November 3, 2007: One More Time for Al Arbour

November 3, 2007: Having coached 1,499 NHL games, including 4 straight Stanley Cups with the New York Islanders from 1980 to 1983, Al Arbour returns to coach his 1,500th game, at the request of Islanders coach Ted Nolan, At age 75, he became the oldest man ever to coach an NHL game. The Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3–2 at the Nassau Coliseum, giving Arbour his 740th win.

Arbour played 17 seasons as a defenseman in the NHL. He won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings as a rookie in 1954, won it again with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1961, and again with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1962. He was one of the veteran players the St. Louis Blues chose in the 1967 Expansion Draft to make the Stanley Cup Finals in the next 3 seasons. He coached the Blues until the Islanders hired him in 1973, after their awful first season.

In 1975, their 3rd season, he led them to the Playoffs, and to a series win over the regional rival New York Rangers. In 1978, he led them to win the President's Trophy, finishing 1st overall in the League during the regular season. In 1980, they won the Stanley Cup. And they did it again in 1981. And 1982. And 1983. They reached the Finals again in 1984, but lost.

Arbour remained in charge until 1986. He was hired back in 1988, and remained in charge until 1994, including a trip to the Conference Finals in 1993. The Islanders raised a banner to the rafters of the Nassau Coliseum, with the number of his wins as head coach of the team, 739, standing in for a uniform number.

The number of games he'd coached was 1,499, just short of a milestone. In 2007, he was invited to coach that milestone game, with NHL permission. The Islanders won, and the 739-win banner honoring him was brought down from the Nassau Coliseum rafters, and was replaced with one with the number 1500.

A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Arbour fell victim to Parkinson's disease and dementia, and died in 2015.

*

November 3, 2007 was a Saturday. Actress Ever Anderson, daughter of actress Milla Jovovich and film director Paul W.S. Anderson, was born on this day.

Among the college football games played that day was a thriller at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Navy beat Notre Dame, 46-44. It is the Midshipmen's 1st win over the Fighting Irish in 44 years. In the previous 43 games, only 7 times did Navy come within 8 points of winning.

Baseball was out of season. There were 7 NBA games played that day:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 93-88 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Washington Wizards, 94-82 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 121-111 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bulls, 78-72 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings, 123-102 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 89-80 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* And the Utah Jazz beat the Golden State Warriors, 133-110 at the Delta Center (then the EnergySolutions Arena) in Salt Lake City. Al Harrington scored 38 points for the Warriors, to lead all scorers on the night, but it was in defeat.

October 7, 1972: The New York Islanders Debut

October 7, 1972: The NHL's 2 new expansion teams, the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Flames, play their 1st regular-season games, against each other, at the Nassau County Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 30 miles east of Midtown Manhattan.

Original Captain Ed Westfall scores the Islanders' 1st goal, and Morris Stefaniw scores the 1st for the Flames, who win, 3-2. Stefaniw's goal is the 1st in the Coliseum's history, and it turns out to be the only one he scores in the NHL: Aside from 13 games with the Flames that season, he turns out to be a career minor leaguer.

The Isles' 1st season will be very rough, giving no indication as to the consistent excellence they will produce from 1975 to 1987, and the 4 straight Stanley Cups they will win from 1980 to 1983.

UPDATE: The Islanders have a team Hall of Fame. Through the 2025-26 season, defenseman Ed Westfall, their 1st Captain, is the only player in it who did not last until the 4 straight Stanley Cups began in 1980. "The Pats," center Pat LaFontaine and right wing Patrick Flatley, are the only players from after those Cup wins to be inducted.

Everyone else in it was a member of at least 2 of the Cup winners. Center Brent Sutter won the last 2, and defenseman Ken Morrow, also a member of the U.S. Olympic team that won the Gold Medal in 1980, won all 4.

General manager Bill Torrey was honored with a banner with a picture of his signature bow tie, and the words "The Architect." Head coach Al Arbour was honored with a banner bearing the number 739, for his coaching wins, until someone discovered that he'd coached 1,499 games, and, with the NHL's permission, was brought back to coach one more game in 2007. He won it, and, instead of a new banner with the number 740, it had the number 1500 (no comma).

The other honorees have had their uniform numbers retired: 5, defenseman and Captain Denis Potvin; 9, left wing Clark Gillies; 19, center Bryan Trottier; 22, right wing Mike Bossy, 23, right wing Bobby Nystrom; 27, left wing, John Tonelli; 31, goaltender Billy Smith; and 91, Butch Goring, who had worn 19 with the Los Angeles Kings, and reversed the digits out of respect to Trottier.

*

October 7, 1972 was a Saturday. There were 6 other games played in the NHL that day:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-0 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Philadelphia Flyers and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 4-4 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the California Golden Seals, 3-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

The World Hockey Association played its 1st games 4 days later. The NBA and the ABA were a few more days away from debuting. In baseball, both Leagues' Championship Series began:

* In the American League, the Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Al Kaline and Norm Cash hit home runs off Catfish Hunter, and Mickey Lolich went the distance, but ran out of gas in the 11th inning, as Gonzalo Marquez got the winning hit for the A's. The A's would win the Pennant in 5 games.

* In the National League, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Al Oliver homered for the Pirates, Joe Morgan for the Reds. In spite of this loss, the Reds would win the Pennant in 5 games. Game 5 would be the last game for Roberto Clemente of the Pirates, who was killed in a plane crash the following New Year's Eve.

The NFL played the next day, but there were big college football games played on this Saturday:

* The Number 1-ranked University of Southern California beat Stanford, 30-21 at Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California. This was the closest that USC came to losing a game that season.

* Number 4 Alabama beat Georgia, 25-7 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Number 7 Notre Dame beat Michigan State, 16-0 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

* Number 10 Penn State beat Illinois, 35-17 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

* Princeton and New York's Columbia played to a 0-0 tie at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, New Jersey.

* And Rutgers lost to Cornell, 36-22 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York.

Also, what would become my high school, East Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey, beat Woodbridge, 19-13 at Woodbridge Stadium (now Nicholas A. Priscoe Stadium) in Woodbridge.

And Arsenal lost to Sheffield United, 1-0 at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, Yorkshire. 

