Driving a Stolen Car to buy Islander Playoff Tickets

With the New York Islanders on the cusp of securing a playoff spot in 2024, I’d like to take it back 40 years ago, when the team was on its run for the “Drive for Five.”

The exact date has been forgotten. However, a quick look at a calendar from 1984, the guess would have to be between March 24 and April 14. It was one of these Saturday’s that two friends and I waited on a line outside Nassau Coliseum for Islanders playoff tickets. These were ducats for the Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals, that were going on sale that morning. None of us had ever attended an NHL Playoff game before, so this was kind of a big deal.

I don’t know when we made the decision to go, but the plan was this: Myself and my friends Albert and Jay were going to drive out to Uniondale early that Saturday morning. I was 21-years old and the only one among us that had his driver’s license. Albert and Jay were both 19.

When we solidified the decision to go and discussed it with our friends of course everyone wanted tickets. I said that we would see what we could do. I know I did not have a credit card and the three of us just went out there with a wad of cash. In the big scheme of things, it didn’t matter how many people wanted tickets. Albert, Jay and myself were getting first dibs since we were doing the actual work.

As for the car, that is a story in itself. Albert’s sister Sharon was dating a friend of ours named Wayne. Wayne would park his car, a silver Mach 1, illegally in a lot in the projects where Albert, Jay and myself lived. Albert got the keys and we “borrowed” Wayne’s car for the trek out east. Apparently when Wayne noticed his car was missing, he really didn’t seem to care. In fact, he later told me that he wished someone had stolen it so he could collect the insurance. There was also the matter of a thick stack of parking tickets that Albert discovered when he opened the glove compartment.      

I don’t remember too much about the drive out with the exception of Albert and Jay asking if I knew where I was going. I told them not to worry I went to Hofstra University which is adjacent to the coliseum and that I knew route and the area.

When we arrived, the line was huge. It was obvious some people camped out overnight. This was way before buying tickets over the internet in the comfort of your own warm home. We got on the line and we waited. I do recall that someone had a radio which was set to a rock station. I also remember hearing Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” at least 20 times each that day. MTV was not even three years old, and I got into a discussion with a fellow Islanders fan who proclaimed that  “ZZ Top makes the best videos.”

Everyone on the line was well-behaved and it was kind of a fun atmosphere, which the exception of the weather. I wasn’t exactly freezing but it wasn’t quite spring weather yet. I do remember by face being cold and my lips getting chapped from the wind.

The line moved slowly, and after what appeared to be an eternity, I finally made it up to the window. All that was left were two tickets for the first home game of the Conference Finals (Game 3). Albert and Jay never even got to the window as I was the last person to get tickets.

Fortunately, Albert struck up a conversation with a guy on line. This guy knew someone in the box office and came away with two tickets for every game that went on sale that day. He gladly sold Albert two tickets for Game 4 of the Conference Finals and two tickets to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. So, the day wasn’t a total loss.

We had six tickets for three games. There were three of us so the plan was that each of us would go to two games.  This is when it got weird. For some unknown reason Jay decided right there that he didn’t want to go. “What is wrong with you?” I asked him. “We just spent seven hours waiting for tickets in the cold and wind and now you don’t want to go?”  

Looking back, my friend Jay was extremely introverted, and I think the prospect of going with Albert who he didn’t really know made his shyness come to the surface. I still don’t understand why he wouldn’t want to go. It’s hockey, it’s the Islanders, a team we love who were trying to win their fifth Stanley Cup in a row. Plus, I reiterated we just waited seven hours!!!! Whatever. Albert and I went to all three games.

Somewhere between our ticket purchase and Game three, Wayne and Sharon broke up. This was heartbreaking for Wayne and devastating for Albert and me. This meant Albert and I had to take the train to the games. There would be no “borrowing” of the heavily ticketed Mach 1. It was no longer in its customary illegal parking spot. We ended up taking the LIRR to Hempstead and walking through a really crappy neighborhood, to get to the Coliseum.

Game three of the Conference Finals was the first game we attended. The Islanders had dropped the first two games in Montreal, so this game was crucial if they were going to win the series. Now I have been in some loud sports arenas in my day but this day, April 28, 1984 was the loudest building I had ever been in. The atmosphere was electric. The Islanders won, 5-2. They won game four two nights later (of which Albert and I were in attendance again) and completed the comeback on May 5, winning Game 6, by a score of 4-1. The Islanders were headed to their fifth straight Stanley Cup Final.

May 10th was Game 1 of the Finals against the high-powered Edmonton Oilers and once again the Nassau Coliseum was louder than anything else I had ever heard. Fortunately for Albert and myself, Wayne and Sharon were back together so the Mach 1 was ours for the night. This time there was no need to borrow it as Wayne actually lent it to us and gave us his blessing.

