Al Arbour Returning To Coach Isles
July 19th, 2007 by murph
No Ted Nolan hasn’t been fired, he’s just been staring at Al Arbour’s stats too long. Arbour retired after 1499 games and Coach Ted apparently likes nice, round numbers. He wants Arbour’s stats to read 1500 games. Arbour is going to rejoin the Islanders for one night only to get to the milestone. The NHL has approved the move, and the 75-year old Arbour has requested no additional fan-fare from the Islanders regarding the game. This game just became a “must get tickets” game for me.
Hall of Fame coach Al Arbour will return to Long Island to coach his 1,500th regular season game with the Islanders on Saturday, November 3 when the team hosts Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Nassau Coliseum at 7:00 pm. The legendary coach celebrates his 75th birthday on November 1.
Earlier this week Arbour accepted an invitation from Ted Nolan to run the team for one last game and reach the milestone of 1,500 games coached with the franchise he led to four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980 – 1983. Arbour will sign a one-day contract on Friday, November 2 and lead the team the following night against the Penguins.
“This is an incredible gesture by Ted and the Islanders,” Arbour said this morning from his summer home in Ontario. “I am flattered that Ted thought of me and I wouldn’t miss this night for the world. I told the team that I do not want any pre-game fanfare. I’m there to coach the game and help Ted and my Islanders try to earn two points against a very tough team.”
Nolan explains why he extended the invitation to Arbour: “Every day last season I would walk by that big board outside our locker room at the Coliseum that lists the franchise’s award winners and milestones,” said Nolan. “And every day it would kill me when I’d see Coach Arbour made it to 1,499 games.
“I asked (GM) Garth Snow if we could bring Coach back for one more game and to ask the NHL office to recognize it. They did, Coach Arbour emphatically said he was on board and now I can’t wait. It’s going to be an amazing night, I can guarantee you that. To me, Al Arbour and Scotty Bowman are the two greatest coaches in NHL history.”
[UPDATE] The press release has been posted on NewYorkIslanders.com.
Derek Says
What a classy move by Nolan. This will be one great night on Long Island. There are few organizations that could pull off something as special as this, and if the pride still burns for this franchise there will be players willing to restore past glory.
Jul 19th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Chris Says
This move says it all about why I love the franchise. Classy…….its a team that always has been about class.
with a history long filled with chills and thrills and great emotion, you can be sure another night will be just that.
Jul 19th, 2007 at 11:34 am
David Rabinowitz Says
Stan Fischler and David Kolb share their thoughts on Al Arbour at MSG.com’s Game On! blog …
http://blogs.msg.com/gameon/al_arbour/index.html
Jul 19th, 2007 at 2:26 pm