Pierre Turgeon's forte was a blend of savvy to go with smoothness. He scored as easily as he skimmed passes that led to goals. He was so super clean that year, he won the Lady Byng Trophy for competence combined with sportsmanship and now heads tor the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Nice guys finish last.

No, I didn't say that.

It was Leo (The Lip) Durocher when he was managing the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1930's.

The Lip believed that his New York Giants managerial rival was too good a guy to win big.

While Durocher's acidic line made it into Bartlett's Familiar Quotations it doesn't hold for everyone in sports and if you want an exception, check out the new Hockey Hall of Fame lineup of inductees.

Right up there is a New York Islanders hero of yesteryear who arrived in Uniondale on October 25, 1991.

"It's a date carved in ice," according to the Islanders Official 25th anniversary history.

Never mind ice, I prefer calling the Turgeon Trade one of thunderous proportions. Imagine, this sweetheart of a French-Canadian being traded from Buffalo to the Nassaumen while Pat LaFontaine went to the Sabres.

"Turgeon," added the Isles history, "is a smooth playmaker who lacks his predecessor's speed but is just as capable of putting up big numbers."

And that Lucky Pierre did just that.

No question that LaFontaine made a huge imprint on the Islanders community as well as the ice; and still does.

By contrast, Turgeon was a low-key type who was utterly gracious, invariably available -- and soon emerged as exciting at Patty, but in an unobtrusive sort of way.

The architect, Bill Torrey, swung another deal obtaining high scoring and hard hitting forward Steve Thomas to work the wing with Pierre and it was a hand-in-glove move.

When I think back toward the season I most remember when it comes to the starry Turgeon, it has to be 1992-93.

Pierre was top banana in terms of scoring but he was ably abetted by Thomas, Derek King, Ray Ferraro and Benny Hogue.

Turgeon centered Thomas and King. One noted, "Turgeon brings a sense of poise to his teammates on the ice although he's not vocal in the dressing room."

Steve Thomas: "Pierre is different from most superstars. He doesn't know how good he is, so when I have the chance, I remind him."

Turgeon's forte was a blend of savvy to go with smoothness. He scored as easily as he skimmed passes that led to goals. He was so super clean that year, he won the Lady Byng Trophy for competence combined with sportsmanship.

He was a mid-season All-Star and also the balance wheel that enabled the Isles to make the playoffs that year.

My personal favorite Turgeon moment took place at Madison Square Garden on April 2, 1993. In overtime, Pierre catapulted his team toward a playoff berth with an overtime goal at 3:41. It just happened to be his 50th goal of the season.

He went on to star in the playoffs until being felled by Washington' s Dale Hunter seconds after Turgeon scored to put his team irrevocably ahead 5-1, lifting his team to the next round.

Blind-sided, Pierre went down with a shoulder separation and Hunter went down with a 21-game suspension.

Hunter's heinous act distracted from the magnificence of Pierre's play. He would continue to excel after recuperation and quietly display his magnificence in a creative and gentlemanly play.

His commendable career now has been recognized by Hall of Fame voters and if it proves anything, we could say that when it comes to Pierre Turgeon:

Nice guys finish first!