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New York Islanders

NHL, the National Hockey League is a premier professional North American Sports League played in indoor stadiums. It’s divided into two conferences, each comprising of three divisions of ice hockey teams. The league was established in 1917 in Montreal, Quebec and it is composed of 30 teams out of which 24 teams based in U.S. and 6 in Canada. They have a regular season and playoffs leading to the Stanley Cup, which is the NHL Championship final.

The New York Islanders are a professional National ice hockey League team based in Uniondale, New York. They are currently members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The Islanders began play in 1972 and rapidly developed into a dominant team that won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships in the early 1980s. In 1975, the Islanders made one of the biggest turnarounds in NHL history; the Islanders earned 88 points, 32 more than the previous season. Centerman Bryan Trottier, who scored 95 points and won the Calder Trophy, was blossoming into a superstar. It would be the first of four consecutive 100-point seasons to close out the 1970s, including the first two division titles in franchise history.

In 1980, the Islanders dropped below the 100-point mark for the first time in five years, earning only 91 points. However, they finally broke through to defeat the Flyers and win the Stanley Cup. The Islanders dominated the next two seasons. In 1981, the Islanders knocked off the Minnesota North Stars in five games to win their second Cup. In 1981-82 the Islanders won a then-record 15 straight games en route to a franchise-record 118 points. They won both the regular-season title and the Stanley Cup, this time over the Vancouver Canucks in a four-game sweep. The following season, the Islanders swept the Edmonton Oilers to win their fourth straight Cup.

In 2002-03, Roman Hamrlik joined an illustrious list of Islanders who played in the NHL All-Star Game. Michael Peca's winning of the Selke Trophy in 2002 added to the franchise's list of Islanders' Awards and Honors. The Islanders opened the season on a tear, going 11-1-1-1, as they easily made the 2002 playoffs before bowing out to the Maple Leafs in a very physical first round series, four games to three. That series was one of the best that the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs had to offer.

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