Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Afternoon Line- Alan Strachan On Bill Torrey

05/03/2018 at 3:53pm EDT

via Alan Strachan tweets,

Bill Torrey was a wonderful man. More than anyone I ever met, he understood every aspect of the game -- administration, managing, coaching, and even media relations. He built the NY Islanders dynasty that won four consecutive Cups (and Denis Potvin still insists...

(2) ,,, that if he had not been injured, it would have been five). I spoke with Bill at length recently and he still --as always -- refused to reveal the offer that Sam Pollock made for that first overall draft pick Bill used to take Potvin...

(3) ... Bill also understood the media like few front-office people. He moved the start time of NYI games to 7 pm purely to allow the newspaper guys to meet deadlines that could get game stories into early editions. After one loss, I complained to Bill that his players were ....

(4) avoiding the press by refusing to come out of the training room which was off limits. He opened the training room and told us to go in. "They've got to be accountable," he said. He was also the author of one of the greatest insights into hockey I ever heard ..

(5) "Any coach can make a checker,' he said. "Only God can make a scorer." Bill was as at home with the governors as with the media. Although it is not widely acknowledged (if at all) he was Gary Bettman's primary mentor over the years. He explained hockey's nuances, unwritten...

(6) rules, traditions and so on. Bill knew everyone in hockey, so he was able to put Gary in the picture on all the personalities. Bill will be greatly missed by many people in hockey and I'm not ashamed to say I'm one of them.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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