The first great teenager in Isles history met the latest, greatest teenager in Isles history Friday morning.
Things went well.
"When I met him for the first time this morning," Bryan Trottier said of his face-to-face with John Tavares, "I met a real respectful young man, a young man who looks you right in the eye when he talks to you. I was brought up to think that's important, and I'm glad he thinks so, too."
Trottier's arrival on the Island, in the summer of 1975, had about as little fanfare as Tavares' hour of ice time Friday. Trottier was drafted the summer before, an underage 17-year-old selected in then- NHL commissioner Clarence Campbell's "secret" draft designed to stave off the big contracts of the World Hockey Association.
"I'd already been offered a 10-year, $500,000 contract by the [WHA's] Cincinnati Stingers," Trottier said, "but I always wanted to play in the NHL. If the Islanders offered me a dollar, I would have been here."
Tavares has a bigger task as a soon-to-be 19-year-old than Trottier did when, at 19, he arrived to make the team in the fall of 1975. Trottier came to a team with Denis Potvin and Clark Gillies emerging as team leaders, veterans such as J.P. Parise and Chico Resch and a gruff, quiet goaltender named Billy Smith.
"I was Smitty's puppy. I wasn't old enough to go to the bar and he didn't want to go," Trottier said. "We went to the movies, and he'd say five words to me."
Four years later, Trottier and the Islanders were starting a dynasty. Telling those stories would be entertaining for Tavares, but Trottier can simply share what it's like to come to a new place, a new country and try to fit in, how to put the focus on the ice rather than on what's around you.
Tavares could use some of the talent that surrounded Trottier. No one's going to mistake any one of the Isles' current defensemen with a young Potvin, or any of Tavares' potential linemates with a budding Mike Bossy.
Maybe Josh Bailey will bloom with Tavares around this season, but all the Isles' young talent is as yet unproven.
Tavares spoke to Trottier about the Isles' dynasty, which ended seven years before Tavares was born. "I'm very impressed," Trottier said.
This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. One that can only help
the Isles' newest star grow into his role. As demonstrated Friday, Trottier's
greatest joy in his front-office role with the Isles is working with the young
guys. All of them, from Japanese college player Shuhei Kuji on up to No. 91,
who was signing autographs for a group of kids attending a (Pro Ambitions) hockey
camp
as
if
he were already a six-time Cup winner like Trottier.
As the 10-year-olds took the ice in the afternoon, their counselors told them that Trottier would come out to take a few shots on the goalies and talk to the kids.
"Who's Bryan Trottier?" one of the kids asked.
Trottier could be John Tavares' buddy. That'd be a heck of a start.
BRUINS
