Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
ELMONT, N.Y. — Pat LaFontaine likes to joke with one of his former New York Islanders teammates, Lorne Henning, that his famous secondary assist on Bobby Nystrom’s Stanley Cup-winning goal in Game 6 of the 1980 Final against the Philadelphia Flyers was only his second greatest assist.
In LaFontaine’s eyes, Henning’s greatest assist was introducing the Hall-of-Famer to his next-door neighbor, Mary Beth, in Huntington in 1984. Three years later, they were married.
“I started out as an Islander, I played almost eight years here,” LaFontaine told amNewYork during the opening of The Park at UBS Arena — a 155,800 square-foot season-long outdoor experience that features the first two public pond hockey rinks, food trucks, a beer garden, and carnival games. “I played a lot, learned a lot, grew up a lot, met my wife here. Long Island’s home, this is our home. We raised our kids here and I have great memories.”
It was one of many high points during his time with the Islanders. LaFontaine scored 287 goals across parts of eight seasons in New York, including six years of 30-plus goals and 54 in 1989-90. He’s one of three players in franchise history to score 50 or more goals in a season.
He’s tied for fifth on the franchise’s all-time goals list and his 566 points rank eighth — one of the greatest forwards the organization has ever known in its 51-season history.
But LaFontaine’s appearance as an ambassador for The Park at UBS Arena is one of what had been just a few involving the Islanders ever since a messy split with the organization and a period in which it seemed he was wiped from the organization’s annals.
LaFontaine demanded a trade ahead of the 1991-92 season after former owner John Pickett and ex-general manager Billy Torrey refused to renegotiate his contract. He was sent to the Buffalo Sabres in a blockbuster that saw Pierre Turgeon flipped to the Islanders. After six…
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