The New York Islanders made a big announcement on Thursday. The organization will induct Pat LaFontaine into the Islanders Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 13, 2025.
The honor is long overdue. LaFontaine is a member of both the Hockey Hall of Fame and U.S. Hockey Hall Of Fame since 2003.
Following their fourth straight Stanley Cup, the Islanders drafted LaFontaine third overall in the 1983 Draft. There are many reasons why the late great Islanders general manager Bill Torrey is in the Hockey Hall Of Fame. One key sample of his handiwork: back in 1981, the Islanders acquired a first-round pick for Dave Cameron and Bob Lorimer. New York selected the future Hall of Famer with the acquired pick.
LaFontaine joined Islanders after the 1984 Olympics
After competing in the 1984 Winter Olympics, Pat joined the team in time for the “Drive For Five”. LaFontaine recorded 9 points in 16 playoff games as their bid for a fifth cup ended in five games to the Edmonton Oilers. As the Cup winning players began to age, LaFontaine made the team his.
I’m very fortunate and honored,” LaFontaine said. “When Mathieu Darche called me, I could not have been more excited. It’s very meaningful and very humbling that a lot of the guys I was fortunate enough to play with are in the Islanders Hall of Fame, it’s just a tremendous honor.”
LaFontaine among the Islanders’ greats
The Michigan native played in 530 games with the Islanders, totaling over a point-per-game with 566 (287 goals and 279 assists). His 287 goals place him seventh all-time and his 566 career points put him eighth all-time in Islanders history. He ranks in the top ten in Islanders history in hat-tricks (fifth all-time with seven) and power-play goals (eighth all-time with 79).
He is one of just five players to record over a point-per-game (1.07 per game) with the team, alongside Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier, Pierre Turgeon and Ziggy Palffy. The prolific American forward is one of three Islanders to record four 40-goal seasons. He reached the mark every year from 1987-91. His career high was 54 in the 1989-90 season.
The biggest goal LaFontaine scored came in the fourth overtime of Game 7 of the Patrick Division semifinals against the Washington Capitals. The Islanders fought back from a 3-1 series deficit. A game became known as “The Easter Epic.”
The matched started on Saturday, April 18. It concluded just before 2 a.m. on the 19th, Easter Sunday. LaFontaine scored 14 playoff for the Islanders. This one may have been the biggest.
“Even today, wherever I go, people come up to me and start telling me where they were during the Easter Epic,” Pat told me on the Isles Buzz podcast.
The First Breakup
While LaFontaine certainly had highs with the franchise, he also had drama. The “Easter Epic” would be the last playoff series he would win as a member of the Islanders. LaFontaine grew tired of losing, and more importantly, the uncertainty of ownership.
The owner at the time, John Pickett, was pretty detached from the team. The much-maligned owner, accused of pocketing $12 million of revenue from their cable deal rather than reinvesting it in the team, moved down to Florida. Pickett turned over day-to-day operations to four Long Island businessmen better know as the “Gang of Four” who each bought 2.5 percent of the team.
Situation came to a head
In 1990, LaFontaine entered the option year of a contract that paid him about $425,000 annually. Under NHL rules at the time, a player in his option year automatically became a free agent if he was not offered a new contract by August 10.
LaFontaine wanted a contract comparable to Detroit Red Wings center Steve Yzerman, who was making $1.5 million annually at the time. However, after nine months of negotiations, talks broke down. LaFontaine requested a trade. Meanwhile, Pickett officially put the Islanders up for sale, confident that it would sell quickly.
LaFontaine was not traded. He finished the 1990-91 season with the Islanders registering 41 goals and 44 assists. He was not traded during the summer either and did not report to training camp for the following season. LaFontaine made clear that he would never play another game with the Islanders if Pickett still owned the team.
On October 25, 1991, LaFontaine got his wish. He went to Buffalo with left winger Randy Wood and defenseman Randy Hillier. In exchanged, the Isles received center Pierre Turgeon, forwards Benoit Hogue and Dave McLlwain and defenseman Uwe Krupp. In a separate trade on the same day, New York traded captain Brent Sutter to the Chicago Blackhawks. Coincidentally, New York inducted Sutter into the Islanders Hall of Fame in January of this year.
The Second Breakup and Reconciliation
It seemed like the franchise and LaFontaine buried the hatchet. Owner Charles Wang named him a senior advisor. The same day saw Neil Smith and Ted Nolan hired as general manager and head coach respectively. Six weeks later, Wang fired Smith as GM. LaFontaine resigned in protest.
The rift lasted about a decade. LaFontaine abstained from the franchise’s 40th anniversary celebration in 2012. However, new owners Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky extended an olive branch. Subsequently, the team honored the retired great before a game in the “first last” season at Nassau Coliseum.
LaFontaine is the 17th player to be inducted into the team’s hall of fame. The announcement came at the 22nd annual Companions In Courage golf outing. In 1997, the longtime star founded the Companions in Courage Foundation, an organization that builds interactive game rooms in children’s hospitals throughout North America.
Much like other former Islanders, LaFontaine made the Island his home after his retirement.
