This Day in Isles History: Jan. 25

Jan. 25, 2020 - Mat Barzal wins Fastest Skater at the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater at Enterprise Center.
Barzal dethroned three-time former champ Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers with his electric lap of 13.175 to win his first NHL All Star Skills Compeition event.

Barzal spent the weekend in St. Louis attending his second NHL All Star Weekend as the Islanders represenative. During his first All Star Weekend appearance the year prior in San Jose, Barzal placed in third at the same Fastest Skater event with a lap time of 13.780.
In 2020, Barzal's winning lap defeated the likes of Buffalo's Jack Eichel, Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, New York's Chris Kreider, Ottawa's Anthony Duclair, Philadelphia's Travis Konecny and Vancouver's Quinn Hughes, in addition to McDavid.

Jan. 25, 1997 -Al Arbour's first banner is raised for 739 wins prior to the Islanders 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Nassau Coliseum.
The banner had 739 embroided on it to represent his 739 victories with the Islanders from his two coaching stints, 1973-86, 1988-94. Arbour later came out of retirement in 2007 to coach one last game - his 1,500th - with the Islanders. The 1,500 banner is the one that hangs in the Coliseum rafters today, in place of the original 739.
In total, Arbour owns a coaching record of 740-537-223 through 1,500 games with the Islanders and coached the franchise to four-straight Stanley Cups from 1980-83. He was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996,
Arbour coached 23 seasons in the NHL, 20 of which were with the Islanders and three were spent in St. Louis. Arbour's overall coaching record is 782-577-248 through 1,607 games.