We met after the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Lou Vairo coached the team. When we met later, Lou said, "I had a lot of super kids on that team," but you got the best of them all. There's only one Patty LaFontaine."
Pat LaFontaine sits right on top of my lists.
* Great guy.
* Great player.
* Great friend.
* Great Islander.
There's more but you get the drift.
We met after the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. My Brooklyn buddy Lou Vairo coached the team. When we met later, Louie said, "I had a lot of super kids on that team," but you got the best of them all. There's only one Patty LaFontaine."
Lou was right. From the minute he arrived in Uniondale, his star began shining. Who can forget how Pat and Olympic teammate Patrick Flatley almost rescued the Islanders Drive for Five in the final Stanley Cup round against Edmonton.
In addition to his becoming the face of the franchise, his creativity, speed and shot dazzled the opposition, not to mention the extraordinary footwork. But there was that extra dimension that arrested everyone's imagination. He was a "people's choice that kind of athlete who truly enjoyed being with fans.
Believe it or not, a failed LaFontaine playoff expedition remains my most revered memory of his perseverance and grim determination. It was the Game Six of the 1988 Devils - Islanders playoff. New Jersey led the series three games to two as the teams faced off at the Meadowlands Arena.
The home team dominated from the get-go and by the third period the game seemed beyond the Islanders reach. "It seemed that there was no way we could make a comeback," remembered captain Denis Potvin. "Then Patty seemed to carry us back just when it looked like it was over,"
Actually, it was although, thanks to Patty, the Isles now trailed by only a goal. The problem was that -- with that only ten seconds left on the clock in regulation time, The face-off deep in the New York zone was a good 180 feet from LaFontaine.
For Patty to even think of succeeding he would have to get past five defenders to even get a shot on goal and that would be a Herculean task. What followed absolutely defied credulity.
LaFontaine not only won the draw but then -- one by one -- stickhandled past the backchecking forwards before bisecting the Devils defense. His shot would have beaten more than half the NHL goalies but, this time, Garden State playoff hero goalkeeper Sean Burke, made the save.
The buzzer sounded ending the series but it never ended my memory of Patty's gallant foray!
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