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We can all agree that the birth date of the Islanders Dynasty was March 10, 1980, the day of the deadline on which GM Bill Torrey acquired Butch Goring from the Kings in exchange for Billy Harris and Dave Lewis.
But the Dynasty was conceived nine days earlier on the Coliseum ice when, on March 1, 1980, Ken Morrow made his debut on the blue line for Al Arbour just six days after being sent over the boards by Herb Brooks in the Olympic gold medal game against Finland and just eight days after walking on water against the Soviet Union.
For it was the addition of Morrow, long and lean and four years gestating at Bowling Green, drafted 68th overall in 1976, and then with U.S. National Program, that allowed Torrey to include Lewis — who had been a mainstay on the back end — in the deadline deal that changed everything as much as any trade ever has in the history of pro sports.
Morrow walked out of one movie into another. Except, as No. 6 reminded Slap Shots in an extended conversation last week, this was real life even if the current generation of American hockey players only know about Brooks as Kurt Russell from the actor’s legendary performance in “Miracle.”