from Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post,

Denis Potvin was at the Coliseum on Saturday night, the team’s legendary defenseman coming as the second leg in a year-long celebration of the dynasty teams of the 1980s, in this, the final year of this suburban hockey barn. But instead of just reminiscing, and being somber about the halcyon days of hoisting Stanley Cups, this was Potvin sending a message to the new squad, doing their best to honor the spirit of the old teams while writing their own bit of history.

“Take a look at us, and there’s nothing you can do about it, nothing we can do about it — it’s history,” Potvin said before the Islanders’ 3-1 victory over the Devils. “Now, it’s like that torch is really being passed to them and they’ve got a chance to do something. It’s all about them. I really think that you can’t be dreaming, you can’t be thinking about the organization.

“You don’t have to prove yourselves to us, or to the 1980 team or ’82, ’83. They have a great opportunity now to write their own history. And it’s real. We can see that. The way they’re playing hockey, the steps they’ve made over the last couple of years. This is probably 1975 for this team. And it doesn’t get any better than that.”

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