Chico Resch

The comeback is considered one of the greatest in sports history and is one of only five times in history that a North American professional sports team won a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games (the others were the 1941–42 Toronto Maple Leafs, the 2004 Boston Red Sox (Major League Baseball), the 2009–10 Philadelphia Flyers, and the 2013–14 Los Angeles Kings).

In the following round, the Islanders again rallied from a 3–0 deficit to force a game seven, but the Flyers eliminated the Islanders with a 4–1 win in the deciding game.

Glenn Allan "Chico" Resch (born July 10, 1948) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey goaltender and television sportscaster.

He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1973 to 1987, and won a Stanley Cup with the New York Islanders in 1979–80.

He has served as the color commentator for telecasts of New Jersey Devils games on MSG Network and MSG Plus.

Resch started his playing career as goalie for the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.

After earning a degree in education, he turned pro with the Muskegon Mohawks of the IHL where he won three awards in his first season: the James Norris Memorial Trophy for the fewest goals allowed, rookie of the year honours, and selection to the First All-Star team.

The following year he graduated to the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League and then spent most of the 1973–74 season with the Fort Worth Wings of the CHL, where he won the league's MVP Honours and was voted a First Team All Star.

He made his NHL debut with the New York Islanders on February 3, 1974, in a 4–2 loss to the California Golden Seals and earned his first NHL victory two nights later, with a 6–2 win over the Minnesota North Stars, before returning to the Wings for the remainder of the season.

The next season, 1974–75 was Resch's first full year in the NHL.

In 25 games, he had twelve wins, seven losses, and five ties, with three shut-outs and a 2.47 goals against average.

He did well in the playoffs too, earning eight wins, four losses and a 2.17 goals against average.

Resch was in goal as the Islanders overcame 3–0 deficits against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers.

The Islanders defeated the Penguins in seven games, winning the decisive game 1–0 on a goal by team captain Ed Westfall.

In 1975–76, Resch played 44 games and earned 23 wins, 11 losses, eight ties, seven shut-outs and a 2.07 goals against average resulting in his being selected to the Second All-Star team by season's end.

Over the next few seasons, he shared the goaltending duties with another promising young goalie, Billy Smith.

In 1976, he was a member of the Canadian team, whereas in 1984 he represented the United States as he attained U.S. citizenship after marrying an American and being a legal resident for many years.

In 1978–79, Resch and Smith backstopped the Islanders to the best regular season record in the league, and Resch earned Second All-Star team honours again.

However, the team was beaten by the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup semifinals.

In 1979–80, his sixth full season with the Islanders, Resch served as the backup through most of the team's successful playoff run to the Stanley Cup.

He was one of the key players from the Islanders' 1979 first place team who left the team or had their roles diminished; before the end of the season, General Manager Bill Torrey had traded away longtime and popular veterans Billy Harris and Dave Lewis to the Los Angeles Kings in return for Butch Goring.

Resch played in Colorado for the rest of the 1980–81 season and the 1981–82 season before the franchise moved to New Jersey to become the New Jersey Devils.

Resch shouldered a heavy load over the next few years, but the Devils did not win many games.

The next season, on March 10, 1981, Resch was traded to the struggling Colorado Rockies along with Steve Tambellini for Mike McEwen and Jari Kaarela.

In 1981, he turned down Don Cherry's offer to represent Canada at the 1981 World Ice Hockey Championships in Sweden, and represented the U.S. at the same tournament the following year in Finland.

Resch was considered to be a good subject for interviews during his playing days, so it was no surprise that he became a television commentator.

He began broadcasting during his playing days, often working as an analyst for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Hockey Night in Canada in the playoffs if his team missed the playoffs or have been eliminated from Stanley Cup contention.

He returned to Long Island for the first time as an opponent on February 20, 1982.

The Islanders defeated the Rockies 3–2 on a goal in the final minute by John Tonelli.

Resch was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on March 11, 1986, for a third-round pick in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft (who turned out to be Marc Laniel).

He served as a backup to rookie sensation Ron Hextall in 1986–87.

In 1986–87 he went 6–5–2 in 17 games, his first winning season since he left the Islanders.

Resch did not play in the 1987 playoffs, when the Flyers defeated his old team, the New York Islanders, in seven games in the second round.

In the pre-game warm-up of game six of the conference finals with the Montreal Canadiens, Resch was ejected from one of the games for his part in starting a pre-game brawl with Montreal's Claude Lemieux.

The Flyers won that series but lost to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in the Stanley Cup Finals.

When he retired in 1987, he was the last active player who had been born in the 1940s.

Resch is the only goaltender to represent two different countries at Canada Cup.

After retiring as a player, he worked as a color commentator on the Minnesota North Stars' television broadcasts during the 1987–88 and 1988–89 seasons.

After working as a general manager for a Canadian junior hockey team and as a professional coach, mainly for the Ottawa Senators, Resch served for fifteen years on Fox Sports New York (later renamed MSG Plus) as a commentator on New Jersey Devils games with announcer Mike Emrick.

The victory was the Islanders' 15th straight, which set an NHL record at the time.