Pat LaFontaine’s Legacy Through the Eyes of Bryan Trottier and Patrick Flatley

Patrick Flatley has a poster in his garage of a Muhammad Ali quote that says, “I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.”

For Flatley, it serves as a reminder of his good friend and former teammate Pat LaFontaine because of how he played. His blazing speed is still ingrained in his memory, all these years later.

“He could fly,” Flatley said of LaFontaine. "I've probably assisted on, say 30 of his goals where I didn't even get out of our end. I would pass to him to the middle, and as I'm trying to get to our blue line, he's already put it in their net. That's how fast he is. It's pretty amazing when you're raising your hands for a goal scored and you're still in your own zone."

LaFontaine’s 15-year career – where he racked up 468 goals and 1,013 points – began by being drafted by the New York Islanders third overall in 1983. His talent and worth ethic stood out early in his career, which led himto the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003 and to the Islanders Hall of Fame, as he’ll be inshrined as the 17^th inductee on Saturday.

“I saw the early years of Pat LaFontaine,” Bryan Trottier said. “He wanted to contribute, whether it was learning all about faceoffs, body position, that kind of stuff, and defensively, I didn't see a lot of weaknesses. He was hungry. And obviously his skill set, his mindfulness to details, spoke volumes.”

LaFontaine joins Trottier (2001) and Flatley (2012) as Isles Hall of Famers. To this day, their brotherhood transcends decades.

“Very excited for him, it’s well-deserved and overdue,” Flatley said. “We're just reminiscing over joining the Islanders together and how valuable it was to have someone of your own peer group sharing the same moments. So, we're very fortunate.”

LaFontaine and Flatley were rookies in the 1983-84 season, jumping right in with an accomplished, veteran Islanders team fresh off four straight Stanley Cups. They leaned on each other, sharing the experience as two young kids who were in it together, looking to make an impact. They made their NHL debuts on the same day, lacing up on Feb. 29, 1984 against the Winnipeg Jets.

“We were roommates, so we were very nervous before the game, we had a few practices,” Flatley recalled. “So, Patty and I were just so excited to be in the NHL and looking forward to our first game, and at the same time just having a barrel of laughs the whole way the Winnipeg.”

The tight-knit group of vets showed LaFontaine and Flatley some tough love.

“I hit Denis Potvin in practice once, and he surgically put his stick right into my mouth after that,” Flatley said with a laugh. “And Patty's like, ‘is Denis Potvin mean?’ So, we'd laugh about that. And I go, ‘I guess you're not supposed to hit Denis Potvin in practice.’ So, we both learned that.”

In the summer of following his rookie year, following his first playoff run to the Stanley Cup finals in 1984, LaFontaine was laser focused on learning how to train in the offseason like a pro. So, he spent as much time as he could training with Trottier, a veteran of nine NHL seasons at the time. They’d work out together and golf together afterwards, multiple times a week over the offseason.

Trottier’s workout routine was quite intense, but LaFontaine was committed to following along with him.

“I'm pushing myself trying to get rid of a few aches and pains, and the kid is holding his own,” Trottier said. “I think I made him throw up a couple of times. But he impressed the hell out of me, because I was pushing a little bit, and he’ll still show up the next day. I said, oh my god, this kid really wants to learn. For me, that was a pretty fun memory, because he was that whole summer, we spent a lot of time together.”

Those intense workout sessions would certainly end up paying dividends, especially a few years later where he needed extra stamina. LaFontaine famously scored in quadruple overtime, in the early morning hours of Easter Sunday, to take Game Seven of the 1987 Patrick Division Semifinals against Washington, in what became famously known as the Easter Epic.

Trottier and Flatley, who both scored in regulation, remember LaFontaine’s heroics first-hand when he scored to end the marathon game. Of LaFontaine’s 287 career goals with the Islanders, that one certainly stands out.

"He scored so many big goals, don't remember all of them, but I remember that one though," Flatley said. "He had a little spin around at the blue line and threw it through it to the net."

“When goal scorers do those kinds of things, they make it look easy but it's not easy,” Trottier said. “Those things happen because you have the ability. And, looking back on it, it was just an incredible marathon, there wasn't much left in the tank.”

Above LaFontaine’s huge goals and the impact he had on the hockey world, his character, charitable efforts and family values stand out most to his former teammates.

“Watching him grow as a man, husband and dad, it’s been wonderful,” Trottier said. “It's been really fun staying in touch with them, just really good friends with him for a long, long time. Love the kid, he's just a great human being, let alone, a super hockey player.”