The Islanders franchise finally gives Pat LaFontaine his due this afternoon (3:3o start) with induction into their Hall of Fame if not a number retirement — never mind your Sims, Ladds and Berubes who’ve worn #16 since — and they face the Lightning for the third time in two weeks. But across the NHL, league news is dominated by a couple of big trades that broke on Friday.
More on those further down the page, but first we’ve got a chance to celebrate a great and (hopefully) sweep the Bolts.
Our Islanders Anxiety lead Dan is a classic, #1 LaFontaine fan, and he’ll be there today. For me, my experience was a little more conflicted: I loved LaFontaine, but at the time of LaFontaine’s (completely understandable in retrospect) walkout and trade demand, I felt betrayed. (Brent Sutter’s concurrent trade also hit me in the gut, but somehow I cut all Sutters except Darryl more slack.) Anyway, to have Pierre Turgeon come back in return — back when blockbuster like-for-like trades like that were more common — and for Turgeon to be such a key part of the breakout 1993 team, that really helped heal the wound.
Anyway, relive, bask in the nostalgia: “Now you know why they win,” said LaFontaine’s dad after his first game, when Bob Nystrom stood up for him against the Leafs. A nice, lengthy feature on LaFontaine:
There were only two games yesterday, neither of which affect the Isles, but it was a blockbuster news day thanks to two massive trades — one of, um, er, inconsistent goalies that absolutely no one fears, the other of the top trade name on the market.
