Here's what the two-time Stanley Cup champions and others had to say about the 1980-81 season. Select the person's name to see the quotes:

• Mike Bossy, Islander forward
• Bob Bourne, Islander forward
• Bill Carroll, Islander forward
• Butch Goring, Islander forward and 1981 playof MVP
• Bob Nystrom, Islander forward
• Denis Potvin, Islander defenseman and captain
• Bill Smith, Islander goalie
• Glen Sonmor, Minnesota North Stars coach
• John Tonelli, Islander forward
• Bryan Trottier, Islander forward
• Steve Vickers, Ranger forward

Mike Bossy, Islander forward:

After the Stanley Cup was won in five games: “I told the guys I was going home after tonight. Butch said before the series started that he was only going to play five games. So we might have been missing a few players if we had to go back to Minnesota for Game 6.”

Read more about Bossy

To top of page

Bob Bourne, Islander forward:

Prior to the Stanley Cup finals: "I think this one is going to be more enjoyable if we win. Last year, every game was like the fear of the unknown. We were so bloody relieved when it was over. It was like a tension release. I'm enjoying it a hell of a lot more this year."

On Bryan Trottier playing his way through a broken foot and a separated shoulder: "That's an inspiration to me. How can you not dig down for everything when you see a guy like that?"

Speaking about his prospects for free agency right after the team won the Stanley Cup: "It went through my mind between the second and third periods that this could be my final period with the team. But I'll tell you something else: I never thought about being a free agent the last three months -- not after Al sat me down in February and told me to think about it later, not then. And I'll tell you this: I hope this wasn't my last game with these guys, because I don't want to play against guys like Bryan Trottier and Clark Gillies." (Bourne would up staying five more years with the Isles.)

See Bourne's quotes from 1979-80

See Bourne's quotes from 1981-82

See Bourne's quotes from 1982-83

Read more about Bourne

To top of page

Bill Carroll, Islander forward:

“I was calm throughout the whole playoffs, but the other day we had a press luncheon in Minnesota and they had the Stanley Cup there. I saw it for the first time, and since then I hadn’t slept more than two hours a night. I couldn’t get it off my mind.”

Read more about Carroll

To top of page

Butch Goring, Islander forward and 1981 playoff MVP:

“Last year, I had just come to the team and I didn't really feel as much a part of it. This year I shared the highs, the lows, got drunk with them. It's more exciting this year.”

“I don’t know if I was the last piece of the puzzle or not. I don’t know what it was like before I got here, but I know what it’s like now. And it’s wonderful.”

See Goring's quotes from 1982-83

Read more about Goring

To top of page

Bob Nystrom, Islander forward

“Why not dynasty? I think we've got a team that can’t be beat.”

See Nystrom's quotes from 1979-80

See Nystrom's quotes from 1981-82

Read more about Nystrom

To top of page

Denis Potvin, Islander defenseman and captain:

"This year wasn't as surprising. We were waiting longer to get the Cup, but we knew it was coming. We could taste it."

See Potvin's quotes from 1982-83

Read more about Potvin

To top of page

Bill Smith, Islander goalie:

Revealing that part of his and Butch Goring's incentive for winning game five of the finals was a postponed golf date caused by the Islanders' loss in game four: “We missed one tee time. We weren’t going to miss another."

See Smith's quotes from 1979-80

See Smith's quotes from 1982-83

Read more about Smith

To top of page

Glen Sonmor, Minnesota North Stars coach:

After his team was steamrolled 6-3 in the first game of the Stanley Cup finals: "Maybe I was still basking in the glow of being in the finals. Maybe some of my players felt the same way. They didn't look very poised. They seemed hesitant and jittery. But the Islanders can do that to you. They give me the jitters."

"We knew what to expect from their dominant guys, Denis Potvin, Bossy, Trottier. But I don't think we were prepared for so much offense out of Goring."

To top of page

John Tonelli, Islander forward:

On playoff MVP Butch Goring: "I can remember when I was a kid watching Goring on TV and saying to myself, 'That's how I want to play.' When he's working, it makes me want to work that much harder. He deserved that award."

After the Isles swept the Rangers out of the playoffs: "These were among the four best games we've ever put together. Look back at last year. We were up three games on Buffalo and couldn't kill them. They won two games. The same thing with Boston, we couldn't finish them off either. That's what we were mainly thinking about. We had to establish that finishing touch."

See Tonelli's quotes from 1979-80

See Tonelli's quotes from 1982-83

Read more about Tonelli

To top of page

Bryan Trottier, Islander forward:

"I wish everyone who plays hockey could know the feeling of winning the Stanley Cup," he said. "You win it once, you get greedy. You want to keep on winning it."

On participating in the playoffs with a broken foot and a separated shoulder: "I felt whatever I have to do to win, I'll do. If I can't score any goals, I'll skate until my legs fall off."

See Trottier's quotes from 1979-80

See Trottier's quotes from 1981-82

Read more about Trottier

Steve Vickers, Ranger forward:

After the Isles took a 3-0 lead in their playoff series with another dominating win: "I wish the Islanders would let up."

To top of page