Maven's Memories: The Amazing 2001-02 Season

If there was one aspect -- more than others -- that was amazing about the Islanders 2001-02 season it was this:
The Nassaumen lived up to their billing. They were for real.
After General Manager Mike Milbury obtained Michael Peca, Alexei Yashin Chris Osgood and Adrian Aucoin, the previously cynical critics delivered across-the-board acclaim.

The Isles breezed through October 2001 not just like a playoff team but one that might contend for the Stanley Cup.
"I've seen lesser teams get into the Finals," observed rookie coach Peter Laviolette. "If you don't see the Stanley Cup as your goal you're selling yourself short."
No sale. Coach Peter liked the roster provided by his boss, Mike Milbury, but Laviolette wasn't reaching for the sky. At least not yet.
An October jump start could be deceptive. A disaster always is possible in an NHL marathon. It has happened to dozens of teams in the past and it was perfectly reasonable to be wary of the future.
MAVEN'S MEMORIES
WRITTEN COVERAGE
Explosive Trades Launch 01-02
Denis Potvin's Breakout vs Rangers
The Sutter Brothers
Kelly Hrudey Origins
How The Trio Grande Happened
Chico Resch's Unforgettable Game
Denis Potvin's Road to the Isles
Ziggy Palffy, Underrated Islanders Hero
Bill Torrey's Origin Story
Maven's Haven
Seasoned reporters Alan Hahn and Peter Botte, were among those who believed that beyond October's blue horizon awaited more joyous victories.
"October would prove to be an undeniably crucial segment of the season," they wrote.
If nothing else, the arithmetic of the season's first month was on Laviolette's side.
They were undefeated with an energizing 9-0-1-1 mark and bolstered by the energizing play of Peca, Mark Parrish and Shawn Bates.
Broadcaster Chris King dubbed them "The Lucky 7's" since each of their respective uniform numbers ended in a 7. Meanwhile, Parrish's 11 goals in 11 games defied credulity.
Bathing in the euphoria that accompanies such an emphatic break from the gate, fans wanted the wins to go on forever.
The players knew better. "Slumps happen," Yashin noted, "and we're not exempt."
They opened November with another win (11-1-1) before reality hit the fan. From November 7th and for almost two weeks, there were no W's for the boys of Uniondale.
As the newly-minted captain, Peca realized that his time had come to get up to the podium and address the troops. His speech was to the point.
"We're not the Islanders of last season," he implored. "We're a new model and new guys like me have to step up and stop the slide. Same for the good men from past seasons."
It worked.
The losing streak concluded with a 3-2 win in Dallas. They got going again and finished the American Thanksgiving holiday back in the saddle. Their 15-5-4-1 overall record for the season so far was commendable.

Yashin: "Those of us who were new to the team -- me, Michael, Chris, Adrian -- we weren't concerned with what happened in 2000-01. We wanted it to be better."
The Rapid Russian put his goals where his mouth was and lit eight red lights in November and added eight helpers. That's over a point per game. Over a dozen games in December, Alexei posted 12 points.
While the taciturn Yashen let his stick do the talking Peca displayed his leadership with a captain's vocal style. Writing in his definitive A-to-Z scouting guide, "Players," author Andrew Podnieks put it simply:
"Peca is one of the finest players in the league."
Somewhat less than fine were lesser lights from which better games were expected. Mariusz Czerkawski was Exhibit A. After two-straight 30-goal seasons, the Polish forward checked out with no goals until his ninth game. The huge and talented Russian, Oleg Kvasha, also got off to a slow start.
But not monstrous Eric Cairns. The 6-foot-6 former Blueshirts defenseman had become an Islander and quickly became overwhelmed with Rangers Fever -- alias a keen dislike for his former club.
If Kvasha or Czerkawski needed any incentive Cairns was there to provide it; especially against the denizens of The Garden.
When the rivals clashed for the first time in 2001-02 a riot erupted after Cairns high-sticked Sandy McCarthy of the Rangers. That ignited assorted brawls as well as hyper-needling by visiting mouthpiece Theo Fleury.
"Fleury is immature," carped Peca. "There's no place for that stuff in the game."
What titillated fans on both sides of the war the indisputable fact that the New York-New York battle also was for a playoff berth. They were that close.

On the night of December 21 the Islanders led the Atlantic Division with a mark of 17-9-5-2 compared with the Rangers' 19-13-3-2.
The Garden fans roared their approval early in the game when McCarthy stepped on the ice and simultaneously dropped his gloves against Cairns.
Cairns prevailed on points and then closed the bout by tackling the Ranger. "It was a good fight," McCarthy allowed. "Eric is a tough guy."
Peca won it for the Good Guys, 2-1, on a power play goal that eluded Mike Richter. "You ask me if we were here for honor or the two points," pondered Peca post-game. "Probably 50-50."
The press ate it up and pressed Peca about his Rangers views: "They're a team that think they can intimidate and out-muscle you. We weren't going to allow that."
The intensity reached white heat proportions on January 30, 2002 at The Garden. Even the normally cool Yashin lost his Fahrenheit after Rangers defenseman Tomas Kloucek whacked the Islander across the mouth.
Yashin tossed a windmill of punches that so impressed the fistic critic Cairns, he labelled Alexei's boxing methods, "Awesome!"
He could have employed the same description for Yashin's offense. A calm observation was that Alexei opened the game against the Rangers "energetically."
Well, some extra steam is necessary when one scores a three-goal hat trick in the first period!
"It was one of the most dominating periods any recent Islander has ever had," noted Hahn-Botte. "Two of the goals came in 75 seconds and the third on a spectacular stickhandling move by stunned Mark Messier."

Long-range, it was a decisive triumph since it kept Laviolette's sextet ahead of the Seventh Avenue Skaters in the homestretch.
"Peter was happy," Milbury reflected, "because he now was getting a boost from the lower rungs in our roster."
One of those "rungs" was yet another gifted Russian but one who had been about as upside-down as a Coney Island roller coaster.
Oversized Oleg Kvasha had the size, the smarts and the versatility to do just about anything he wanted to do on the ice.
"When he wanted," blurted a teammate.
On March 25th at the Coliseum it was obvious that Kvasha wanted.
He paced the Isles to a 4-2 win over the Rangers by scoring a pair of goals including the game-winner. Over the final dozen games Oleg added encore after encore; seven goals out of 12 contests.
Not too bad -- in English or Russian.
Even better was the leadership displayed by Milbury's rookie coach. Granted, that the GM suffered occasional doubts that Peter was tough enough on the players. That kind of thinking eventually evaporated.
This was especially so in late February and early March. But Mike's personal body-language-reader told him that Laviolette would be all right.
The captain, Peca, helped where he could and Yashin fought his way through personal and team slumps.
While Yashin could not summon the every-game intensity of Peca, there were extenuating circumstances; one being that for four years he'd been double-teamed and abused in the process.
Alexei's response was to grin and bear it while hoping that the extra attention focused on him would open up ice for his linemates.
Yashin: "The big thing for us was to get in the playoffs. When April began we were in good shape but far from clinching. We still had to push the Rangers out of it.
"Then there were teams like New Jersey, the Canadiens and Capitals to deal with. We had confidence that we could do it. But the final set of games would tell the story."
Laviolette put it another way: "I'll feel better when I look at the standings and there's an "X" next to Islanders."