May 24, 1980: The Bobby Nystrom Game

May 24, 1980: The New York Islanders win their 1st Stanley Cup. It was the conclusion of their 8th season of play, and after close calls in the Playoffs in 1975, '78 and '79, they went all the way. The reached the Finals by beating the Los Angeles Kings 3 games to 1, the Boston Bruins 4-1, and the Buffalo Sabres 4-2.

In the Finals, they faced the Philadelphia Flyers, who had won the Cup in 1974 and '75, lost in the Finals in '76, and, earlier in the 1979-80 season, with a few holdovers from their Cup-winning teams including Captain Bobby Clarke, set a North American major league sports record by going 35 games unbeaten: Won 26, tied 9, lost exactly none. They had swept the Edmonton Oilers 3-0, beaten the New York Rangers 4-1, and beaten the Minnesota North Stars 4-1. They had also beaten the Islanders in the 1975 Playoffs.

In Game 1 of the Finals, Islander Captain Denis Potvin scored in overtime to give the Isles a 4-3 win at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Flyers made them pay dearly for that, pounding them 8-3 in Game 2.

On May 17, the Nassau Coliseum, having already hosted the Nets in the ABA Finals in 1974 and '76 (the team now in the NBA, and in New Jersey, winning both), hosted its 1st Stanley Cup Finals game, and the Isles won 6-2. They won Game 4 5-2. The series went back to Philly for Game 5, and the Flyers won it 6-3.

Game 6 was crucial for the Isles: As was the case with the Flyers in '74, facing the Boston Bruins, they did not want to lose Game 6, and give themselves the task of going on the road in Game 7 against the far more experienced team that already knew how to win.

Reggie Leach opened the scoring for the Flyers, but Potvin soon equalized. A little over 2 minutes later, Clark Gilles made a drop pass to Butch Goring, and the instant replay showed that it was offside. But referee Leon Stickle missed this, and Goring passed to Duane Sutter, who scored at 14:08 of the 1st period, giving the Isles a 2-1 lead.

This was not enough to stop the Flyers, as Brian Propp scored at 18:58, and the game went into the 1st intermission at 2-2. Mike Bossy scored midway through the 2nd period, and Bobby Nystrom did so with 14 minutes left, and it was 4-2 Islanders.  But within 6 minutes and 2 seconds of the 3rd period, Bob Dailey and John Paddock scored for the Flyers, and the game was tied. It went to overtime.

At 7:11 of overtime, Nystrom scored the most important goal in Islander history, past Pete Peeters. The New York Islanders had won the Stanley Cup. A franchise had grown up.

This is the only color photo I could find involving the goal.

Hail the Champions: 1, backup goaltender Glenn "Chico" Resch; 3, defenseman Jean Potvin; 4, defenseman Bob Lorimer; 5, Captain and defenseman Denis Potvin, Jean's brother; 6, defenseman Ken Morrow; 7, defenseman Stefan Persson; 8, left wing Garry Howatt; 9, left wing Clark Gillies; 10, center Lorne Henning; 11, center Wayne Merrick; 12, right wing Duane Sutter; 14, center Bob Bourne; 16, center Steve Tambellini; 17, left wing Alex McKendry; 19, center Bryan Trottier; 22, right wing Mike Bossy; 23, right wing Bobby Nystrom; 24, defenseman Gord Lane; 26, defenseman Dave "Bam Bam" Langevin; 27, left wing John Tonelli; 28, right wing Anders Kallur; 31, goaltender Billy Smith and 91, center Robert "Butch" Goring.

The most familiar photo: Henning celebrating with Nystrom.

Morrow had gone from an Olympic Gold Medal, with the U.S. team, to the Stanley Cup in exactly 3 months. Denis Potvin, Gillies, Trottier, Bossy and Smith have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Those 5, and also Nystrom, Tonelli and Goring, have had their numbers retired by the Islanders. Resch and Tambellini would be original 1982-83 New Jersey Devils.

The Flyers and their fans were outraged. They were sure that this goal was offside as well. The instant replay was inconclusive, but if they'd gotten the earlier call right, the game never would have gone to overtime: The Flyers would have won 4-3, and forced a Game 7 in Philadelphia. Instead, it was 5-4, and the Islanders were World Champions.

Did Stickle really cost the Flyers the title? He had already been an NHL referee for 11 seasons, and had previously worked the Stanley Cup Finals in 1977 and 1978. Each was a victory by the Montreal Canadiens over the Boston Bruins.

Boston fans are notoriously whiny. So is Don Cherry, then the coach of the Bruins. But nobody complained about missed calls or unfair treatment from Stickle then. It's only Flyer fans, due to 1980.

What's more, in spite of his apparent mistakes, the NHL continued to assign Stickle to big moments: The Stanley Cup Finals again in 1981, 1984 and 1985. The Canada Cup in 1981 nd 1984. And Rendez-vous '87, the Canada vs. Soviet Union "summit series" that took the place of that year's All-Star Game.

He kept officiating until he retired after the 1997-98 season, and Game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals remains the only game, out of the 2,069 regular-season and 206 postseason games at which he officiated in 28 years, that anybody complains about him for.

Which doesn't mean he didn't make a mistake or two during the game in question. But you should also consider that the linesmen missed the Gillies-Goring offside as well. And linesmen are supposed to look out for offside.

Then there's the Flyers' reputation: If they hadn't done the things that got them nicknamed the Broad Street Bullies from 1969 onward, maybe they would have gotten the benefit of the doubt on close calls. Many times, the Fly Guys dug their own graves. That's no excuse for getting calls wrong, but it is, however flimsy, an explanation.

Then there was the goaltending situation. In both 1974 and 1975, Bernie Parent won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goaltender of the year, and the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff Most Valuable Player. Those are the only 2 seasons in which the Flyers have ever won the Stanley Cup. He was a 5-time All-Star, and in spite of a career that wasn't as long as it should have been, he was listed as 63rd on The Hockey News' 1998 list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

In 1979, Parent suffered a freak injury, when a stick went through the right eyehole of his mask. He was only 34 years old, but the damage to his eye was such that he had to retire. The Flyers have gone through a lot of goalies since, including Pete Peeters in the 1980 Finals, Pelle Lindbergh in '85, Ron Hextall in '87 after Lindbergh's death in a drunk-driving crash, the tandem of Hextall and Garth Snow in '97, and Brian Boucher in 2010. None of them have been able to protect the net like Parent. Few goalies ever have. But in 42 years, they're still looking for that Cup-worthy goalie.

