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Birth Of A Dynasty: The 1980 New York Islanders
The National Hockey League saw the birth of a new dynasty in 1980. The New York Islanders had been an expansion franchise in 1972 in the New York City suburbs of Long Island. For years they played in the long shadow of the big-city New York Rangers and were considered the league’s laughingstock during their first season. Miraculously, eight years later, they were champions. Despite their mercurial rise in the 1970s—which included a first-place overall finish in the 1978-79 season—the Islanders were still considered chokers because of playoff failures. The most frustrating failure of all came at the hands of the rival Rangers, who beat them in 1979 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. A year later they stumbled through an injury-plagued and inconsistent regular season. When the playoffs arrived again, however, they were ready. Bolstered by the late-season addition of speedy center Butch Goring and the bitterness of the previous year’s defeat, the Islanders overcame their past failures and put together an exhausting and dramatic run to their first-ever appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. In the Finals they met the still-dominant Philadelphia Flyers, two-time champions in the 1970s. The ensuing battle demonstrated not only the promise with which the Islanders had always teased their fans, but also the maddening struggles that seemed to hold them back every year. That is, until Game 6, when Bob Nystrom, an everyman’s everyman, scored the clinching goal at 7:11 of overtime to make history in both the NHL and on Long Island. It is a moment that, 25 years later, still lives in the hearts of Islanders fans and in the annals of Long Island, as a region and a community. It is a moment that spawned a run of four consecutive championships, the longest by any United States-based professional team and a run that has since gone unmatched. Birth of a The 1980 New York Islanders is the story of how it happened, how it came together, and what it felt like to be there.
165 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 12, 2017
Good overview of the Islanders early days. Could have ended sooner. Kind of dragged at the end after the dynasty was over and the book continued to document all Islanders from that time until they left the team. Worth a look if you're an Islanders fan. Otherwise might be worth it for hockey fans in general, but just stop reading once they lose the cup to the Oilers.
January 17, 2024
Great recap of the 1980 New York Islanders team and season. The writer uses a funny and conversational tone to take you through all the details of the history of the franchise and their eventual Stanley Cup championship. Lots of fun little easter eggs and name drops tucked in between the big events. The play by play the author does for many of the games is an absolute slog though. You'll spend pages just reading essentially a transcript of live play by play commentary. It might be interesting to hardcore hockey fans but it just felt boring and needlessly detailed.
Overall a good read but detailed almost to a fault.
Overall a good read but detailed almost to a fault.
December 28, 2017
I loved reading more of the history of my all time favorite sports team. Now i am going to have to look into more books about the dynasty years.
August 3, 2024
Great book about the Islanders leading up to their first Stanley Cup. Probably a 4.5 because I was hoping it would cover more about the subsequent cups as well.
March 18, 2025
Excellent. Great read for any Islander fan who is interested in how the dynasty was born and how fast it happened
May 5, 2013
The New York Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cups (hockey’s championship trophy) between 1980 and 1983. This book by Alan Hahn chronicles that first season when the team had the label of a “choker.” This was deserved as the team had much talent but never seemed to be able to win when needed in the playoffs.
That changed during the 1979-80 season when the team added key players such as Butch Goring to go along with so many talented players already on the Islanders’ roster such as Denis Potvin, Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Billy Smith. Al Arbour was the coach of this team and his work is also credited with getting this bunch of underachievers to gel together to create a championship team.
In this book the reader will be taken on the ice, into the locker room and also into the front office of the team. Not only are there recaps of important games during the season, there are also stories from players and a good chapter on the financial struggles of the team. One example of that is that the Islanders were still paying part of the expansion team fee charged in 1972 – seven years earlier!
The best part of the book comes after the Islanders make the playoffs. The game and series recaps along with the stories behind the games make for the best reading in the book. Even though a fan knows the outcome for each series and that, of course, the Islanders become the champions, the details and pictures of that magical spring for Islanders fans will keep the reader turning pages. All in all, a good book that hockey fans will enjoy, especially if their favorite team plays on Long Island.
Did I skim? No
Did I learn something new about the subject? Yes. While it was well-known that the team was struggling financially, I didn’t realize that the team was within minutes of declaring bankruptcy. It is hard to imagine that a championship came that close to disbanding.
Pace of the story: Excellent – kept moving and was easy to read.
Positives: Written with firsthand knowledge of the team and well researched. The chapter of the last game when the Islanders won the Cup, simply titled “May 24, 1980” is great, with stories from players, coaches, media personnel and fans.
Negatives: Several spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors marred what was otherwise a very good book.
Do I recommend? Yes, especially for fans of the New York Islanders.
That changed during the 1979-80 season when the team added key players such as Butch Goring to go along with so many talented players already on the Islanders’ roster such as Denis Potvin, Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Billy Smith. Al Arbour was the coach of this team and his work is also credited with getting this bunch of underachievers to gel together to create a championship team.
In this book the reader will be taken on the ice, into the locker room and also into the front office of the team. Not only are there recaps of important games during the season, there are also stories from players and a good chapter on the financial struggles of the team. One example of that is that the Islanders were still paying part of the expansion team fee charged in 1972 – seven years earlier!
The best part of the book comes after the Islanders make the playoffs. The game and series recaps along with the stories behind the games make for the best reading in the book. Even though a fan knows the outcome for each series and that, of course, the Islanders become the champions, the details and pictures of that magical spring for Islanders fans will keep the reader turning pages. All in all, a good book that hockey fans will enjoy, especially if their favorite team plays on Long Island.
Did I skim? No
Did I learn something new about the subject? Yes. While it was well-known that the team was struggling financially, I didn’t realize that the team was within minutes of declaring bankruptcy. It is hard to imagine that a championship came that close to disbanding.
Pace of the story: Excellent – kept moving and was easy to read.
Positives: Written with firsthand knowledge of the team and well researched. The chapter of the last game when the Islanders won the Cup, simply titled “May 24, 1980” is great, with stories from players, coaches, media personnel and fans.
Negatives: Several spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors marred what was otherwise a very good book.
Do I recommend? Yes, especially for fans of the New York Islanders.
September 22, 2014
As a hockey fan and a sports fan in general, this book was an excellent and entertaining read. As the author describes the action I felt I was on the ice with the players. This book was well written and I would recommend to any real sports fan.
February 9, 2009
A must for any Islanders or hockey fan who loves the game. Details and stories on one of the best dynasties in all of sports. I even know Ranger fans who read this book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews