Newsday: Tribute to Arbour on LI next week features former Islanders

[The Underboss]

http://www.newsday.com/sports/hocke...ext-week-features-former-islanders-1.11632080

In what might turn out to be the biggest gathering of Islanders alumni ever, between 30 and 40 former players are expected to be on Long Island next week to pay tribute to a man who changed all their lives. And the public is invited to join their two-day salute to Al Arbour next Thursday and Friday, April 7 and 8.

Hall of Famers Clark Gillies and Pat LaFontaine will be there, as will many members of Arbour’s Stanley Cup teams and at least nine players — including Pierre Turgeon and Darius Kasparaitis — from the surprising 1993 Cup semifinalist. The alumni are doing it independently and at their own expense, said former equipment manager Joe McMahon, who is helping to organize the event. “They all want to pay tribute to a great man,†he said.

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[PK Cronin]

Awesome that they're doing it on their own. Shows the respect they all have for one of the best to have been involved in the world of sports.

 

[The Underboss]

http://www.newsday.com/sports/hocke...to-honor-legendary-coach-al-arbour-1.11666557

The room at the Fox Hollow Inn was filled with history, four decades of Islanders players united with fans to honor one special man, with an appropriate special guest sitting on a table — the Stanley Cup.

Al Arbour’s name is etched on it eight times, four for playing and four for coaching the Islanders.

“He’d be embarrassed about the honoring of him, but he’d have loved to see the players,” said Jay Arbour, Al’s son. “They were all very close. They meant a lot to him.”