Our Time With Al

On Monday, Aug. 29, 2015, New York Islanders alumni, current players and hockey royalty gathered for a celebration of Al Arbour’s life. They celebrated a man who won 782 games – third most in the NHL, second most at the time of his retirement – and won eight Stanley Cups, four as the Islanders’ coach and four as a player.

Arbour meant a lot to a lot of different people and each one had their own memories and feelings to share on Monday. NewYorkIslanders.com recapped the event here, but we wanted to present more memories of Al. Below are excerpts from Monday’s memorial:

Bobby Nystrom – Islanders Alumni, 4-Time Stanley Cup Champion

I’ve always said that there are two people in this world that can have the most profound impact on your life, that is a teacher and a coach. The gentleman I want to speak of today was both a teacher and a coach and, aside from my parents, he had the biggest impact on my life.

So much of what I accomplished has been because of Al. He’s been an inspiration. One of the most valuable lessons that he taught us was that you should never fear losing. He’d say ‘what’s the worst thing that can happen if you lose? You’ll wake up tomorrow, the sun will come out. But wouldn’t it be better to be on your toes attacking, wanting to be the hero who scores the goal in victory, rather than being on your heels because you’re afraid to make a mistake and lose?’

What is success? I think one measure is all the people you’ve come in contact with, how many did you help or positively affect? On this alone Al Arbour is head and shoulders above the rest of us. Just ask the hundreds of players he played with, or played for him. We will miss you Al, but we …

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