Alger Joseph Arbour (November 1, 1932-August 28, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and manager. He played NHL hockey from 1953-1971 with the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the St. Louis Blues. He won the Stanley Cup as a player in 1954 (Detroit), 1961 (Chicago), 1962, 1964 (Toronto). He is one of eleven players to win the Stanley Cup with three different teams and consecutively with two different teams. He is in third place with most games coached at 1,607 and in fifth place in wins behind Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville, KenHitchcock, and Barry Trotz. Arbour won nineteen consecutive playoff series, which is an NHL and North American Sports record to this day.
Playing Career
Al Arbour broke into the NHL as a 22-year-old defenseman with the Detroit Red Wings in 1954; he played 36 games for the Wings, registering one assist in his rookie season. After going back and forth between the Red Wings and the minors, Arbour would eventually sign with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1958, where he would stay for three years helping the Hawks win the 1961 Stanley Cup before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 1961-1962 season where he would win two more cups with the Leafs. Arbour would bounce back and forth between the Leafs and the AHL Rochester Americans until joining the expansion St. Louis Blues in 1967, becoming the new franchises first Captain where he finished his playing career; with the Blues, Arbour reached the finals in 1968, 1969, 1970 losing all of them in four games, the first two times to the Montreal Canadians and Bobby Orr and his Boston Bruins in 1970.
Coaching Career
Al Arbour, or “Radar” as he was nicknamed, began his NHL coaching career with the St. Louis Blues in 1970-1971. He lasted three years before being fired by the Blues. He was later brought into the New York Islanders fold by GM Bill Torrey for the 1973-1974 season, where he would remain head coach of the Islanders until retiring in 1994. On November 3, 2007, at the request of then Islanders head coach Ted Nolan, Arbour came back to coach one final game for the Islanders in a bid to coach a milestone 1500th game; the Islanders won that game over the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2, giving Arbour his 740th win. After having coached that game, Arbour became the oldest man to ever coach an NHL game and the only coach to coach 1500 games for the same team. After the game, the 739 win banner was taken down and replaced with a new banner representing 1500 games coached.
Highlights
In 1974-1975 under “Radar,” the Islanders finished third in their division and qualified for the playoffs after defeating the hated cross-town rival Rangers in three games, with the deciding game going to overtime. In the next series, the boys from Long Island found themselves down 3-0 in the best of seven quarter-final series to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Islanders clawed all the way back to even the series at 3-3 before winning the deciding game seven, by a score of 1-0, becoming only the second team in NHL history to come back from being down 3-0 in games in the best of seven series to win, the other being the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup against the Detroit Red Wings. In the next round, the Isles faced the Philadelphia Flyers and were once again down 3-0 in that series before coming back to tie the series at 3-3; they failed to make a comeback falling in game seven. The Flyers would defeat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 to capture their second consecutive Stanley Cup.
By now, the Islanders were a team on the rise. After finishing the 1978-1979 season in first place in the NHL, the Isles suffered heartbreak in the playoffs. In 1976 and 1977, they lost in the semi-finals to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadians. They lost in overtime of game seven of the 1978 quarter-finals to the Toronto Maple Leafs on a Lanny McDonald breakaway goal in a thriller. In 1979, the Islanders lost to the New York Rangers in the semi-finals 4-2.
The Islanders finished the 1979-1980 regular season strong, going unbeaten in their final twelve games. In the playoffs, Radar and the boys would defeat the Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres and in overtime of game six on a Bobby Nystrom goal earned their first of four consecutive Stanley Cup championships defeating the Philadelphia Flyers on May 24, 1980.
Al Arbour and his New York Islanders were finally dethroned as four-time cup champions by Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers on their drive for five in 1984, losing in the Stanley Cup finals 4-1.
Along the way, the Islanders cemented themselves as one of the greatest dynasty teams ever assembled. They put together a remarkable run of nineteen consecutive playoff series victories, a professional sports record which is unmatched today; of the four major North American sports, only the New York Yankees (MLB) were close; they were one out away from clinching their fourth consecutive World Series win when they fell to the Arizona DiamondBacks in 2001.
Accolades
- Arbour is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, New York Islanders Hall of Fame, and Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.
- Jack Adams Award as a coach in 1979[1]
- Stanley Cup Champion as a player in 1954 (Detroit), 1961 (Chicago), 1962, 1964 (Toronto)[4]
- Stanley Cup Champion as a coach in 1980–1983 (head coach for the New York Islanders)[1]
- Calder Cup Champion in 1965, 1966 (with Rochester Americans)[
- Al Arbour died on August 28, 2015, in Sarasota, Florida, aged 82.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Position created Red Berenson | St. Louis Blues captain 1967–70 1971 | Succeeded by Red Berenson Jim Roberts |
| Preceded by Scotty Bowman Bill McCreary Sr. | Head coach of the St. Louis Blues 1970–71 1971–72 | Succeeded by Scotty Bowman Jean-Guy Talbot |
| Preceded by Earl Ingarfield, Sr. Terry Simpson | Head coach of the New York Islanders 1973–86 1988–94 | Succeeded by Terry Simpson Lorne Henning |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by Bobby Kromm | Winner of the Jack Adams Award 1979 | Succeeded by Pat Quinn |
| hidevteNew York Islanders | |
|---|---|
| Founded in 1972Based in Uniondale, New York | |
| Franchise | TeamGeneral managersCoachesPlayersCaptainsDraft picks Expansion draftSeasonsCurrent season |
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| Personnel | Owner(s) Jon Ledecky and Scott D. Malkin (majority owners)Estate of Charles Wang (minority owner)General manager Lou LamorielloHead coach Barry TrotzTeam captain Anders LeeCurrent roster |
| Arenas | Nassau ColiseumBarclays CenterUBS Arena (future) |
| Rivalries | New York RangersWashington Capitals |
| Affiliates | AHL Bridgeport Sound TigersECHL Worcester Railers |
| Media | TV MSGMSG PlusWLNY-TVRadio WEPN-FMWRHU 88.7 FM |
| Culture and lore | The Trio GrandeEaster EpicPenguins–Islanders brawlThe Lighthouse ProjectHockey Night Live!2014 NHL Stadium Series |
 Category Commons |
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