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Height:
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6-0 |
Weight:
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205 |
Shoots:
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L |
Position:
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D |
HHOF:
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1991 | ||||||
Denis Potvin nearly ended up as a Montreal Canadien only minutes before he was selected as the 1st overall draft pick, and first by the New York Islanders in the 1973 Amateur Draft. Bill Torrey, Islanders general manager at the time, had greater aspirations for Potvin, he wanted to use Potvin as a cornerstone for the young Islander team. Looking back on his decision, it was obviously the right one. Potvin began his hockey career with the Ottawa 67's in the OHA-Jr loop in 1968-69 season. In his final year with the 67's he set an OHA record for scoring by defensemen with 123 points on 35 goals. He not only had scoring skills, but his junior coach, Leo Boivin(Boston Bruins) said that, "Denis will put the hitting back in defense." Potvin began his first season with the Islanders in 1973-74 and in 77 games tallied 54 points on 17 goals and amassed 175 minutes in the "sin bin," establishing himself not only as one of the hardest hitting defensemen, but one with a shot rivalling the best of his time. For his efforts, Denis was awarded the Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year. As time progressed Potvin began to control games much like Doug Harvey and Bobby Orr could do. He had the power to rush up the ice and finish the play with a blistering shot, or he could feather a pass tape to tape to one of his forwards. And if all that failed, he could nail an opposing player with bone crushing force. In 1976 Potvin won the first of 3 Norris Trophies, adding the other two in 1978 and 1979. In 1979-80 Potvin earned the captaincy and he began to help guide his team to an almost dynasty status. He would retain his capacity as captain for 8 years. Beginning in 1980 the Islanders won the first of 4 consecutive Stanley Cups and Potvin was a substantial contributor, averaging over 20 points in each playoff season. Not bad, considering team mate Bryan Trottier led the playoffs in 2 of those years with 29 points! On April 4, 1987, Denis became the first NHL defenseman to reach the 1000 point level. Upon his retirement at the end of the 1988 season, Potvin had 1052 points, and he still ranks in the top 50 all time points race as of the 1999-2000 season end, ahead of players like Henri Richard! After 15 seasons Denis retired. Along with his Calder, Norris and Stanley Cup wins, he was named to the NHL First All Star Team on 5 occasions and the Second All Star team twice, and he played in 9 All Star Games. Potvins number 5 was retired by the Islanders and in 1990 he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. |
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