Bill Torrey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William A. Torrey was a General Manager and executive in the National Hockey League, most famous for building up the expansion New York Islanders into a dynasty that won four consecutive Stanley Cups. He is known as "Bow-Tie" Bill, after his signature style of outfit.
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[edit] Oakland Seals
Bill Torrey began his hockey career in the AHL in the mid 1960's, but his talent soon landed him a job as Vice-President of the Oakland Seals, a recently created expansion team in the NHL. Torrey quickly forged a reputation as a shrewd executive, and his deals propelled the Seals from laughingstock to playoff contenders in his 2 plus seasons in Oakland. He quickly soured on the experience, however, due to constant interference provided by owner Charlie Finley. Finley had a reputation of flamboyance, insisting his teams wore white skates and trying to convince the NHL to start using orange pucks. More importantly, Finley and Torrey clashed on issues ranging from personnel moves to marketing, and Torrey left the organization in 1971.
[edit] New York Islanders
In 1972,the newly formed New York Islanders made Bill Torrey their first employee, hiring him as General Manager. Torrey was given the formidable job of building the organization from scratch, in the shadows of the much more established New York Rangers.
Torrey quickly assembled a roster that rose to be the quickest expansion team to ever win the Stanley Cup, accomplishing the feat just seven and a half years after their first game. The team won 6 divisional championships, 5 conference championships and four consecutive Stanley Cup Championships (and five consecutive finals appearen under his watchful eye. His clubs had 14 consecutive winning seasons, from 1975-1988.
Along the way, he picked future Hall of Fame goalie Billy Smith in the team's original expansion draft, drafted 5 Hall of Fame players (Denis Potvin, Clark Gillies, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, and Pat Lafontaine) from the amateur draft. He also hired as head coach Al Arbour, another Hall of Famer and winner of 4 Stanley Cups as a player.
Torrey added the title of Vice-President of the New York Islanders in 1973, was named President in 1978, and Chairman of the Board in 1989. Torrey left the Islander organization in 1992.
[edit] Key Trades
Right after Torrey drafted Denis Potvin first overall in the 1973 entry draft, Montreal Canadiens General Manager Sam Pollock approached Torrey, hoping to trade for Potvin. Pollock's strategy was to offer a "quick-fix" package of mature players to exchange for the top draft pick, and it was tempting as the Islanders would immediately benefit from the trade. Torrey ultimately turned down the offer; within several years Potvin would blossom into one of the NHL's elite defencemen and he would remain so for years to come, as well as eventually captaining the team.
In 1980, after the Islanders had underachieved in the playoffs for the past few years, despite several successful regular seasons, Torrey made the difficult decision to trade longtime and popular veterans Billy Harris and David Lewis to the Los Angeles Kings in return for Butch Goring. That season, Goring would prove pivotal in the team's first Stanley Cup championship win, and he would be postseason MVP for the Islanders' second championship in 1981.
As star Pat LaFontaine had demanded a trade and held out for the start of the 1991-92 NHL season, Torrey traded him to the Buffalo Sabres in return for Pierre Turgeon. Torrey departed from the Islanders at the conclusion of that season. He had however laid the groundwork for the upcoming 1992-93 season where the Islanders' made a surprise playoff run to the Prince of Wales Conference Finals, defeating the higher seeded Washington Capitals and the defending champions Pittsburgh Penguins, before falling to the eventual winners Montreal Canadiens.
[edit] Florida Panthers
Soon after his departure from Long Island, Torrey was named president of the Florida Panthers, a new expansion team, in 1993. Torrey built his new team similarly to the Islanders, and within 3 years, the Panthers were in the Stanley Cup finals.
[edit] Hockey Hall of Fame
Torrey was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995. A banner hangs in Nassau Coliseum along side of Al Arbour and the jerseys of 6 of the players he drafted, all retired by the New York Islander organization. While the others have their jersey numbers (and Arbour's 739, signifying his career victories), Torrey's banner has the words "The Architect", a tribute to his building and maintaining of the franchise for its first very successful 20 years, complete with the image of his signature bowtie.[[
