Islanders Army

Happy Birthday Al Arbour - See You Saturday!

November 1st, 2007 by murph

photo via NHL.com

Not to skip past the Lightning tonight (and I certainly hope the Islanders don’t either), but NHL.com has a couple of good articles online about birthday boy Al Arbour and his return behind the bench of the Islanders this Saturday night. Al is 75 years old today.

The first article by Evan Weiner, is a look back at Arbour’s career and what his players thought of him.

Back in 1973, Islanders General Manager Bill Torrey persuaded Arbour to take the coaching reigns of a team that had just finished its first NHL season with a 12-60-6 record, which was good for 30 points and the worst record in the League.

The Islanders then drafted Denis Potvin with the top selection in the 1973 draft, and Arbour began the process of nurturing and growing his team, a team that eventually would win four straight Stanley Cups between 1980 and 1983.

Arbour coached 1,499 regular-season Islanders games, but that number just didn’t look right to current Islanders coach Ted Nolan, and he decided to do something about it. Nolan felt Arbour should have a nice round number, like 1,500, so Arbour, who celebrates his 75th birthday Nov. 1, will sign a two-day contract on Nov. 2 and coach on Nov. 3 against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.

Arbour coached 1,038 Islanders games between 1973 and 1986, when he retired; he returned, replacing Terry Simpson 27 games into the 1987-88 season, and finished up in 1994. His teams won 739 games, made 15 playoff appearances and won four Stanley Cups. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 1996. Arbour also was a member of four Stanley Cup teams and was the last player to wear glasses during a game. It seems that Arbour could not get contact lens in his eyes, so he opted to wear glasses, which led to his nickname, “Radar.”

There is a question, though, surrounding Arbour’s return. Number 739, the number of wins in his Islanders career, is retired and hangs from the Nassau Coliseum rafters. Should the Islanders beat Pittsburgh Saturday night, will the team have to “unretire” the number 739 and replace it with 740?

Guess that question will have to be answered after Arbour Day is complete.

If Al wins on Saturday, he gets a new banner…it’s that simple. You can’t leave the 739 up there when the man has 740 wins.

The second article is by Dan Rosen and deals more with the current Al Arbour - what’s he been up to since leaving coaching and what it took to make Saturday night happen.

Al Arbour, who coached the New York Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early 1980s, will step behind the bench again this Saturday to coach his 1,500th NHL game.
Al Arbour’s routine has changed quite a bit in his golden years.

No longer does the Hall of Fame coach stay up late at night wondering about line combinations or defensive pairings. He isn’t concerned with starting Chico Resch or Billy Smith. He never has to worry about traffic on the Long Island Expressway.

These days, the former New York Islanders’ legendary coach watches a period, maybe a period and a half of hockey via Direct TV from his home in western Florida before his eyes close for the night.

“I haven’t coached a game in 15 years,” Arbour said. “I haven’t seen a game in person in three years.”

Come Saturday night, all of that changes.

So Arbour and his famous glasses will return Saturday night, but since he doesn’t watch all that much hockey anymore he’s spent the last week and a half getting himself acclimated with the Islanders and Penguins.

Nolan said they sent game notes and game films to Arbour at his home just outside of Sarasota, Fla. last week. Arbour is expected at Islanders practice Friday, and the morning skate on Saturday morning.

He’s still not sure what his duties will be on game night.

“If I’m in charge, they’re in trouble,” Arbour said.

Not so, according to Nolan, who plans to stand next to Arbour on the bench and utilize this incredible resource of hockey knowledge.

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