Former Islanders beat writer Pat Calabria recalls favorite memory
An overtime goal by Bobby Nystrom gives the Islanders their first Stanley Cup on May 24, 1980. Credit: Newsday/David L. Pokress
Pat Calabria was the Islanders’ beat reporter for Newsday from 1975-1984 and later served as vice president for communications for the team.
When Bobby Nystrom slid the puck into the net at 7:11 of overtime on May 24, 1980 he didn’t merely propel the Islanders to the first of four straight Stanley Cups, but also engraved his role with the franchise — star, hero, legend. He was perfectly cast for the part.
He was an original Islander, dating back to the first expansion season in 1972-73. With his feisty, bare-knuckled style of play, and his flowing blond hair in the era before mandatory helmets, he quickly became a fan favorite. No one symbolized the grit and tenacity of the upstart suburban team better.
As much as Long Island adored him, he embraced it back. He became a fixture in the community and at charities. He even married a local girl. His wife, Michele, grew up in East Meadow, in the shadow of Nassau Coliseum.
We have all lived the goal a thousand times, or more. Lorne Henning — another original Islander — curling at mid-ice and snapping a pass to John Tonelli, who criss-crossed with Nystrom as they reached the blue line. And then Nystrom, who had streaked behind Flyers’ defenseman Bob Dailey, taking an exquisite pass from Tonelli, right on the black tape of the blade, as the players would say, and shoveling the puck past Philadelphia goalie Pete Peeters in an instant.
The Coliseum trembled. Couples kissed. Strangers high-fived. The mounting roar muffled the words someone was trying to tell me in the press box, as if my head had been dunked underwater.
But Nystrom wasn't finished. Hours after the game, at nearly 2 o'clock in the morning, players, reporters and fans swarmed a popular watering hole named “Dr. Generosity’s,” now long since gone. Amid the noise, there was a sudden cheer. Nystrom lurched through a side entrance with Michele to wild, lengthy applause. I was never sure if it was for Nystrom or the T-shirt he was wearing after racing home to change. In printed letters it said:
“I’m Proud to be an Islander.”
