New York Islanders

Continuity, as Sam Pollock often explained, was one of the major reasons for the success of the Montreal Canadiens. Now the same can be said of the New York Islanders who are seeking to become only the fourth team to win three consecutive Stanley Cup championships, a feat which serves as the benchmark of a sports dynasty. To help ensure the Islanders’ future success, the club signed coach Al Arbour, a man who works extremely well with general manager Bill Torrey, to what amounts to a lifetime contract with the organization. Although Arbour does not intend to coach for very much longer, probably one or two years, his expertise will be applied in other areas of the Islanders’ hierarchy. Naturally, merely having a superior 1-2 front office set-up doesn’t preclude any more…

College Hockey Changed By Division Realignment

The 1981-82 season will be both an end and a beginning for the two sections of the country where they play major college hockey. In the East, it will be the last year of a perfectly balanced and equitable setup with the 17 teams spread over three subdivisions of ECAC Division One. The Ivy League teams, barring a change of heart by its school presidents, will play fewer games against non-Ivy rivals in 1982-83 and more games against one another. The remaining eleven team loop may well be stronger, top to bottom, than ever before, but it will be much less diversified. So Eastern fans should be prepared to enjoy ’81-82. Out west, it will be the beginning of a new era as the Central Collegiate Hockey Association becomes the larger conference…

Calgary Flames

Now that the CHOKE tag has been removed from the Calgary Flames, perhaps they can proceed with their efforts towards proving that they are a contending team and eventually move into the running for a Stanley Cup championship. It was a desperate struggle removing the millstone which had been attached to their necks way back in their early days in the sunny south of the United States, in Atlanta. Five series had passed, a total of 17 playoff games, and the Flames had won but two games. But all that was to change in Calgary. The Flames put together a 39-27-14 record for seventh place overall in the standings, but all of that would mean nothing if they couldn’t advance past the first round of the playoffs. Chicago was the Flames’ opponent and…

Ontario Major League Statistics