The team that finished last in 1972 – 73 received the right to pick first in the 1973 amateur draft and the Islanders selected junior superstar defenseman Denis Potvin, who had been touted " as the next Bobby Orr " when he was 13.

Down three games to none in the best-of-seven series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Islanders rallied to win the next four and take the series.

The Islanders dominated the next two seasons.

The next year, although the Islanders had won three straight Stanley Cups, more attention was being paid to the upstart Edmonton Oilers, whose young superstar Wayne Gretzky had just shattered existing scoring records.

The next year, in 1988, the Islanders captured another division title, but were defeated in the first round of the playoffs by the upstart New Jersey Devils.

The Islanders, however, fought back by winning the next three games, setting up a deciding seventh game.

Potvin entered the NHL with high expectations ; he was regarded by some as the savior of the Islanders ' franchise, and by others as potentially the next Bobby Orr.

The Islanders snuck into the playoffs the next season and then lost in 5 games to the Ottawa Senators in the first round.

After a junior career with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the QMJHL, he made the Black Hawks in 1984 and played with Chicago for the next five seasons before being traded to the New York Islanders.

As the individual nations were primarily concerned with qualifying for the next World Cup the Islanders did not tour again until 2006.

In 2005, the Islanders still under Hugo Hernán Maradona brought in a new group of players that would become staples in the club for the next couple of seasons ( Petter Villegas, Marco Vélez, Dan Kennedy, Caleb Norkus, Alejandro González Pareja and Noah Delgado ), and retained several key players like Mauricio Salles.

This was the start of a tremendous run for the Oilers, who made it to the 1983 Finals ( losing to the New York Islanders ) and then winning the Stanley Cup in five of the next ten seasons following their first season in the NHL.

The next year, he suited up for 56 games, netting 26 goals and 39 points and was one of the Stars best performers as Minnesota lost the 1981 Stanley Cup finals to the New York Islanders.

But Boston then lost the next four games to drop the series ; the Flyers became just the third team in NHL history ( after the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders ) to win a series after losing the first three games.

Also the Harrisburg City Islanders soccer team plays on the island at Skyline Sports Complex, next to Metro Bank Park.

In mid-2003, Beddoes responded to rising interest among indigenous and Indo-Fijians by announcing that membership of his party, which had been confined to minority groups like Europeans, Chinese, and Banaban Islanders, would now be open to all races, and that the party would contest all 71 seats in the House of Representatives in the next parliamentary election, scheduled for 2006.

Nystrom remained an assistant coach the next two seasons, then served as radio analyst for the Islanders.

Tanner would spend the next seven season climbing the Angels ' organizational ladder and in 1970 he led the AAA Hawaii Islanders to 98 wins in 146 games and a Pacific Coast League pennant.

Krupp spent the next couple of seasons entrenched as one of the Islanders top defenders before he was traded at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft along with a first round selection ( Wade Belak ) to the Quebec Nordiques for Ron Sutter and first selection ( Brett Lindros ) on June 28, 1994.

Their new rivals, the New York Islanders, who entered the league in 1972 after paying a huge territorial fee — some $ 4 million — to the Rangers, were their first-round opponent in 1975.

However, playing in a division where the same three teams — the Flyers, Capitals and Islanders — made the playoffs every year for six years running meant that the Devils found themselves in a losing battle with the Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins for the division's last playoff spot.

The Islanders won the regular-season title, yet once in the playoffs, they were pushed to the maximum five games by the Pittsburgh Penguins and to six games by the Rangers.

* February 2, 2011: the Pittsburgh Penguins won 3 – 0 over the New York Islanders with Brent Johnson who left the game after instigating a fight with Islanders ' goalie Rick DiPietro with 17 seconds left in the third period.

They conceded 5 goals in their games against Harrisburg City Islanders, Pittsburgh Riverhounds and Charlotte Eagles in the early part of the season, and then let Charlotte hit them for six in the return fixture in mid-July, their most ignominious defeat of the season.

The Royals were truly awful in every other game: they conceded 5 goals on 5 different occasions, let in 6 goals twice, and lost 7-0 to Charlotte Eagles on the opening day of the season, to Harrisburg City Islanders in late July, and to Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the penultimate game.

The following teams announced the use of third jerseys for the 2008 – 09 NHL season: Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks ( a vintage jersey for the 2009 NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field ), Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings ( for the 2009 Winter Classic ), Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks.

Along the way, the Islanders defeated the Washington Capitals and upset the two time defending Stanley Cup champions Pittsburgh Penguins.

Bryan John Trottier ( born July 17, 1956 ) is a retired Canadian-American professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins.

On November 3, 2007, Al Arbour returned at the request of Nolan, to coach his 1, 500th game for the Islanders in a 3 – 2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

A two-time Stanley Cup champion, in his NHL career he has played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers.

He played right wing for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins between 1993 – 2006.

He has also played for the Flames, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, Phoenix Coyotes, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders.

The Pittsburgh Penguins played their final regular season game at the Mellon Arena on April 8, 2010 when they defeated the New York Islanders 7-3.

The Rhinos saw off the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 4 – 0 in first round of the playoffs and then lost 2 – 1 at home to the Harrisburg City Islanders to finish the season.

Kasparaitis has played for the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers.

* November 17, 1996: Traded by the New York Islanders, along with Andreas Johansson, to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Bryan Smolinski.

Unexpectedly, the Rough Riders struggled in 2004, finishing the season with an 8-11-1 record, decisively in the Atlantic Division's cellar behind the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and the expansion Harrisburg City Islanders, and failing to make the playoffs.

Prior to that, the Pittsburgh Penguins gave up a 3-0 lead in the quarterfinal round to the New York Islanders in the 1975 Stanley Cup playoffs to lose 4-3, and in the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals, when the Detroit Red Wings lost a 3-0 lead to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

During the playoffs that year, The Islanders were five minutes away from being eliminated by a much weaker Pittsburgh Penguin team, trailing 3-1 in the deciding game.

Daigneault has played for the Vancouver Canucks ( 1984 – 85 – 1985 – 86 ), Philadelphia Flyers ( 1986 – 87 – 1987 – 88 ), Montreal Canadiens ( 1989 – 90 – 1995 – 96 ), St. Louis Blues ( 1995 – 96 ), Pittsburgh Penguins ( 1995 – 96 – 1996 – 97 ), Mighty Ducks of Anaheim ( 1996 – 97 – 1997 – 98 ), New York Islanders ( 1997 – 98 ), Nashville Predators ( 1998 – 99 ), Phoenix Coyotes ( 1998 – 99 – 1999 – 2000 ), and Minnesota Wild ( 2000 – 01 ).

* Pennsylvania Derby: Harrisburg City Islanders vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds, USL Pro.

With their rivals the Boston Bruins being eliminated by the Sabres in the division semifinals, as well as the two-time defending Cup champions Pittsburgh Penguins being eliminated by the Islanders in the division final, Montreal's path to their first final since became much easier.