Al Arbour played 626 games in the National Hockey League
from 1953-54 to 1970-71. Yet it was his accomplishments as a head coach with
the New York Islanders than earned him a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Test
and expand your knowledge of Al Arbour and the NHL with these hockey trivia
questions.
Q. What team did Al Arbour begin his NHL career with?
A. Arbour began
his NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings during the 1953-54 season. Arbour
played with Detroit until the end of the 1957-58 season. He began the next year
with the Chicago Black Hawks. He would also play for the St. Louis Blues and
Toronto Maple Leafs.
In 1953-54, Al played in 36 games with the Red Wings and
contributed just one assists. He also appeared in 19 games in the QHL with the
Sherbrooke Saints. Arbour would not play in the National Hockey League again
until the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1955-56. After a full season in the WHL with
the Edmonton Flyers, Al joined the Red Wings for the playoffs. He played in
four of the team’s ten post season games as Detroit fell in the finals to the
Montreal Canadiens.
Q. What team did Al Arbour play his final NHL game with?
A. Arbour played
his final season, 1970-71 with the St. Louis Blues. He took over as head coach
of the Blues during that season. In that final year, Arbour played just 22
regular season games. He was credited with 50 games as head coach of the team
before being replaced by Scotty Bowman. In the playoffs, Al played another six
games for the Blues. St. Louis fell in the opening round to the Minnesota North
Stars in six games, ending their run of consecutive Stanley Cup finals
appearances at three. In his four years as a player with St. Louis, Arbour
served as team captain.
Q. How many years did Al Arbour coach the New York Islanders?
A. Arbour coached
the Islanders for nineteen seasons, beginning in 1973-74. He coached through to
the end of the 1985-86 season. He then took over as head coach again in 1988-89
and lasted until the end of the 1993-94 season. He coached one game in the
2007-08 season.
Q. How many Stanley Cup winning teams did Al Arbour coach?
A. Arbour coached
the New York Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1979-80 to
1982-83. These were the only four Stanley Cups that Arbour would win. Leading up
to that dynastic run, the Islanders reached the final four in four of Al’s
first six years behind the bench in Long Island. The team fell in the
semi-finals in 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77 and 1978-79. In 1983-84, New York
reached the final again, looking for their fifth straight championship but fell
to the Edmonton Oilers in five games. Arbour reached the semi-finals one more
time, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in 1992-93.
