Goring, a center, was the final piece for the Islanders' dynasty that saw them win four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1980-83. He was also inducted into their Hall of Fame during a 40-minute ceremony that was attended by former teammates Denis Potvin, Clark Gillies, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Bob Nystrom, John Tonelli and Billy Smith.
The 70-year-old played six seasons with the Islanders (1980-85) and had 87 goals and 108 assists in 332 regular-season games and 68 points (28 goals, 40 assists) in 89 playoff games for New York. Goring won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 1981 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when he had 10 goals and 10 assists in 18 games during New York's run to its second straight championship.
"It's been nearly 40 years since I played," said Goring, who coached the Islanders from 1999-2001 and is now a color analyst for MSG Networks on their game telecasts. "Sometimes you wonder -- have you been forgotten? Everybody remembers the Cups, and the fans are great because they remember and they tell you all the time. That's one of the great things about winning the Cup, is people do remember. But you sometimes wonder do you as an individual get lost, so you don't think about getting your number retired. … You can dream maybe one day, maybe someone's going to push in the right direction. I'm truly thankful for this moment, to be able to watch my number, my jersey go to the rafters, my number to be retired."
Goring was traded to the Islanders by the Los Angeles Kings for forward Billy Harris and defenseman Dave Lewis on March 10, 1980. New York didn't lose another regular-season game after the trade, winning eight of its final 12 games and tying four others. The Islanders went on to win four consecutive championships and an NHL-record 19 straight playoff series before losing to the Edmonton Oilers in the 1984 Cup Final.
"Bill's a genius for making that particular move," Goring said of former Islanders general manager Bill Torrey, the architect of the four straight championships. "… It changed my career, changed the way people think about me. I can never thank him enough."
Goring played his last game for New York in 1985, and no Islanders player wore No. 91 until the Islanders selected center John Tavares with the No. 1 pick of the 2009 NHL Draft. Tavares wore No. 19 in junior hockey, but the Islanders had retired that number in honor of Trottier in 2001.
"I don't know if that was going to happen a few years ago," Goring said of having his number retired. "But it's going to happen now, and really that's all that really matters."
Goring is the eighth player to have his number retired by the Islanders; he joins Potvin (5), Gillies (9), Trottier (19), Bossy (22), Nystrom (23), Tonelli (27) and Smith (31). Tonelli's number was retired on Feb. 21 but is still being worn by Islanders captain Anders Lee.
