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| Home >> History >> Formation >> Players >> Al Arbour | |||||
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Al Arbour—Flyer and Coach Alger Arbour is one of the greatest coaches to stand behind a National Hockey League (NHL) bench. He transformed the New York Islanders from a weak expansion team into a powerful dynasty in the early 80s. Although recognized as one of the greatest coaches, his playing career as a solid stay-at-home, hard-hitting defenceman, is often overlooked. Born in Sudbury, Ontario, in 1932, Arbour signed with the Detroit Red Wings after a solid career with the Windsor Spitfires. Arbour was noticeable on the ice because he wore thick glasses, which was a rarity. Contact lenses were non-existent in the 1950s, so Arbour always took the risk of a puck or check breaking his glasses and injuring his eyes or face. In the 1970s, Arbour would earn the nickname "Radar" because of the striking similarity between he and the famous character from the popular television series M*A*S*H. In the 1950s, the Red Wings assigned him to the Edmonton Flyers of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He spent just eight games with the Flyers in the 1952-53 season, and in the next year got the call up from the Motor City. After being demoted, Arbour spent a significant amount of time with the Flyers from 1954 to 1957, and was a key member of the 1955 squad that featured Hall of Fame alumni Glenn Hall, Johnny Bucyk and Norm Ullman. That team won the President’s Cup as champions of the WHL. In 1957, the Red Wings called Arbour up once again, and Arbour was never to return to Edmonton as a player. He was traded to Chicago in 1958 and was part of the famous 1961 Blackhawks squad that beat the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup final. Arbour was then sent to Toronto, where he would earn two more Cup rings as a member of the 1962 and 1964 Leafs. The Leafs also won the Cup in 1963, but Arbour spent that season with the team’s minor pro affiliate in Rochester, New York. Arbour then moved to St. Louis after the NHL expanded in 1967, and would later finish his 16-year NHL career with the Blues. In his career, Arbour scored just 70 points in 626 games, but his experience in the AHL and NHL taught him much. After hanging up the skates, Arbour decided to pass on his knowledge through coaching. Arbour would take over the New York Islanders, a weak expansion franchise, and transform them into a juggernaut. He coached 1,606 NHL games, won 781 regular-season contests (second only to Scotty Bowman in NHL history) and, most importantly, captured four more Stanley Cup rings from 1980 to 1983. In 1983, Arbour made a triumphant
return to Edmonton, as his Islanders disposed of the
Oilers in the Stanley Cup final. The playoff series saw
a young Oilers team facing a much older and more wily
Islander squad. In that Arbour and the Islanders visit to Edmonton in the 1984 cup final was not as joyous. After winning Game 2 to even the series, the Islanders quest to tie the Montréal Canadiens’ record of five consecutive Cup wins looked very much alive. But the Oilers outscored the Islanders 19-6 over the next three games, and Arbour had to watch Edmonton, a city he once called home, celebrate its first Stanley Cup win. |
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