Al Arbour

Arbour started his playing career in 1954 with the Detroit Red Wings. He later skated for the Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and St. Louis Blues. Arbour won the Stanley Cup as a player with the 1960–61 Chicago Black Hawks and the 1961–62 and 1963–64 Toronto Maple Leafs. Arbour, along with teammate Ed Litzenberger, is one of eleven players to win consecutive Stanley Cups with two different teams. He is one of only 11 players in Stanley Cup history to win the Cup with three or more different teams. Arbour was also the first captain of the expansion St. Louis Blues, and played for them when they lost in Cup finals in 1968, 1969, 1970 (all in four consecutive games). One of the few professional athletes to wear eyeglasses when competing, Arbour was the last NHL player to wear them on the ice. Arbour was also known for laying down in front of the goaltender to block shots on goal with his body. ==Coaching career==

Arbour began his coaching career with the Iowa Hawkeyes hockey team in 1967 and at the time led them in his first year to their best record at .500. In June 1970, he took over as coach for the Blues after Scotty Bowman decided to focus on the general manager position. As it turned out, Arbour coached 50 games while Bowman coached the rest. The following year saw Arbour coach 44 of the games while Sid Abel and Bill McCreary. He was soon recruited by GM Bill Torrey to take over a young New York Islanders team that had set a then-NHL record for futility by losing 60 games in their inaugural season, 1972–73. New York Islanders (1973–1986) In his first season as Isles' coach, Arbour's team finished last in the league for the second year in a row, but gave up 100 fewer goals and earned 56 points, up from 30 the year before. New York Rangers defenceman Brad Park said after the Islanders beat their crosstown rivals for the first time, "They have a system. They look like a hockey team." The 1974–75 Islanders finished third in their division with 88 points, which qualified them for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They defeated the Rangers in overtime of the deciding third game of their first-round series. In the next round, the Isles found themselves down three games to none in a best of seven quarter-final series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Islanders rebounded with three straight victories to tie the series, then prevailed in Game 7 by a score of 1–0. ==Retirement==

On November 3, 2007, Arbour returned, at the request of Islanders coach Ted Nolan, to coach his 1,500th game for the Islanders. The Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2, giving Arbour his 740th win. The 739-win banner was brought down, and replaced with one with the number 1500, representing the total number of games coached. He is the only coach in NHL history to coach 1,500 games for the same team. Arbour and his wife, Claire, lived in Longboat Key, Florida, and maintained a summer cottage in Sudbury. The couple had four children together. Arbour died on August 28, 2015, in Sarasota, Florida, aged 82. Al's wife Claire died February 23, 2024 in Florida. Legacy • Arbour is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, New York Islanders Hall of Fame, Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame, and St. Louis Blues Hall of Fame. • Jack Adams Award as coach in 1979 ==Career statistics==

Regular season and playoffs Coaching record ==See also==