Schwartz: Original owner Roy Boe should be in Islanders Hall of Fame

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General Manager Bill Torrey was “The Architect” of the Islanders Stanley Cup dynasty from 1980 to 1980.

Behind the bench, Head Coach Al Arbour guided the Islanders to those four championships and 19 straight playoff series wins.

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Players like Mike Bossy, Dennis Potvin, Clark Gillies, Bryan Trottier, Billy Smith, and Bobby Nystrom were among the 16 players who played on all four championship teams.

All of those names and more are recognized in the rafters of UBS Arena, but there are some important people in team history that remain absent from the Islanders Hall of Fame including original owner Roy Boe who passed away in 2009 at the age of 79 as a result of heart failure.

Without him, there would not be a New York Islanders franchise.

“No way,” said Todd Boe, son of former Islanders and New York Nets owner Roy Boe.

“There’s absolutely no way that they would be there. If there’s no Roy Boe, there’s no Islanders.  He put his blood, sweat and tears into that franchise and I think he deserves something to recognize that.”

Roy Boe, right
Photo credit Todd Boe
Roy Boe, right
Photo credit Todd Boe

I’ve been on record stating that Roy Boe’s name should be the last one on the current Hall of Fame banner before other names are added to a second banner.  He is the man who helped bring NHL hockey to Long Island and he should be recognized for that. Unfortunately, there are younger generations of Islanders fans who have no idea who he is.

The reality is that all Islanders fans should know who he is and his place in Islanders history should be recognized at the team’s magnificent new home.

“There’s no Islanders team without my dad,” said Boe. “He put literally everything he had into this franchise and it was for the people of Long Island.”

Roy Boe was already the owner of the ABA’s New York Nets when ground was broken on construction of the Nassau Coliseum on January 20th, 1969. The new arena was going to be the home of the Nets as well as a hockey team and not necessarily a National Hockey League team. At the time, the World Hockey Association (WHA) was a rival to the NHL and they were looking to place a team on Long Island.

If the NHL didn’t award Long Island an expansion team, a WHA team would have been placed in the Coliseum and there would be no New York Islanders.

“With the Nassau Coliseum being built, there was a race to get a team in there,” said Boe. “The WHA was a viable threat.”

Boe’s efforts in putting an ownership group together came to fruition.

“My dad was an eternal optimist and that was probably one of his downfalls,” said Boe. “You could always make the numbers make sense if you were an optimist.”

And then on November 8th, 1971, the NHL awarded an expansion team to Long Island.

The New York Islanders were born and began play in the NHL for the 1972-73 season.

“My dad believed in Long Island,” said Boe. “With the dense population and the people, he just thought it would thrive.  It was an exciting time.”

Once the Islanders launched, the most important piece of business was to find someone to run the hockey operations. Tim Ryan, who would go on to be a broadcaster for the Islanders, was a broadcaster for the California Golden Seals when Bill Torrey was the General Manager there and connected Torrey with Boe.

Boe was able to convince Torrey to be the Islanders General Manager.

“My dad was the ultimate salesperson,” said Boe. “He could sell you on a dream.  Bill could see the vision with a brand-new arena and being in New York.”

Because of territorial rights fees that had to be paid to the Rangers upon the Islanders entry into the NHL and having to bring on new partners, Boe, as the General Partner, owned just 20% of the Islanders when he sold his shares of the franchise in 1978.

He was no longer an owner when the Islanders started winning Stanley Cups, but he did have great pride in seeing what he started become a tremendous success.

“My dad always took a personal interest in the players and seeing them raise cups,” said Boe. “How could he not be proud?”

As it turned out, Boe’s relationship with the franchise didn’t end forever.

In 2001, he founded the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (now Bridgeport Islanders), an American Hockey League franchise that would be the Islanders’ top minor-league affiliate and began play in the 2001-02 season. Just like the Islanders had in 1972, the Sound Tigers would play in a brand-new arena at Harbor Yard that is now called Total Mortgage Arena.

There was no doubt in Roy Boe’s mind that the team would be an Islanders affiliate.

“I worked with him to get Bridgeport established,” said Todd. “My dad really pushed for the Bridgeport connection with the parent club being literally a ferry ride away. For player development it was a fantastic opportunity and it really turned out to be.”

And it allowed Boe to reconnect with the NHL franchise that he had founded three decades prior to founding the Sound Tigers.

“We were able to do some alumni stuff,” said Boe. “Clark Gillies was probably one of his favorite players and we had Clark come out for a game. It was such a neat homecoming to see. Those guys were special to him.”

And today, Boe has established a relationship with Islanders Co-Owner Jon Ledecky. They met in the fall of 2021 and right off the bat Boe had some very special vibes.

“[Ledecky] reminded me of my dad with the passion that he has for the team and you can tell he wants to win and he wants the fans to be happy,” said Boe. “It’s great to see the ownership in such great hands.”

Boe was invited by Ledecky to come to Bridgeport this past spring to see the AHL Islanders play the Providence Bruins in a playoff game. He sat in a suite with Ledecky as well as Co-Owner Scott Malkin and they watched the B-Isles win a playoff series for the first time since 2003 when Boe and his father ran the team.

So, will Roy Boe finally be recognized by the Islanders and be enshrined in their Hall of Fame?

“Jon [Ledecky] talked about doing something,” said Boe. “He’s a busy guy. I hope they do something and it would be the right thing.”

The Islanders should do the right thing. Roy Boe brought NHL hockey to Long Island. Islanders fans of all ages should know about this. Roy Boe should be in the Islanders Hall of Fame.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac | Getty Images