The Hughes Bros. are currently thriving in the greater New York City area, but 50 years ago, it was the Potvin Bros. who excelled on defense and pushed the New York Islanders to Stanley Cup-winning heights.
The Greater New York City area is the fortunate place where brother act Jack and Luke Hughes ply their NHL trade. But a half-century ago, another pair of siblings were on the same team and thriving.
We’re talking, of course, about New York Islanders superstar defenseman Denis Potvin and his brother and fellow blueliner, Jean Potvin. And in this feature story from The Hockey News’ Archive, we spotlight the Potvin Bros. and look back fondly at what they brought to the table.
(And don’t forget, if you want access to THN’s complete 76-year archive, you can subscribe to the magazine.)
The story on the Potvins – in THN’s Vol. 27, Issue 11 edition (Dec. 14, 1973) – chronicled their NHL journeys and the time they spent together with the Isles. Jean Potvin, who passed away in 2022 at age 72, initially spent five years on Long Island – with his younger brother, Denis, who was an Islander from 1973 to 1988 – and the final two years of his career with the Isles from 1979 to 1981. Jean Potvin was on two Stanley Cup winners, and Denis played on four Cup-winning teams, making the Potvins one of the most successful brothers act in league history.
Jean Potvin turned out to be mighty pleased the Philadelphia Flyers traded him to the Islanders in March 1973 in exchange for future NHL coaching legend Terry Crisp. Jean no longer had confidence the Flyers were confident in him, so it was time to move on.
“I was very happy when I heard the news,” Jean Potvin told THN writer Harry Klaff for the article. “I knew I’d finally be getting a chance to play regularly…last year I didn’t get a chance to play at all…The Flyers never really gave me a reason for sitting me on the bench. I guess it was because the club was going good and they didn’t want to break up a winning combination.”
Jean Potvin also knew that, for as good as he was, Denis was something else entirely.
“Hey may have been a little nervous for the first few weeks (of his career), but since then he has settled down to play the kind of hockey I know he can play,” Jean said of Denis. “He’s going to be a special one.”
How right Jean was. And no wonder then-Isles GM Bill Torrey had to be specific those years when people asked him how good ‘Potvin’ was.
“Which one,” Torrey said, “We’ve got two of them.”
ISLANDERS FANS ACKNOWLEDGE ELDER POTVIN
Vol. 27, Issue 11, Dec. 14, 1973
By Harry Klaff
LONG ISLAND – Wherever Islander General Manager Bill Torrey went over the summer, he would be asked the same redundant question. “How good is Potvin?”, everyone wanted to know. Torrey would just smile and counter with a query of his own “Which one,” he’d ask. “We’ve got two of them.” Torrey, of course was referring to the fact that the Islanders have two Potvins on the squad — young Denis, who was the first selection in the amateur draft, and 24 year-old Jean, who was obtained from the Philadelphia Flyers last March.
Even after he joined the club, Jean was still a “forgotten man” among Islander fans. He was constantly referred to as “Denis’ brother,” as tales of the younger Potvin’s exploits at Ottawa filtered throughout the New York area. There were even some who were convinced that the sole reason the Islanders got him was to insure Denis’ signing with the NHL.
Actually, the March 4, 1973 deal was one of those “trades that can help both clubs.” The Islanders gave up pesky, but light-scoring Terry Crisp, in exchange for the Flyers’ sixth defenseman.
The reasoning in each case was sound. The Islanders were giving up a good checker (despite the club’s defensive standing) for a young defenseman with potential that just couldn’t crack a lineup of Ed Van Impe, Andre Dupont, Joe Watson, Tom Bladon, et al. On the other hand, the Flyers — who had a wealth of scoring punch — could afford super-pest like Crisp.
Somewhat surprisingly, Potvin wasn’t bothered in the least at the thought of moving from a winner to the last-place Islanders. “I was very happy when heard the news. I knew I’d finally be getting a chance to play regularly.” said the handsome, articulate Ottawa native.
“Last year I didn’t get a chance to play at all,” Jean continued. “The Flyers never really gave me a reason for sitting me on the bench. I guess it was because the club was going good and they didn’t want to break up a winning combination.”
It didn’t take Jean long to realize some future fringe benefits of the trade. It was no secret that the Islanders would likely go after Denis in the May draft, and if they did, Jean could be reunited with his kid brother for the first time since his last year in junior hockey.
“I thought about that all summer,” smiled Jean. “Actually there was no doubt about it at all. Denis always told me that he wanted to play in the NHL, so there was really little chance that he would have signed with the WHA.”
Ever since training camp opened in September, it was Jean’s hope that he would be paired with Denis on the ice. “It would be a good combination, because I’m a right hand shot and Denis is a lefty,” said the elder Potvin at the Peterboro training site.
Although coach Al Arbour has broken the combination on a few occasions, Potvin and Potvin have remained unit. The brothers pretty much stick together, even on power play and penalty killing missions.
Jean takes pride in watching his younger brother develop as the season draws on. “He may have been a little nervous for the first few weeks, but since then he has settled down to play the kind of hockey I know he can play. He’s going to be a great one,” says Jean with pride.
The Hockey News Archive is a vault of 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 articles exclusively for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit the archives at THN.com/archive and subscribe today at subscribe.thehockeynews.com