But even if Peeters had saved Nystrom's shot, and the Flyers had gone on to win Game 6, there would still have been a Game 7. Yes, it would have been at The Spectrum. But from 1975 to 1980, the Islanders had already won 20 Playoff games on the road, including 7 that year. And this was before they had the label of "Champions," let alone that of "Dynasty."

Had this series gone to a Game 7 in The Spectrum, there's no guarantee that the Flyers would have won it. You think the Islanders were going to be intimidated by the Philly crowd? They weren't intimidated by Ranger fans, or Boston fans, or Montreal fans. Compared to that, Philly fans were going to be a piece of cake.

The Islanders were better. Did Leon Stickle make mistakes? Sure, he did. Is he a reason why the Flyers lost the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals? Certainly. Is he the biggest reason why? No.

In 1988, the Flyers established a team Hall of Fame. Paul Holmgren was the only player on the 1980 Flyer Finalists who did not also play on the earlier Flyer Finalists of 1974, '75 or '76; or the later Flyer Finalists of 1985, '87, '97 or 2010.

*

May 24, 1980 was a Saturday. Football was out of season. The basketball season had ended 8 days earlier, with the NBA Finals, and Philadelphia had lost that, too: The 76ers lost in 6 games to the Los Angeles Lakers. At least the Flyers didn't get clinched on at The Spectrum: The Sixers did.

A full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-2 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Ruppert Jones hit a home run in support of Luis Tiant. Yes, both were Yankees that season. Reggie Jackson did not play.

* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Shea Stadium. Mike Jorgensen hit a home run in support of Pat Zachry, but the winning run was driven in by Elliott Maddox with a single off Rick Camp in the bottom of the 10th. Camp would appear in Met history again.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Rookie sensation "Super" Joe Charboneau hit a home run in support of Rick Waits. Carl Yastrzemski did not play.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 5-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt had an RBI triple, Pete Rose went 0-for-3 with a walk. No one knew it yet, but this was a fitting preview of what is still one of the best League Championship Series ever played.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray hit a home run in support of Jim Palmer.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-9 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Jack Clark hit 2 home runs, Mike Ivie 1. Willie McCovey, in his last season, drew a walk as a pinch-hitter. Willie Stargell and Dave Parker hit home runs for the defending World Champion Bucs. But it was a double by light-hitting Jim Wohlford that won the game for the Giants in the top of the 15th inning.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. George Foster hit a home run, and Johnny Bench went 1-for-2 with a walk, in support of Frank Pastore, who pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Bryan Edmund "Moose" Haas pitched a 4-hit shutout, the Brew Crew's 2nd straight shutout of the Twins. Paul Molitor hit a home run, and Robin Yount went 1-for-4.

* The San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the California Angels, 6-5 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). George Brett went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Rod Carew went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 15-7 at the Oakland Coliseum. Mickey Klutts, once the Yankees' most touted prospect, never panned out for them, but hit a home run for the A's in this game. Rickey Henderson, then a rookie, went 1-for-5 with a walk and an RBI, but no stolen bases.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-4 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

May 17, 1983: The New York Islanders Win Their 4th Straight Stanley Cup.

Captain Denis Potvin

May 17, 1983: The New York Islanders beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the Nassau Coliseum, and complete a 4-game sweep of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Isles thus become the 1st team other than the Montreal Canadiens to win 4 straight Stanley Cups.

This was the era when the Coliseum was known as Fort Neverlose. They beat the Philadelphia Flyers in the Finals in 1980, the Minnesota North Stars in 1981, the Vancouver Canucks in 1982, and the Oilers in 1983. In the Playoffs from the 1st round in 1980 to the Conference Finals in 1984, they went 71-22 in the Playoffs. But the Coliseum wasn't quite an impenetrable fortress: Over that stretch, the Isles went 40-9 at home. It was the Finals sweeps of 1982 and 1983 that reinforced the image.

Some players were on all 4 Cup-winning teams: Goaltender Billy Smith (Hall of Fame); defensemen Denis Potvin (Captain, Hall of Fame), Ken Morrow, Gord Lane, Dave Langevin, Mike McEwen and Stefan Persson; centers Bryan Trottier (Hall of Fame), Butch Goring and Wayne Merrick; right wings Mike Bossy (Hall of Fame), Bobby Nystrom, Duane Sutter and Anders Kallur; and left wing Clark Gillies (Hall of Fame). Center Brent Sutter, Duane's brother, won his 2nd Islander Cup. The team was coached by Al Arbour, and built by general manager Bill Torrey.

The Conn Smythe Trophy, for the Most Valuable Player of the Playoffs, went to Trottier in 1980, Goring in 1981, Bossy in 1982, and Smith in 1983.

For the Oilers, including Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey and Grant Fuhr, their "dynasty" had to wait 1 more year, when they stopped the Islanders' "Drive for Five" in the Finals.

Every time I've seen the New Jersey Devils play the Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum, I've seen a car in the parking lot, New York license plate 4STAN, in honor of those 4 Stanley Cups. But since that 1984 Finals, they've been 0-3 in Conference Finals.

*

May 17, 1983 was a Tuesday. Basketball player Channing Frye was born.

The NBA Playoffs, and the 1st season of the United States Football League (USFL), were in progress, but no games were scheduled for either on this day.

These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Former Tiger Steve Kemp hit a home run in the top of the 11th inning, making Rich "Goose" Gossage a winning pitcher in relief of Jay Howell. Dave Winfield went 4-for-5 with a home run, a walk, and 3 RBIs.

* The New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres, 6-4 at Shea Stadium. Tom Seaver, in his brief return to the Mets, gained his 267th win. Darryl Strawberry, on his way to being named National League Rookie of the Year, hit a home run.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Tom Niedenfuer walked Bryan Little with the bases loaded, forcing Andre Dawson home with the winning run in the bottom of the 15th inning.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. George Brett went 0-for-4. Carl Yastrzemski, in his final season, did not play.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk. Pete Rose went 1-for-4.

* The Baltimore Orioles swept a doubleheader from the Chicago White Sox, 7-2 and 5-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Mike Boddicker pitched a 5-hit shutout in the nightcap. Over the 2 games, Eddie Murray went 4-for-8 with 2 RBIs, and Cal Ripken went 3-for-7 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Mario Soto outpitched John Candelaria. Johnny Bench, in his final season, went 1-for-4.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-6 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Paul Molitor was injured, and did not play.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-2 with 3 walks and 2 stolen bases.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 8-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Jim Sundberg singled Larry Parrish home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

* And the California Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Rod Carew went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-3 with a walk.

