The first season the Islanders and I became buddies was way back in 92-93 and it is a season I’ll remember for the rest of my life. While guys like Pierre Turgeon, Derek King and Steve Thomas were my favorite players, my father was always a huge Ray Ferraro fan. I never quite understood it until later that season. Spending a huge portion of that season on the shelf, Ferraro wasn’t as big a part of the team’s success as he was the year before, when he scored 40 goals and added 40 assists and was the team’s lone representative at the All-Star game. Nevertheless, when the chips were down, Ferraro was money in the bank and after a while, his card had a spot on my wall over my bed right next to Turgeon’s.

After the team made the playoffs that season, Ferraro was at his very best. In the first round against the Capitals, Number 20 was all over the ice, creating offense and wasting no opportunities. He was so good in that series that he even out-shined Turgeon, who was one of the best players in the league that season. Thanks to the heart and soul he exhibited in that series, the Islanders took care of business against Washington and were all set to play the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

All the team’s success came at a price though. After scoring the nail in the coffin goal against the Capitals in game six, Turgeon was taken out by Dale Hunter [a moment that is perhaps one of the worst in Islanders history. Some Islander fans, including myself, feel that the injury to Turgeon possibly cost the team a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals], leaving them without their leading scorer against the best team in hockey.

Some analysts at the time felt that without Turgeon, the Islanders were a more dangerous team because they had to separate their offense a bit more, giving them four lines that could contribute on offense, rather than three [even though the kid line of Travis Green, Marty McInnis and Brad Dalgarno had some offensive ability, they were often matched up against the opposition's best offensive line. The same thing goes for the fourth line, that usually sported the likes of Mick Vukota and Tom Fitzgerald and mishmash of other players], but make no mistake about it, Turgeon had 132 points that season; he was the heart and soul of that team.

Getting the team to play at the same level as the Pens would be no simple task.

Ferraro however, was uber solid once again and played an influential part in the team’s win in that series, making the pass to Dave Volek with a two on one in overtime that eventually led to a moment that young Islander fans would recreate on the street for years to come.

Well, at least until Shawn Bates’ penalty shot goal in 2002.

Even though he’d be off on the Rangers and an enemy of the state to Isles fans a few years later, Ferraro continued to be a productive player over the course of his NHL career, spending time with the Kings, Thrashers and a few other places before hanging up his skates and joining the broadcasting ranks.

Nevertheless, I’ll always remember him as the guy that almost singlehandedly kept the Islanders on the ice with the best team in the world.

Posted under Isles Memories