Ed Westfall (center) drops a ceremonial first puck at the opening of the new skating facility in Peconic named in his honor. (Photo: New York Islanders)
Ed Westfall is Long Island through and through even if it took him 32 years to get there.
Born in Belleville, Ontario, he played his junior hockey north of the border and spent his first 11 NHL seasons with the Boston Bruins while winning two Stanley Cups in the process before he was selected by the upstart New York Islanders for their inaugural season at the 1972 expansion draft.
He never left.
Westfall, who brandished No. 18 in blue and orange, was named the Islanders’ first-ever captain, scored the first goal in franchise history, and in seven years with the team from 1972-1979, helped lead the development of an organization from a hapless expansion side to what became one of the last great North American sports dynasties that won four consecutive Stanley Cups form 1980-1983.
That included a miraculous run to the Stanley Cup semifinals in the team’s third year of existence, featuring a three-game upset of the crosstown-rival Rangers and a 3-0 series comeback to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. They almost did it again in the semifinals against the Philadelphia Flyers before falling in Game 7 to the eventual Stanley Cup champions. He also won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1977, awarded to the player who exemplifies dedication and perseverance.
“Eddie was a veteran when I played with him. I was kind of like the rookie and he took me under his wing,” Islanders legend John Tonelli, whose No. 27 hangs in the rafters at UBS Arena, said. “He’s probably the first guy to kind of make me understand that after practice or after all the hard work that goes on every day on the ice, you have to learn to relax, grab a sandwich and a beer at lunchtime. Eddie was a big proponent of that. My biggest problem was I was intense and needed to do that and he helped me with that.”
After retiring…
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