May 13, 1976: The Last ABA Game

David Thompson (left) and Julius Erving

May 13, 1976: The New York Nets beat the Denver Nuggets, 121-106 at the Nassau County Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Hempstead, New York, and win the American Basketball Association Championship in 6 games.

(The Nassau Coliseum is in the Town of Hempstead, in Nassau County, on Long Island, but its mailing address is Uniondale, NY.)

For the Nets, coached by Kevin Loughery; Julius Erving, known as Dr. J, scored 31 points, John Williamson 28, Brian Taylor 24, Jim Eakins 15, Bill Melchionni and Tim Bassett each scored 4, Al Skinner 3, Rich Jones 2, and Ted McClain 1.

For the Nuggets, coached by Larry Brown (with some irony, a Nassau County native): David Thompson, known as "Skywalker" before there was a Star Wars, led all scorers with 42 points, Dan Issel 30, Chuck Williams 14, Monte Towe 6, Ralph Simpson and Bobby Jones 4 each; and Byron Beck, Marvin Webster and Gus Gerard 2 each.

This turns out to be the last game in ABA history. It is also the last game that Erving plays for the Nets.

Before the 1975-76 season began, the Memphis Sounds, who had been the Memphis Tams (1972-74), the Memphis Pros (1970-72), and the New Orleans Buccaneers (1967-70), moved again, becoming the Baltimore Claws, but only played 3 exhibition games before being folded by the league for nonpayment of fees. The San Diego Conquistadors became the San Diego Sails, but folded 11 games into the season; the Utah Stars, only 2 seasons removed from a Finals berth and the 1971 ABA Champions, folded 16 games in.

So only 7 teams completed the season: The Nets, the Nuggets, the San Antonio Spurs, the Indiana Pacers, the Kentucky Colonels, the Spirits of St. Louis and the Virginia Squires. The ABA required the remaining teams to each put up $75,000 before merger talks with the NBA, and the Squires didn't, folding, and ending what remains Virginia's last sports team with major league pretensions. (The Washington Commanders have their offices and training camp in Virginia, but, as of the 2022 season, their stadium is in Maryland.)

Despite being 1 of only 2 teams, the Pacers being the other, to play every ABA season under the same name and in the same metro area, and being only 1 season removed from an ABA Championship, the Colonels folded. Team owner John Y. Brown Jr., who bought Kentucky Fried Chicken from "Colonel" Harland Sanders and made it a nationwide brand, took a $3.3 million payoff from the NBA.

Brown took the money he received for the Colonels and used part of it to purchase the NBA's Buffalo Braves, which he later parlayed into ownership of the Boston Celtics. In 1979, he was elected Governor of Kentucky. To this day, no major league team in any sport has called Kentucky home, unless you count Racing Louisville FC of the National Women's Soccer League.

The Spirits' demise was a bit more interesting. The team known from 1967 to 1969 as the Houston Mavericks, and from then until 1974 as the Carolina Cougars, were owned by brothers Ozzie and Daniel Silva, textile magnates, who had previously tried to buy the NBA's Detroit Pistons. They had planned to move the Spirits to Salt Lake City if the NBA would accept them. It didn't, thinking both St. Louis and Salt Lake City too small as markets. However, in 1979, the NBA did not stop the New Orleans Jazz from moving to Salt Lake City.

In June 1976, the ABA owners agreed, in return for the Spirits of St. Louis ceasing operations, to pay the Silnas $2.2 million in cash up front, in addition to a 1/7th share of the 4 remaining teams' television revenues in perpetuity. As the NBA's popularity exploded in 1980s and 1990s, the league's television rights were sold to CBS, and then NBC, and additional deals were struck with the cable networks TBS and TNT, league television revenue soared into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

From 1976 to 2012, the Silnas collected approximately $255 million from the NBA, despite the fact that the Spirits never played an NBA game. (Nor has the NBA placed a new team in St. Louis since the Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968.) In 2014, the Silnas reached agreement with the NBA to greatly reduce the perpetual payments, and take a lump sum of $500 million. Ozzie died in 2016, at the age of 83. As of May 13, 2022, Dan is still alive, 77 years old, and still receiving money from the NBA, even though he hasn't owned a pro basketball team in 46 years.

When the 1976-77 season begins, the Nets, the Nuggets, the Pacers and the Spurs were in the NBA. But, as a result of having to pay an entry fee and a territorial indemnification fee to the Knicks, the Nets sold Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nets went from the best team in their old league to the worst in their new one, while Dr. J helped the Sixers reach 4 NBA Finals, including in that 1st season, winning the title in 1983.

The Nets changed their name to the New Jersey Nets in 1977, moved to the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, then to the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford in 1981, then to the Prudential Center in Newark in 2010, and finally to the Barclays Center in 2012, becoming the Brooklyn Nets. They reached the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003, but, for the most part, due to poor drafts, poor trades, and internal dissension that occasionally breaks them up, they have been an NBA failure.

However, it should also be noted that the 1976 ABA title is the last league championship won by a basketball team in the New York Tri-State Area. The Knicks won the NBA in 1970 and 1973, the Nets won the ABA in 1974 and 1976. Since then, between them, they are 0-4 in NBA Finals, winning just 6 Finals games in 40 years. The Nuggets haven't even reached the NBA Finals.

The NBA never adopted the ABA's red-white-and-blue ball, keeping their traditional orange. But in 1979, they adopted the 3-point field goal, which the ABA had, as had the American Basketball League of 1961-62.

UPDATE: The Nuggets finally reached the NBA Finals in 2023, and won. The New York Liberty won the WNBA Championship in 2024, finally succeeding the '76 Nets.

*

May 13, 1976 was a Thursday. The NBA Playoffs were in progress, but no games were played on this date.

The Montreal Canadiens beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, and won Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. They completed the sweep 3 days later. The World Hockey Association Playoffs were in the Semifinals, and the Houston Aeros beat the New England Whalers, 4-2 at The Summit in Houston. (Televangelist Joel Osteen later turned the arena into the Central Campus of his Lakewood Church.)

