There’s a saying that good things come to those who wait.
In the case of Pat LaFontaine getting into the Islanders Hall of Fame, he had to wait and wait and wait. On Saturday, before the Islanders take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at UBS Arena, the waiting is over as LaFontaine will take his rightful spot in the Islanders Ring of Honor and become the 17th individual to be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame.
“I’m super-humbled. I’m very appreciative…tremendous gratitude,” said LaFontaine. I came to Long Island 41 years ago. One of the things (legendary Islanders Head Coach) Al Arbour was always good at was he made you earn it. Nothing came to you easy. You have to earn it and once you earned it, you appreciated it.”
LaFontaine joined the Islanders in the spring of 1984 after playing for Team USA at the Olympics. He was part of the Islanders team that went to a fifth straight Stanley Cup Final and would spend the first eight season of his NHL career with the Islanders and had 287 goals and 279 assists for 566 points over 530 games.
He was on track to be a career Islander, but during the 1990-91 season, LaFontaine was having a contract dispute with the franchise and demanded a trade. Islanders Hall of Fame General Manager Bill Torrey sent LaFontaine to Buffalo in a deal that brought Pierre Turgeon, Benoit Hogue and Uwe Krupp to Long Island.
It was a trade that worked out well for both teams as the Islanders would reach the Wales Conference Final while LaFontaine spent six quality seasons in Buffalo helping the Sabres reach the Stanley Cup Final. Over the years, there were lots of hard feelings between the team and LaFontaine, hard feelings that resurfaced when he came back to the team as an unpaid advisor to then Islanders owner Charles Wang before promptly stepping away when Wang fired General Manager Neil Smith after just a month on the job.
With a new ownership group led by Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky, the franchise has been able to restore relationships with former players and now the team has reconciled with one of the greatest players in franchise history.
“It's very nice of Jon Ledecky, the ownership and the organization,” said LaFontaine. “I’m just extremely grateful. Things always come full-circle at the right time. I’ve always been a person of principle and sometimes principle takes a little time. At this time in my life, this is really meaningful. I’ve got two grandkids now. I married a Long Island girl. We live on Long Island. I’m tremendously honored because of the guys who are already there.”
It took a lot longer than many Islanders fans would have liked, but LaFontaine is finally going to take his rightful spot among the greats in franchise history when his name is revealed along the front of the upper bowl at UBS Arena on Saturday. LaFontaine joined the Islanders at the end of the dynasty and was part of the next era of Islanders history and that included his iconic goal in the “Easter Epic” when he scored in the fourth overtime of game seven in Washington to lead the Islanders past the Capitals and into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“It was a great moment for Pat and a great moment in Islanders history,” said former longtime Islanders Equipment Manager Joe McMahon. “Patty is so deserving of (the Islanders Hall of Fame),” Patty and I started at the same time. We were close from the beginning. Aside from being an amazing hockey player, he’s even a more amazing husband, father and friend.”
LaFontaine is tied with Islanders Hall of Famer Brent Sutter for 7th on the Islanders’ all-time goal scoring list with 287 and is 9th on the Islanders all-time scoring list with 566 points. He’s a Hall of Fame player as well as a Hall of Fame person, especially when you include his Companions in Courage Foundation, an organization that builds interactive playrooms for children in hospitals.
Appropriately, CIC will be the charity of choice for Saturday’s game on the same day that LaFontaine will be inducted into the Islanders Hall of Fame.
“Pat is a great human being, let alone a great hockey player,” said Islanders Hall of Fame center Bryan Trottier, the Islanders all-time leading scorer. “He’s already in the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was just a matter of time.”
In addition to being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003, LaFontaine was also inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame the same year. And now, he will be adding the Islanders Hall of Fame to his amazing career resume.
“I think it’s the right call,” said former Islanders forward Benoit Hogue. “It could have been done before. He was an attraction in Montreal as a 16-year-old it the Quebec League (QMJHL). He came in with the Islanders and had a great career. An awesome playmaker and goal scorer and a great team guy. I’m very happy for him.”
LaFontaine was drafted third overall by the Islanders in 1983, a pick that Bill Torrey had acquired in a 1981 trade that sent Bob Lorimer and Dave Cameron to the Colorado Rockies, who would become the New Jersey Devils. It was a case of the “rich getting richer” as the four-time Stanley Cup Champions welcomed LaFontaine to what was already a star-laden team.
He never won a Stanley Cup with the Islanders and didn’t finish his career with them, but make no mistake about it, LaFontaine is an Islander and a Long Islander.
I’m grateful to the Torrey family for bringing me here to Long Island,” said LaFontaine. “Al Arbour, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies and all the guys. Eddie Westfall. It’s about the journey and it’s about the players you meet and the relationships. It’s about the things you go through. It’s where I started my NHL career. It’s where I live.”
As far as the current Islanders are concerned, this has been an exciting season as the Islanders are currently in third place in the Metropolitan Division, just one point out of first, not only in the Metro but also in the Eastern Conference. These have been good times at UBS Arena so far this season and Saturday will only add to that.
In fact, the guy behind the Islanders bench is excited about it.
“I played against Pat in junior and he scored many goals against me,” said Islanders Head Coach Patrick Roy. “What a career with the Islanders and what he did in Buffalo. He was a very special player.”
A very special player indeed with an unparalleled passion for the game of hockey and a heart the size of Long Island. Pat LaFontaine was a dynamic hockey player and his contributions to the community have been remarkable.
On Saturday, he will be recognized for being one of the best players to ever don an Islanders jersey.
“You play to be a good team player and to be a good ambassador to this sport and you hope to win a championship,” said LaFontaine. “You never think of your name being in a Ring of Honor or a Hall of Fame. It’s just a wonderful bonus.”
The waiting is over.
Saturday brings a moment that so many people in Islanders Country have been waiting for. As the late Tom Petty sang, “The Waiting Is The Hardest Part”.