Welcome to Lighthouse Hockey’s newest podcast, Islanders Award Winners. Each month, we’ll take a look at a different Islander who won a major NHL award and examine the various twists and turns of his road to that season’s trophy. Yes, there will be a lot of Dynasty era players, but there will also others who were decorated for their performances outside of the team’s glory years.
Appropriately, we’ll start at the beginning, with Denis Potvin’s Calder Trophy win in the team’s second season. Potvin was the first of a string of Islanders to be named Rookie of the Year, and he gave the team its first real superstar.