Football was out of season. And these 6 Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. Vern Ruhle outpitched Rudy May. Rusty Staub hit a home run for the Tigers, and Chris Chambliss hit one for the Yankees.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Luis Tiant outpitched Jim Kern. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5 with an RBI. Indians player-manager Frank Robinson did not put himself into the game.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Jim Palmer outpitched Bill Travers. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Reggie Jackson, in his only season with the Orioles, went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Robin Yount went 1-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 13-2 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 3-for-4 with a solo home run.

* And the California Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 7-5 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

May 10, 1974: The New York Nets Win the ABA Championship

May 10, 1974: The New York Nets beat the Utah Stars, 111-100 at the Nassau Coliseum, in Hempstead (mailing address, Uniondale), Long Island, New York, and win the Championship of the American Basketball Association, in 5 games.

Hail the Champions: Guards Bill Melchionni, "Super" John Williamson, Mike Gale, and Brian Taylor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey; forwards Julius "Doctor J" Erving, Wendell Ladner, Jim O’Brien, Billy Schaeffer and Larry Kenon; and centers Billy Paultz and Willie Sojourner. The head coach was Kevin Loughery.

The Nets won the ABA Championship again in 1976. So, while the Knicks had won 2 titles in 4 seasons, the Nets won 2 out of 3. Overall, over 7 seasons, New York basketball teams made 6 Finals, winning 4 of them.

But no New York Tri-State Area basketball team has won a major league championship since. Not the now-Brooklyn Nets, not the New York Knicks, not the WNBA's New York Liberty.

UPDATE: It wasn't quite true. The New York Stars won the Women's Basketball League title in 1980, but that wasn't exactly major league. The Liberty went 0-4 in WNBA Finals before finally winning in 2024.

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May 10, 1974 was a Friday. Game 6 of the NBA Finals was played that night. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 102-101 in double overtime at the Boston Garden. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 34 points for the Bucks, while John Havlicek had 36 for the Celts. All the Bucks had to do to win their 2nd title in 4 years was in Game 7 at home. But they couldn't do it.

Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 2 and 3. The Philadelphia Flyers went on to beat the Boston Bruins in 6 games. The World Hockey Association Playoffs were between their Semifinals and their Finals. The Houston Aeros went on to sweep the Chicago Cougars in 4 straight.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-2 at Shea Stadium, where the Yankees were playing while the original Yankee Stadium was being renovated. The newly-acquired Dick Tidrow started, and went the distance for the win. He would later become better known as a relief pitcher. Thurman Munson went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Jerry Koosman was the winning pitcher, while Burt Hooton lasted only 2 innings. Dave Schneck went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs for the Mets.

* The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Lou Brock went 2-for-4 with 2 stolen bases and an RBI.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt and Willie Stargell each hit a home run.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Atlanta Stadium (renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium the next year). Garry Maddox went 3-for-6 for the Giants, including singling Bobbby Bonds home with the winning run in the top of the 13th inning. Hank Aaron went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. An Earl Williams single and a Don Baylor sacrifice fly brought home the winning runs in the top of the 10th inning, making a winning pitcher out of Dave McNally. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk. Mark Belanger, the Orioles' great-field-no-hit shortstop, hit a home run, 1 of only 20 he would hit in his career.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 2-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Johnny Bench went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Mickey Lolich ran out of gas in the 9th inning, and was replaced by John Hiller, who gave up a game-tying 3-run home run to Rico Petrocelli. In the bottom of the 9th, Willie Horton and Ben Oglivie doubled, and the Tigers won. Al Kaline, in his last season, went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 8-7 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Jorge Orta singled Dick Allen home with the winning run in the top of the 14th inning.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 7-5 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Willie McCovey went 0-for-4 with a walk. Dave Winfield went 0-for-4 with an RBI on a groundout.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Nolan Ryan outpitched Paul Splittorff. Frank Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk for the Angels. Rookie George Brett went 0-for-2 with a walk.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Jim "Catfish" Hunter outpitched Bert Blyleven. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-4. Rod Carew went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

April 28, 1993: The Turgeon-Hunter Game

April 28, 1993: The New York Islanders win Game 7 of the Patrick Division Finals -- the quarterfinal under the format then in place -- beating the Washington Capitals, 5-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

Pierre Turgeon scores the final Islander goal, but the Caps' Dale Hunter doesn't like it, and slams Turgeon into the boards. Hunter, already with a reputation as a thug, was suspended for 21 games, the first quarter of the next season.

Turgeon would score 515 goals in his career, but no team for which he played has ever retired his uniform number, usually 77. Hunter went on to score 323 goals, and the Capitals retired his Number 32.

The Islanders lost the Prince of Wales Conference Finals to the Montreal Canadiens. From 1994 to 2015, they didn't win another Playoff series. It took until 2020 for them to reach another Conference Final.

UPDATE: In 2023, Turgeon was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Turgeon will never be elected to it.

*

April 28, 1993 was a Wednesday. Gold Glove-winning 3rd baseman Matt Chapman was born on this day.

Elsewhere in the Stanley Cup Playoffs that day, in the Adams Division Final, the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Quebec Nordiques, 6-2 at the Montreal Forum, and win the series in Game 6. This is the last Playoff game between these bitter rivals, as the Nords move to Denver for the 1995-96 season, but unlike Isles-Caps, the nastiness is minimal.

Football was out of season. The NBA Playoffs were underway, but no games were scheduled for this day.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the California Angels, 3-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Mark Langston struck out 13 batters, outpitching former Angel Jim Abbott. The Yankees tied the game with 2 runs in the top of the 9th, but Tim Salmon won it with a home run in the bottom of the 9th.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Mets led 2-0 going into the bottom of the 8th, but the Giants took a 3-2 lead. The Mets tied the game in the top of the 9th, but in the bottom of the 9th, Matt Williams singled Mike Benjamin home with the winning run. Barry Bonds went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Julio Franco tripled Rafael Palmeiro home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies, 7-6 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres, 5-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-5.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 6-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-0 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Erik Hanson pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and 3 relievers completed a 7-hit shutout. Ken Griffey Jr. went 3-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

April 11, 1975: The J.P. Parisé Game

April 11, 1975: The greatest upset in the history of New York Tri-State Area hockey takes place, and represents a changing of the guard.

