Billy Smith was between the pipes during the glory days of the Islanders in the early 1980s, and yet he still thinks they play second fiddle in the New York hockey scene.
“Let’s face it guys, the first Cup we won, the Rangers were still on the front page and they were out a month and a half,” Smith said before the Islanders’ 4-1 victory over the Penguins on Saturday at the Coliseum. “I mean, we were on the back page and we won the Cup. We came into their territory, and let’s face it, it’s still they’re territory. It’ll never change.”
Smith, 63, was honored at the rink he called home since the franchise’s inaugural season of 1972 all the way until his retirement in 1989. He backstopped them to four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980-83, along with an incomprehensible 19 straight playoff series wins.
Now, the Coliseum and Long Island are being left behind as the Islanders move to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center next season — which doesn’t mean there can’t still be fond memories of this old hockey barn.
“It’s a great rink — it’s still a great rink,” Smith said.
“Unfortunately, we need new rinks now with new plush boxes. Technology, like anything else. Before you couldn’t hold a camera to videotape me, now cameras are on the phones. Unfortunately, this old building doesn’t have the technology it deserves [or] needs to keep running the way it should.”
Smith spent about 15 minutes talking to the media in the morning, and offered his opinions on a variety of topics. He thinks goaltenders take too much physical abuse — shocker, right? — and knows his infamous stick-wielding ways would now get a player suspended.
He also knows the success those dynasty teams had is something that has very little chance of happening again.
“Don’t ever say ‘never,’ ” he warned, before adding, “I think it’ll be tougher. What you got to understand is — do you think you could hold 16 guys together on a team for four years? Not with the money.”
And when asked about his lasting memories of 17 years on the Island, Smith smiled.
“Four Cups,” he said.