Nothing ever goes a hundred percent smoothly and this day was no exception. On the way out to the game somewhere on the Long Island Expressway, I was rear ended. The damage was minor, but I was still going to have to explain this to Wayne. The person that rear-ended me took off so no insurance cards were exchanged.

As we got out to Uniondale and were looking for something to eat, I ran into my cousin Curt. He told us to follow him to his house. Curt was an auto mechanic and obviously knew a lot about cars. I remember him re-building a stock car and racing it at Freeport when I was a kid.  I explained to him what happened. He looked at the car, assessed the damage and provided a solution.

He told me to back the car up against a tree in his yard. That lifted the fender back up to where it was originally supposed to be. Curt then got out some tools, hammered something here, pounded something there and it looked almost as good as new. You’ve got to love a good mechanic, especially when he’s family. I don’t know if Albert or I ever told Wayne about the accident.

As for the game, it was exciting and boring. The final score was 1-0 in favor of the Oilers. Exciting if you like defensive battles, Boring if you like the final to be something to the tune of 6-5. The thing that will always stick with me about this game is that, with all the firepower on both teams, one goal was scored. And it was scored by Kevin McClelland at 1:55 of the third period. This guy scored 68 regular season goals throughout his career and just 10 in 93 playoff games. It just so happened that this one was a game winner.

This was it for me and Albert going to playoff games. The Islanders won the next game at the Coliseum 6-2. Then they went to Edmonton and lost three in a row. The Drive for Five was no more but it was fun while it lasted, especially since we got to see a few games in person. I got to go to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I sort of stole a car (although we preferred the term “borrowed”), and had a fun spring!

R.I.P. Clark Gillies

A transparent card of Jethro that I found going though some files.

Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite sports teams are the New York Yankees, Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Islanders. My favorite players from each of those teams that I actually got to see play, were Thurman Munson, Kenny “The Snake” Stabler and Clark “Jethro” Gillies respectively. I never had the opportunity to meet Munson or Stabler. However a former colleague of mine did get Snake to sign the Sports Illustrated cover from the Raiders Super Bowl XI win.

I did have the good fortune to meet Gillies in Madison Square Garden in September of 1997. On assignment for the New York Post, I was there to cover something called “New York’s Top 100 Sports Moments.” A virtual who’s who of New York sports royalty was in attendance. Joe Namath, John McEnroe, Bud Harrelson, Y.A. Tittle and Clark Gillies were just a few of the names I got to chat up.  

My editor wanted me to get Tittle to rip then current Giants quarterback Dave Brown as well as to get former Giants QB Joe Pisarcik to talk about the famed Miracle in the Meadowlands. I never did track down Pisarcik, and Tittle refused to criticize Brown. I spoke to Namath and lead my story with him. This turned out to be a good move as the Jets Super Bowl III victory was the number one New York sports moment. The story appeared in the September 12, 1997 edition of the New York Post

When I saw Gillies, who at 6-3 is hard to miss, I went up to him and introduced myself. I told him that he was my favorite player on those Stanley Cup winning teams, and that I have a #9 jersey hanging in my closet. He smiled at that. I asked him if he ever thought that he would be getting honored in THIS building, and he just laughed, saying that stranger things have happened. Brian McCabe had just been named captain of the Islanders and I asked Gillies what he thought of that. He replied with, “That’s the first I’m hearing about it.” So there I was providing my favorite hockey player with information he had no knowledge about! I thanked him for the chat on went on my way. None of this conversation was going into my story. I was just glad to meet one of my favorite athletes.

Drafted fourth overall in 1974, Gillies would eventually play on a line with future fellow Hall of Famers, Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy which would be dubbed the Long Island Lighting Company because of all the goals the trio would score. He was nicknamed Jethro because of his similarities in appearance and size to the Beverly Hillbilly character.

He was also one of the toughest players I ever had the pleasure of watching. Not only could he score goals but he wasn’t afraid to drop the gloves to protect his teammates. If you bothered any of Jethro’s teammates, chances were you’d get “The Stare” and then you’d get pummeled to the ice. Just ask Dave Schultz, Terry O’Rielly or Ed Hospadar what it was like to be on the receiving end of a Gillies knuckle sandwich.   

 This Christmas I received an autographed Clark Gillies jersey from my friend’s Mike and Patti. I was so overwhelmed by this gift that I was almost speechless (shocking I know). I do not plan on wearing it but having it framed and hanging it in my home office along with all my other sports memorabilia.  

Godspeed Clark Gilles, you were one of a kind. Heaven just got itself a Hall of Fame winger.

A Christmas gift I will treasure forever.

The Day the Islanders Won the Stanley Cup

I recently finished Alan Hahn’s Birth of a Dynasty about the Islanders history from their inception to their first Stanley Cup Championship in May, 1980. Hahn states that every Islander fan knows where they were at 7:11 on 5/24/80, when Bobby Nystrom made the Islanders champs with his overtime goal against the Flyers in Game 6.  I am no exception as I remember that day vividly.