In 1972, after years of rebuilding, the New York Rangers reached the Stanley Cup Finals, for the 1st time since 1950. However, they were defeated by the Boston Bruins. They remained contenders over the next 3 seasons.

Calendar year 1972 also saw the Canada-Soviet "Summit Series," the establishment of the World Hockey Association, and 2 new expansion teams in the NHL: The Atlanta Flames, who ended up moving to Calgary in 1980; and the New York Islanders, playing 25 miles east of Midtown Manhattan, at the Nassau County Veterans Memorial Coliseum, in the Town of Hempstead, but with a mailing address of Uniondale.

In their 1st 2 seasons, as could be expected, the Islanders were terrible. But head coach Al Arbour and general manager Bill Torrey were building a team that would steadily get better. In their 3rd season, 1974-75, they acquired left wing Jean-Paul "J.P." Parisé and center Jude Drouin from the Minnesota North Stars. The new acquisitions excited Isles fans, and they started chanting, "J.P.! J.P.! J.P.!" for Parisé and, "Na na na na, hey, Jude!" (as in The Beatles' song) for Drouin.

That season, the Isles made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 1st time, gaining the East Division's 5th seed, meaning they would play its 4th seed in the 1st round, a best-2-out-of-3 series. As it turned out, that 4th seed was the Rangers. And in Game 1, at the still-new Madison Square Garden atop Penn Station, the Islanders came from 2-0 down after 2 periods to win, 3-2. The Rangers won Game 2 at the Nassau Coliseum, 8-3, to set up a Game 3 at The Garden.

The Islanders jumped out to a 3-0 lead, on a goal by Clark Gillies and 2 by Denis Potvin. But within 10 minutes in the 3rd period, the Rangers got 2 goals from Bill Fairbairn and 1 from Steve Vickers. The game went to overtime, and, just 11 seconds in, Parisé put the puck past the Rangers' Hall-of-Fame goaltender, Eddie Giacomin. At the time, it was the fastest goal in NHL overtime history. Aside from the goal scored by Bob Nystrom 5 years later, it remains the most famous goal in club history. (Sorry, Pierre Turgeon, but it is.)

Jean-Paul Parisé

The '75 Isles weren't done. The next series was a best-4-out-of-7 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens, then good, but hardly a legitimate Cup contender, won the 1st 3 games. In all of sports history, only 1 team had ever come from 3-games-to-none down and won, but it was in the NHL: The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings. The Isles turned the trick.

They had now reached the Stanley Cup Semifinals, against the defending Champions, the Philadelphia Flyers. As with the other Pennsylvania team, the Isles lost the 1st 3, and then came back to win the next 3. But the Flyers ended the shocks, and won Game 7, and then beat the Buffalo Sabres to win back-to-back Cups. (The Flyers haven't won since. Nor have the Sabres, who've only been to the Finals once since.)

The Isles' upset of the Rangers was a stunning event, and it was part of a transition period in New York sports: The Yankees were playing in Shea Stadium while the original Yankee Stadium was being renovated, the Mets began to decline, the Giants played first at the Yale Bowl in Connecticut and then at Shea while waiting for Giants Stadium to be finished, the Jets fell apart along with Joe Namath's knees, and the Knicks got old and fell apart while watching the Nets win 2 ABA titles.

The hockey shift was the most noticeable of all. The Islanders began a dominant stretch that would eventually see them, under Arbour, Torrey, and Potvin as Captain, reach 5 straight Finals, winning 4 straight Cups. Parisé, however, would not be a part of it: He was traded in 1978, never played in a Stanley Cup Finals, and died in 2015. His son, Zach Parisé, would play in a Finals, in 2012, with a team that did not exist until 1982: The New Jersey Devils.

But calendar year 1975 was the Rangers' annus horribilis. Ranger management, having already traded Vic Hadfield, fired Emile Francis as head coach after the Playoff loss to the Isles, ending his tenure in that role after 11 years. He remained general manager a little longer, being relieved of duty the following January.

But before that, he made a few deals, including waiving the still-popular Giacomin, which became a public-relations nightmare for the team; and trading Bard Park and Jean Ratelle to the Bruins for Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais, which ruined whatever chemistry the team had left.

The team bottomed out in 1977, but a new regime rebuilt them, and, in 1979, they beat the Islanders to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, losing them to the Montreal Canadiens. The Islanders won the Cup in 1980, and '81, and '82, and '83, and reached the Finals in '84 -- beating the Rangers along the way in '81, '82, '83 and '84.

It would take the Rangers until 1994 to reach another Finals, and also to win another Cup. The Devils won in 1995, 2000 and 2003. Since 2003, between them, the 3 NHL teams in the New York Tri-State Area have been frustrated. The Devils reached the Finals in 2012, the Rangers 2014, but both lost to the Los Angeles Kings. The Islanders reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 1993, 2020 and 2021, but not the Finals.

*

April 11, 1975 was a Friday. There were 2 other Stanley Cup Playoff games played. The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Boston Bruins, 6-4 at the Boston Garden. The Hawks thus won the series, 2-1. And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. The Leafs thus won the series, also 2-1.

There was also 1 Playoff game in the WHA: The New England Whalers beat the Minnesota Fighting Saints, 3-2 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena). This was Game 2 of a best-3-out-of-5 series, which went the distance, and the Saints won it.

The NBA was between Playoff rounds. Three games were played in the American Basketball Association's Playoffs:

* The New York Nets lost to the Spirits of St. Louis, 113-108 at the St. Louis Arena. Marvin "Bad News" Barnes scored 35 points for the Spirits.

* The Memphis Sounds beat the Kentucky Colonels, 107-93 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. This would be the only game the Sounds would win in that series.

* And the Utah Stars beat the Denver Nuggets, 132-110 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 5-3 at Shea Stadium, where the Yankees played the 1974 and '75 seasons while Yankee Stadium was being renovated. This was the home opener, and the Yankees saved their big off-season acquisition, pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter, for the game. He got 2 hits each from Thurman Munson and the other major off-season acquisition, Bobby Bonds.

