Gretzky on Arbour: 'I don't know if hockey has ever had a classier man'
Wayne Gretzky had the utmost respect for Al Arbour, and he was far from alone.
"Oh my gosh. I don't know if hockey has ever had a classier man involved with the game. He was so well respected," Gretzky told Newsday of Arbour, the Hall of Fame former New York Islanders coach who died on Friday at the age of 82.
"My dad always said, one thing in life you can't do is buy respect," Gretzky said. "You have to earn respect. Al was the kind of person who everybody really liked and gravitated to, but really respected. And the game of hockey is not the same today without him. Just a good man."
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) August 28, 2015
Gretzky had a hand in ending Arbour's run of Stanley Cup titles at four in 1984, avenging the Edmonton Oilers' sweep by the Islanders of the previous season. Gretzky scored twice to send the Oilers to a 5-2 triumph in Game 5 to end the series.
A Jack Adams Award winner in 1979, Arbour complied a 740-537-223 record while coaching in 1,500 games with Islanders and earned 42 more victories with the St. Louis Blues. His wins total trails only Scotty Bowman.
Arbour guided New York to a string of 19 consecutive playoff series wins during their championship reign before initially retiring to take a front office position with the club. He rejoined the team for another run from 1988-94 and even returned to the bench in 2007 - at the age of 75 - to coach the Islanders to a 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh.
Arbour also won the Stanley Cup as a player, doing so as a defenseman with the Detroit Red Wings (1954), Chicago Blackhawks (1961) and Toronto Maple Leafs (1962, 1964). He recorded 12 goals and 58 assists in 626 career games from 1949-71 and was the last NHL player to wear glasses on the ice.
(h/t Newsday)
