Welcome to LWOS’ Summer Hockey Series, Best of the Rest. Plenty of sites do a version of a 30 greats in 30 days series, but this year we are doing something a little bit different. We want to look at the best player from each team who is not in the Hockey Hall Of Fame. In order to do this there are some rules. First the player must have been a significant part of this franchise (franchises include their time in a previous city… see Winnipeg/Atlanta) and must be retired for at least 3 years, making them Hall of Fame eligible. To see all the articles in the series, check out the homepage here. 
After being expanded into the NHL in 1972, the New York Islanders began playing in the Nassau Coliseum during the 1972-1973 season. It only took them seven seasons to go from a brand new baby team that would win only 31 combined games their first two seasons, to Stanley Cup champions in 1980, followed by three more titles by 1983, as one of hockey’s greatest dynasties.
For our young readers, it must be hard for them to imagine the Islanders winning all the time, considering that they are basement dwellers now. However, they used to have some of the best players to ever play hockey: Bryan Trottier, Denis Potvin, Mike Bossy, Clarke Gillies, Pat LaFontaine and goalie Billy Smith, all of whom are Isles Hockey Hall of Famers.
Ever since these six players were inducted into the Hall, five of which won all four Stanley Cups, there have been others who played in Long Island that deserve to be there too. While it is tough to choose as there could be at least two or three specific candidates, for this segment, there can only be one.
New York Islanders – Brent Sutter
Brent Sutter comes from the famous Sutter hockey family in Viking, Alberta and is one of six brothers to have played in the NHL in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. The family has a combined eight Stanley Cups, 4,996 games played, 1,230 goals, 1,614 assists, and 2,934 points over the course of 24 total seasons in the league. Brent has tallied the most points and played the most games out of any other brother in the family, playing 18 more games than Ron and producing 193 more points than Brian.
Brent Sutter was selected 17th overall by the New York Islanders, who had Duane Sutter playing for them at the time, in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. He played three games that season for the Islanders scoring twice and adding two assists but spent the rest of his season playing for the Lethbridge Broncos of the WHL. In the 1981-82 season, he split his time between the Broncos with 34 games and in New York with 43 games where he scored 43 points. He played with the team alongside brother Duane for the 1982 Stanley Cup run, playing 19 games while recording 2 goals, 8 assists, and 36 penalty minutes during that time.
In his first full season in the NHL in ’82-’83, he played 80 games recording 21 goals and 19 assists for 40 points. He also sat in the box for 128 minutes. The playoffs proved to be his time to shine as he had 10 goals, 11 assists, and was an intimidating force with 26 penalty minutes in 20 games. He played a huge role in the Islanders’ run to their fourth straight Stanley Cup, the longest streak for any American team.
Sutter’s 1983-84 season was another solid one. In 69 games, he scored 34 goals and 49 total points along with 69 PIMs but once again stepped up his game in the playoffs as the Isles went all the way to the Stanley Cup final yet again for a rematch of the 1983 championship series with the Edmonton Oilers. In 20 playoff games, Sutter scored four times while registering 10 assists and managed to keep his cool with only 18 minutes in the sin bin. The Islanders would ultimately lose in that final.
Sutter stayed with the Islanders for six more seasons before being traded to Chicago in the fall of 1991, where he played seven more seasons until his retirement in 1998. Sutter was the captain of the Islanders for four years from 1987 to 1991 after Denis Potvin handed over the stitched ‘C’. He was looked at as the workhorse of the team, always finding ways to get on the score sheet with goals, points, and penalties minutes.
The following are his career statistics from his three-game, 1980 NHL campaign to his final season in 1997-1998, both in the regular season and playoffs, courtesy of hockeydb.com.
--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
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1980-81 New York Islanders NHL 3 2 2 4 0 -- -- -- -- --
1981-82 New York Islanders NHL 43 21 22 43 114 19 2 6 8 36
1982-83 New York Islanders NHL 80 21 19 40 128 20 10 11 21 26
1983-84 New York Islanders NHL 69 34 15 49 69 20 4 10 14 18
1984-85 New York Islanders NHL 72 42 60 102 51 10 3 3 6 14
1985-86 New York Islanders NHL 61 24 31 55 74 3 0 1 1 2
1986-87 New York Islanders NHL 69 27 36 63 73 5 1 0 1 4
1987-88 New York Islanders NHL 70 29 31 60 55 6 2 1 3 18
1988-89 New York Islanders NHL 77 29 34 63 77 -- -- -- -- --
1989-90 New York Islanders NHL 67 33 35 68 65 5 2 3 5 2
1990-91 New York Islanders NHL 75 21 32 53 49 -- -- -- -- --
1991-92 New York Islanders NHL 8 4 6 10 6 -- -- -- -- --
1991-92 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 61 18 32 50 30 18 3 5 8 22
1992-93 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 65 20 34 54 67 4 1 1 2 4
1993-94 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 73 9 29 38 43 6 0 0 0 2
1994-95 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 47 7 8 15 51 16 1 2 3 4
1995-96 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 80 13 27 40 56 10 1 1 2 6
1996-97 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 39 7 7 14 18 2 0 0 0 6
1997-98 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 52 2 6 8 28 -- -- -- -- --
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NHL Totals 1111 363 466 829 1054 144 30 44 74 164
He was never a dominant player on the ice as he eclipsed 70 points only once and averaged a point-per-game or higher in a season just three times. He was definitely reliable for both the Islanders and Blackhawks as he was a consistent scorer, finishing with at least 40 points in 13 of his 17 full seasons with 82 games (1994-1995 was only 48 games long to due a lockout) and had 50 or more points in nine seasons. Not to mention he was a frightening opponent for opposing players standing at 6-feet and collecting nearly as many minutes in the box as he had games played.
Representing his country four times for 33 games, in the 1984, 1987 & 1991 Canada Cups as well as the 1985 World Championships, he collected 23 points from his 10 goals and 13 assists. Due to his efforts, Canada won gold at all of the Canada Cups and silver at the World Championship.
After his career, he switched to coaching, where he was the head coach of the New Jersey Devils for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. The Devils lost in the first round of the playoffs both times. He then went on to eventually coach the Flames for the next three years to no avail.
However, he got his coaching stripes with the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL, coaching them to a Memorial Cup in 2001 and only missing the playoffs once during eight seasons from 2000 to 2013. He also coached the Canadian World Junior squads to gold in 2005 and 2006.
He was arguably the best Sutter brother and is fifth best in all-time scoring for the New York Islanders (287 goals, 323 assists, 610 points, and 761 penalty minutes in 694 games). He is the “Best of the Rest,” so it is time to induct a Sutter, Brent, into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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