But Willie Horton and Nate Colbert hit home runs off Catfish, in support of Mickey Lolich. Catfish would recover, winning 23 games, while the Tigers, in their 1st season after the retirement of Al Kaline, had one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Jerry Koosman pitched 8 shutout innings, but ran out of gas in the bottom of the 9th, as he, Rick Baldwin and Mac Scarce allowed 4 runs, the last coming home on a single by Richie Hebner.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Lou Brock went 2-for-5, and Bake McBride went 4-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs. The Phillies traded for him in 1977, and he would be the right fielder on their 1980 World Champions. Greg Luzinski hit 2 home runs for the Phillies in this game, but it wasn't enough. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5 at Memorial Stadium. Tony Conigliaro, after 4 seasons out of the game, attempted a comeback, and hit a home run in this game, but it wouldn't work out. Carl Yastrzemski won it with a home run in the top of the 12th inning. Rick Burleson also homered for the Sox. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-5.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI for the Brewers. Indians player-manager Frank Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. After 21 seasons with the Senators/Twins franchise, Harmon Killebrew was now in his last season, with the Royals, and went 1-for-4 in this game. George Brett went 2-for-4. For the Twins, Rod Carew went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 7-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-2 with a solo homer and 3 walks.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 7-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Don Sutton pitched a 4-hit shutout, and Bill Buckner hit a home run. Those of you old enough to remember the 1986 World Series, admit it: You forgot, or perhaps never knew, that Buckner not only played for the Astros, but hit a home run for them off Catfish Hunter in the 1974 World Series.

* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Nolan Ryan pitched a 6-hit shutout, striking out 10.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Dave Winfield went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Pete Rose went 2-for-5. Johnny Bench went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* And the Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

April 10, 1984: The Ken Morrow Game

April 10, 1984: Game 5 of the NHL Patrick Division Semifinals is held at the Nassau Coliseum. The New York Islanders have won 5 straight Stanley Cups, and are now in the 1st round of their "Drive for Five." But they have to play a series-decider against their arch-rivals, the New York Rangers.

The 1st 2 games had been played on Long Island. The Isles won Game 1, 4-1. But the Rangers won Game 2, 3-0. The next 2 were held at Madison Square Garden, and the Rangers won Game 3, 7-2. After 2 periods in Game 4, the Rangers led, 1-0. But the dynasty wouldn't give up: The Islanders scored 4 goals in the 3rd period, and won, 4-1.

Ron Greschner had scored the winning goal for the Rangers in the 1979 Playoff decider between the teams, and he opened the scoring this time, too, at 12:06 of the 1st period. With 11 seconds to go, Mike Bossy tied the game. The 2nd period was scoreless. At 7:56 of the 3rd, Tomas Jonsson scored, and it looked like the Isles were moving on. But Don Maloney scored with 39 seconds left in regulation, and it went to overtime.

Ken Morrow had been part of the U.S. team that won the Gold Medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics, 305 miles away in Lake Placid, New York. He was drafted by the Islanders, and had been a key figure on all 4 Cup wins. At 8:56 of overtime in this game, he put a shot past Glen Hanlon, and the Islanders had won, 3-2. For at least one more round, the dynasty would live.

The Islanders went on to beat the Washington Capitals, 4 games to 1, to win the Patrick Division; and the Montreal Canadiens, 4 games to 2, to win the Prince of Wales Conference and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. But, after sweeping the rising Edmonton Oilers in the Finals the year before, the Drive for Five stalled: This time, Wayne Gretzky and company were just too much, and the Oilers won, 4 games to 1.

The Rangers finally broke their Stanley Cup drought in 1994, although they have only been to 1 Finals since then, and lost it. The Islanders should be so lucky: Since 1984, they have been to the Conference Finals 3 times, and lost all 3. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Devils have been to 5 Finals, winning 3 Cups.

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April 10, 1984 was a Tuesday. Singer and actress Mandy Moore was born on this day.

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, only 1 other Divisional Final series had yet to be decided when the night began. The Minnesota North Stars beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. They advanced to the Norris Division Finals, where they beat the St. Louis Blues, before falling to the Oilers in the Clarence Campbell Conference Finals.

The NBA was still in its regular season, and 9 games were played:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 106-102 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands. Despite the Sixers being defending NBA Champions, and Moses Malone scoring 38 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in this game, this was a foreshadowing of the Playoffs. The Nets won, the only Playoff series they would win between 1976 and 2002.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Indiana Pacers, 100-98 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 96-95 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Kansas City Kings, 125-113 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City. Gus Williams scored 37 points.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat their arch-rivals, the Houston Rockets, 121-111 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. George Gervin scored 39 points.

* The Utah Jazz beat their arch-rivals, the Denver Nuggets, 135-120 at the Thomas & Mack Center in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. Rickey Green of the Jazz led all scorers on the day with 45 points. Adrian Dantley added 33. Kiki Vandeweghe led the Nuggets with 35.

This was 1 of 11 "home games" the Jazz would play at Thomas & Mack in the 1983-84 season. They played another 2 there near the start of the 1984 season. Only twice were there enough tickets sold to make opening the upper bowl necessary.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 100-88 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the San Diego Clippers, 116-114 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). Mark Aguirre scored 34 points for the Mavs. Terry Cummings scored 16 for the Clips. Two years earlier, they were teammates at DePaul University in Chicago.

The Clippers played just 1 more game in San Diego, 4 days later, a 146-128 win over the Jazz. The next season, they moved up the freeway to Los Angeles. This was the 2nd time San Diego had lost an NBA team. The league has never returned there.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, 117-115 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Purvis Short scored 43 points.

Football was out of season. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. Phil Niekro, who had just turned 45, outpitched Frank Viola, who was about to turn 24. Willie Randolph hit a home run. Dave Winfield went 1-for-4. And Don Mattingly went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Craig Swan was the winning pitcher. Darryl Strawberry and Hubie Brooks hit home runs.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. John Denny outpitches Nolan Ryan. Mike Schmidt hit a home run.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. George Brett did not play. Cal Ripken Jr. hit 2 home runs, and Eddie Murray went 2-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 8-6 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs for the Expos, against his once-and-future team.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 5-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-4.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the California Angels, 10-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Robin Yount hit a home run. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4, and Rod Carew went 0-for-4.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Luis Leal goes 6 2/3rds innings, allowing 3 hits. Roy Lee Jackson finishes the shutout, allowing no other hits. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and a stolen base.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* And the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers were not scheduled.

February 11, 1972: The Nassau Coliseum Opens

1972-2015 Configuration

February 11, 1972: The Nassau Coliseum opens, on the north side of the Hempstead Turnpike, surrounded by streets named after pioneering pilots: Earle Ovington Boulevard to the west, Charles Lindbergh Boulevard to the north, and James Doolittle Boulevard to the east.

