The dynasty that was the New York Islanders of the early 1980s traces its roots to the date of June 6, 1972, the very first day that the franchise came into existence.

Under the patient guidance of General Manager Bill Torrey and Coach Al Arbour, a pair of Hall of Famers in waiting, the Islanders did the right thing from their very inception. Unlike some other expansion teams, they eschewed any ideas of a quick fix, and built through the draft.

The Islanders' building, the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, was a new one, and there was a huge base of fans in burgeoning Nassau and Suffolk Counties, plus the Boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn to the west.

A solid, sometimes-raucous, rivalry with the Rangers quickly developed and games between the two teams became classic encounters of the time.

Torrey and Arbour didn't have to wait long for things to turn sweet on Long Island. Weak at the start, the team missed the playoffs in only its first two seasons, winning only 12 of 78 games the first year and 19 of 78 the next. Buy New York Islanders Tickets.