Denis Potvin

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Potvin was born in Vanier, Ontario. He got interested in playing hockey from a young age, with older brother Jean bringing him to the Hull Arena for skating sessions in the summer. Potvin's father Armand came to an agreement with the junior hockey team Ottawa 67s. The young Potvin (age fifteen in 1968) was initially signed with the agreement to play home games with his older brother Jean while spending the rest of his time studying at Rideau High School. However, a hazing incident left with him a shaved head and he hid from school at a pool hall until the school called the family. His father decided that if he wasn't going to go to school, he might as well put all of his effort in hockey. Potvin would play five seasons for the team and scored 329 points in 254 games. He noted in a 2022 interview about his first game with Ottawa: 'My first game with the 67’s, we played against Niagara Falls. And the next day — just because I played my first game as a 14-year-old — the newspaper headline read, ‘The Next Bobby Orr.’ So I felt that expectation was there all the time.' When he finally was to turn 20 in 1973, the minimum age that a player could be drafted at the time in the NHL, he was selected by the New York Islanders.

In Their Own Story

The 1978–79 season saw Potvin record his first 100-point season, becoming the second defenceman (after Bobby Orr) to reach that mark. On February 25, 1979, Potvin delivered a bodycheck on Rangers player Ulf Nilsson—described by Potvin as 'a solid, shoulder-to-shoulder hit'—that fractured Nilsson's fibula and tore a deltoid ligament. While both players blamed the ice, which had hosted a basketball game the previous day, Rangers fans let Potvin know what they thought with boos for the rest of the night. The Islanders finished first in the overall standings but were upset by the Rangers in the semifinal round of the 1979 playoffs. The two teams would meet four times in the next five seasons, and the Islanders won each time, amplifying what became known as the 'Potvin sucks!' chant. (Decades later, Potvin would do a clothing line called 'Potvin Socks.') Clark Gillies stepped down as captain in the off-season, and Potvin became the team's third captain. In his first year as captain, 1979–80, the Islanders won their first of four Stanley Cups. Potvin was very productive offensively in the playoffs, with his best year being the 1981 run when he scored 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 18 games.

Reader's Guide

Potvin was drafted first overall in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft on May 15, 1973, by the struggling expansion New York Islanders. Right after Bill Torrey drafted Potvin, Montreal Canadiens general manager Sam Pollock made several offers to Torrey, hoping to trade for Potvin. Torrey ultimately turned down the offer since he felt Potvin would be a long-term asset to his team. Upon joining the Islanders, Potvin wanted to wear number 7 but was forced to take number 5, as forward Germain Gagnon was wearing number 7. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year in 1973–74 and the James Norris Memorial Trophy as league's top defenceman in 1975–76 ending Orr's eight-year reign. At age 22, Potvin scored 31 goals and 98 points, the highest totals by a defenceman other than Orr. He also won the Norris Trophy in 1977–78 and 1978–79. The latter was his best offensive season, when he scored 31 goals and 70 assists in only 73 games, becoming the second defenceman (Orr being the first) to score 100 points in a season. He had an impressive +71 plus-minus rating that season. He served as captain of the team from 1979 to 1987 and led the team to the Stanley Cup championship in four consecutive years from 1980 to 1983. In the 1978–79 season, on February 25, Potvin participated in a game that went down in lore for the Islanders-Rangers rivalry, delivering a bodycheck on Rangers player Ulf Nilsson, who fractured his fibula and tore a deltoid ligament. The Islanders finished first place in the overall standings but were upset by the Rangers in the semifinal round of the 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs. Clark Gillies stepped down as captain during the off-season and Potvin became the team's third captain. In Potvin's first year as captain, the Islanders won their first of four Stanley Cups. In the eight seasons he served as captain, the Islanders never failed to reach the Stanley Cup playoffs. Potvin was very productive offensively in the playoffs, with his best year being the 1981 playoff run when he scored 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 18 games. In the 1983–84 season, Potvin made a comeback of sorts, scoring 85 points and making the NHL's second all-star team. Late in his career, Potvin suffered a series of injuries that impeded his performance, leading to his retirement following the 1987–88 season. He retired as the NHL's leader in goals and points as a defenceman.

Did You Know?

• Potvin won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1973–74, the first Islander to win a major award.
• He passed Bobby Orr for most goals as a defenceman and became the first defenceman to score 300 goals in NHL history, doing so in his final season in 1988.
• In over 1,000 games, he recorded 310 goals and 742 assists for a total of 1,052 points.
• In 1991, alongside his teammate Mike Bossy, he was among the first Islanders to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• He was the first Islander to have his jersey retired by the team in February 1992.