I was 17 years old and a high school senior at St. Agnes High School. Graduation was less than two weeks away. I was also a part-time employee in the Woolworth’s on 86^th Street and Third Avenue. My friend and co-worker Frank was a Rangers fan and was rooting for the Flyers. That just goes to show you how strong a Rangers fan hatred is for the Isles – they would rather root for the almost as equally hated Flyers. That is akin to a poor family rooting for Donald Trump to win the lottery.

However, even Frank saw the inevitable outcome approaching. On Monday May 19^th the Islanders beat the Flyers, 5-2 to go up three games to one in the series. Game 5 would be played on Thursday evening and game 6, at that point if necessary, would be played on Saturday afternoon.  Frank told me that he hoped the Isles wrapped it up on Thursday because he knew I was not going to miss Saturday’s Game 6. Saturday was our busiest day in the store, but there was no way I was going to not see the Islanders potentially win the Cup.

After getting my heart broken by Mike Palmateer, Lanny McDonald and the Maple Leafs in the 1978 playoffs and then having it torn out and stomped on in 1979 by Phil Esposito’s Mafia Line and the Rangers, I was ready to finally see my team win it all. What made the loss to the Rangers in 1979 so bad was that a majority of my friends were Ranger fans and I had to hear it from them as well as most of my classmates at St. Agnes. Fortunately their gloating was short lived as the Montreal Canadiens disposed of the Rangers in the Stanley Cup Finals in five games.

Of course the Flyers stomped on the Isles 6-3 in Game 5 forcing a Game 6 on Saturday.  May 24^th was a bright sunny day and I arrived at work at 9 am as scheduled. As soon as I got there I began to complain that I was not feeling well, using stomach pains and wooziness as my excuses. By 1 p.m. I was totally out of it. I told my boss Mr. Sauter that I was going home because I did not feel well.  As I was leaving he said, “Enjoy the game!” He knew!!!

How did he know? Maybe it was the blue shorts with orange trim as well as the white tube socks with blue and orange stripes that I purchased before I left work. Hey one has to support their team by wearing its colors!

That could have been it, but I think he just knew by instinct. A few months before, in February, Mr. Sauter, myself and some of the other employees watched the final minutes of the USA beating Finland for the Olympic Gold Medal on a small black & white TV in the electronics department.

Miraculously, I felt better the minute I walked out the door. The walk home was uneventful with the exception of a stop in a record store that was in a basement on First Avenue between 89^th & 90^th Streets. Zig Zag Records I believe it was called. Why did I stop here? I don’t recall. I like music and this store had a great collection of 45’s. That day I purchased Squeeze’s “Another Nail in my Heart” which was made out of clear vinyl. I still have it stashed in a box with my other 45’s. It’s funny what you remember on important days in sports history isn’t it?

When I got home, my mom was a little annoyed with me for playing sick, but I explained to her that this was a huge game. Later on in life as a sports writer I would learn that they were ALL big games! 

Mom was in her recliner and I settled onto the couch for the 2 pm start. ESPN was only a few months old and finding its way. This was 1980. Exclusive broadcast rights? For hockey? You’ve got be kidding me. CBS decided to broadcast the game at the last minute. Tim Ryan, Dan Kelly and Lou Nanne would be calling the game.  

Off of the top of my head, all I remember about the game was that the Isles led 4-2 after two periods. The Flyers scored two goals in the third to send the game to overtime. Now it was nail biting time. I sat up on the couch, nervous with every shot, just wanting the team in the white jersey’s to be the ones to score and end this thing. I did not want to have to watch a Game 7 which would be played in Philadelphia.

Then it happened. Center Lorne Henning passed the puck up to left winger John Tonelli. The big winger then slipped a pass between Flyer defensemen Bob Dailey and Andre DuPont onto the stick of Nystrom who backhanded the puck past Pete Peeters to give the Islanders their first of what would be four consecutive Stanley Cups.

The Islanders mobbed Nystrom, the Nassau Coliseum went nuts. I jumped up and hugged mom and opened a bottle of champagne. Hey I’m Irish & Italian, we drink at an early age.

Then the phone started ringing. All my fellow Islander fans were calling and screaming joyfully that we finally won! It was a great day indeed.

 

Epilogue: The Islanders would go on to win four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980 through 1983. This was just another dagger into the hearts of Ranger fans. They would win 19 straight playoff series. That accomplishment has yet to be equaled to this day in any sport. They were finally stopped in May, 1984 when they lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the Finals, 4 games to 1.

St. Agnes High School moved from its 44^th Street location to 87^th Street and West End Avenue in the early 1990’s. The school will be graduating its last class on May 31, of this year.

Woolworth’s went out of business in 1997.

The Islanders last won the Stanley Cup in 1983. The last time the team won a playoff series was 1993. This year marks their return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007.