It is 23 miles from Midtown Manhattan. While it is within the Town of Hempstead, the mailing address is 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale, NY 11553.

To the west, on either side of Hempstead Turnpike, is the campus of Hofstra University. The south side includes what's now named James Shuart Stadium, former home of the Hofstra football program (since disbanded) and both the old and the new versions of the New York Cosmos soccer team. The north side includes the former New York Jets offices at Weeb Ewbank Hall, and their former practice facility.

To the north, across Lindbergh Blvd., is Nassau County Community College, which includes the Cradle of Aviation Museum, the Long Island Children's Museum, and a parking lot where a fake toll booth was set up to film the murder of Sonny Corleone in the film The Godfather. (For the sake of any kids you know, do not get the sites mixed up.)

The 1st event at the Coliseum is an American Basketball Association game: The New York Nets beat the Pittsburgh Condors, 129-121. Rick Barry scored 45 points for the Nets.

The Nets had previously played the ABA's 1st season, 1967, as the New Jersey Americans, playing their home games at the Teaneck Armory in Teaneck, Bergen County. They played the 1968-69 season as the New York Nets, at the Long Island Arena in Commack. They played the next 3 seasons at the Island Garden in West Hempstead. 

The Nets reached the ABA Finals that year, losing to the Indiana Pacers. They won the ABA Championship in 1974, beating the Utah Stars in the Finals. They won it again in 1976, beating the Denver Nuggets. Julius Erving, a.k.a. Dr. J, was their star. They were admitted to the NBA in 1976, but had to sell Dr. J to pay off the league's entrance fee and a territorial indemnification fee to the New York Knicks. They went from the best team in the 2nd league to the worst team in the 1st league.

They became the New Jersey Nets in 1977, moving to the Rutgers Athletic Center (now the Jersey Mike's Arena) in Piscataway, Middlesex County. In 1981, they moved into the Meadowlands Arena. In 2010, they moved to the Prudential Center in Newark. In 2012, they became the Brooklyn Nets, moving to the Barclays Center.

But the Nassau Coliseum will be best remembered as the home of the NHL's New York Islanders. They debuted on October 7, 1972, against the NHL's other expansion team that season, the Atlanta Flames. Morris Stefaniw of the Flames scored the 1st goal, and Ed Westfall scored the 1st Islander goal. The Flames won, 3-2.

In their 3rd season, 1975, they made the Playoffs. By 1978, they were one of the top teams in the League. On May 24, 1980, Bobby Nystrom's goal won Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Philadelphia Flyers, giving the Isles their 1st Cup.

They won the Cup again in 1981, beating the Minnesota North Stars in the Finals. They won it again in 1982, beating the Vancouver Canucks. They won it again in 1983, beating the Edmonton Oilers. Four straight Stanley Cups. (Every time I've been to the Coliseum, I've seen a New York license plate reading "4STAN.") They went 11-1 in home games in the Finals, and fans called the Coliseum "Fort Neverlose."

They got back to the Finals again in 1984, but their "Drive for Five" fell short, as the Oilers ended the Islander dynasty and began their own. But that would be it. In 1987, they won a 4-overtime Game 7 known as the Easter Epic, but lost in the next round. In 1993, they went on an exciting run to the Conference Finals, but got no further. After that, there was a long stretch of mediocrity.

And the Coliseum simply wasn't convenient. It's one of the few prominent places on Long Island that isn't easily accessible by the Long Island Rail Road. To get there from New York City, you have to take the LIRR to the Hempstead Terminal, then get on a bus for 2 miles, and then cross a big parking lot. 

Then you've got to reverse the process after the game. And on a cold Winter's night, waiting for that bus to take you from Uniondale to the Hempstead Terminal can be interminable. And if you just miss the train back to the City, you'll have to wait nearly an hour for the next one. (Thank God there's a good Chinese restaurant a block away from the Terminal.)

And the building itself was no good. Having two levels of seating and one level of concourse just doesn't work when there's more than 12,000 people in the building. That was also true of the Meadowlands Arena. And, having been built in the early 1970s, luxury suites were not the priority that they later became. In 2015, citing the Coliseum's age, limited amenities and logistics, the Islanders moved to the Barclays Center. It proved to be unsuitable for hockey.

Fortunately for them, a renovation of the Coliseum was completed in 2017, and the Isles moved back, until the new UBS Arena at Belmont Park was ready. The last Islander game at the Coliseum was on June 23, 2021, a 3-2 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals. Anthony Beauvillier scored the winning goal.

2018 Configuration

Other teams that called the Coliseum home: World Team Tennis' New York Sets; the Major Indoor Soccer League's New York Arrows and New York Express; professional lacrosse teams the Long Island Tomahawks, the New York Saints, the New York Titans and, currently the New York Riptide; Roller Hockey International's Long Island Jawz (with a Z); the Arena Football League's New York Dragons; and the Nets' top farm team, the Long Island Nets of the G League, currently sharing the Coliseum with the Riptide.

Elvis Presley sang at the Coliseum on June 22, 23 and 24, 1973; and again on July 19, 1975. On June 19, 1974, The Beach Boys sold the place out, and were joined for an encore by Elton John and Paul Simon. Billy Joel, who grew up on Long Island, has played the place 69 times, and a banner with the Number 69 hangs there like that of a retired uniform number. Other notable concerts there: Led Zeppelin in 1975, David Bowie in 1976, Queen in 1977, the Jacksons in 1979, and Pink Floyd's The Wall tour and Bruce Springsteen on New Year's Eve in 1980.

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February 11, 1972 was a Friday. English soccer star Steve McManaman was born on this day.

Baseball and football were out of season. And there were no NHL games played that day. But there were 6 NBA games played:

* The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 113-107 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. The Knicks overcame 37 points from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 121-108 at the Boston Garden.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Detroit Pistons, 95-88 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks, 102-91 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Baltimore Bullets, 116-95 at the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 110-106 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

There were 3 games played in the ABA, in addition to the Nets' Coliseum debut:

* The Carolina Cougars beat the Denver Nuggets, 110-105 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

* The Miami Floridians beat the Memphis Pros, 129-119 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

* And the Utah Stars beat the Indiana Pacers, 119-115 at the Indiana Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.