Denis Potvin

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Potvin's path to the NHL began in Vanier, Ontario, where his older brother Jean brought him to the Hull Arena for summer skating sessions. At age fifteen, he signed with the Ottawa 67s, playing home games with his brother while studying at Rideau High School. After a hazing incident left him with a shaved head, his father decided he should put all his effort into hockey. Potvin played four seasons for the 67s, scoring 329 points in 254 games. He recalled his first game: 'My first game with the 67’s, we played against Niagara Falls. And the next day — just because I played my first game as a 16-year-old — the newspaper headline read, “The Next Bobby Orr.”' That expectation followed him into the NHL. Drafted first overall in 1973 by the struggling New York Islanders—who had recorded the worst record in modern NHL history the previous season—Potvin was seen as the franchise's savior. Montreal Canadiens GM Sam Pollock made several offers to trade for him, but Islanders GM Bill Torrey turned them down, believing Potvin would be a long-term asset.

In Their Own Story

The 1978–79 season saw Potvin record his first 100-point season, becoming the second defenceman (after Bobby Orr) to reach that mark. On February 25, 1979, Potvin delivered a bodycheck on Rangers player Ulf Nilsson—described by Potvin as 'a solid, shoulder-to-shoulder hit'—that fractured Nilsson's fibula and tore a deltoid ligament. While both players blamed the ice, which had hosted a basketball game the previous day, Rangers fans let Potvin know what they thought with boos for the rest of the night. The Islanders finished first in the overall standings but were upset by the Rangers in the semifinal round of the 1979 playoffs. The two teams would meet four times in the next five seasons, and the Islanders won each time, amplifying what became known as the 'Potvin sucks!' chant. (Decades later, Potvin would do a clothing line called 'Potvin Socks.') Clark Gillies stepped down as captain in the off-season, and Potvin became the team's third captain. In his first year as captain, 1979–80, the Islanders won their first of four Stanley Cups. Potvin was very productive offensively in the playoffs, with his best year being the 1981 run when he scored 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 18 games.

Reader's Guide

Potvin entered the NHL wanting to wear number 7 but took number 5 because forward Germain Gagnon was wearing number 7. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year in 1973–74 and the Norris Trophy in 1975–76, ending Bobby Orr's eight-year reign. At age 22, Potvin scored 31 goals and 98 points, the highest totals by a defenceman other than Orr, and finished second to Bobby Clarke in Hart Trophy voting. He won the Norris Trophy again in 1977–78 and 1978–79. The latter was his best offensive season: 31 goals and 70 assists in 73 games, with a +71 plus-minus rating, finishing fourth in Hart Trophy balloting. Between 1974–75 and 1980–81, Potvin was named to the NHL's first all-star team five times and the second all-star team once; the only season he missed was 1979–80, when he played only 31 games due to injury. In the 1983–84 season, he scored 85 points and made the NHL's second all-star team. Potvin retired following the 1987–88 season as the NHL's leader in goals and points as a defenceman. In 1991, alongside teammate Mike Bossy, he was among the first Islanders inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was the first Islander to have his jersey retired by the team in February 1992. In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history. After his playing career, he worked as a commentator for SportsChannel America (1988–1993), the Florida Panthers (1993–2009), the Ottawa Senators on Sportsnet (2010–2014), and then returned to the Panthers until retiring as a broadcaster in 2019.

Did You Know?

• Potvin was drafted first overall in 1973 by the New York Islanders, who had recorded the worst record in modern NHL history the previous season.
• He won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1973–74, the first Islander to win a major award.
• Potvin ended Bobby Orr's seven-year reign as Norris Trophy winner when he won the award in 1975–76.
• He became the second defenceman (after Orr) to score 100 points in a season, doing so in 1978–79 with 31 goals and 70 assists in 80 games.
• Potvin claimed he received an offer from Mike Keenan to come out of retirement and play for the New York Rangers in 1993, but after a brief skate, he decided his body could no longer handle the game.