bossy described it in his autobiography, Boss -- The Mike Bossy Story:
"We were leading 1-0 in the second period when I took two shots from the slot that goalie Richard Brodeur stopped. Save-rebound-save. My momentum from the follow-through of my second shot carried me to the inner rim of the left circle where I was dumped by defenseman Lars Lindgren just as Brodeur kicked my second shot back to me.
"I was parallel to the ice, in the air about to land on my stomach and face from the force of Lindgren's hit, when the puck reached me. Instinctively, I cradled it with my blade and managed to flick a backhander toward the net. Defenseman Colin Campbell slid behind Brodeur to block it, but the puck flipped Brodeur past Campbell, off the post and into the net.
"I was amazed. The only part of me touching the ice when I shot was the blade of my stick!"