Pat LaFontaine

Patrick Michael LaFontaine (born February 22, 1965) is an American former ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and spent his entire playing career with the league's New York State-based teams.

His father moved the family to the Detroit area in 1972.

As a youth, LaFontaine played in the 1977 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Waterford.

He graduated from Waterford Kettering High School.

On October 1, 1981, the New York Islanders traded Bob Lorimer and Dave Cameron to the Colorado Rockies for the Rockies' (later market rival New Jersey Devils') first-round draft pick in 1983; LaFontaine was selected by the Islanders in the first round as the third pick overall in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft with that pick.

LaFontaine began his junior career with the Verdun Juniors of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) during the 1982–83 season.

In his only season in the QMJHL, LaFontaine contributed 104 goals and 130 assists for Verdun.

LaFontaine's 234 points was tops in the league and he was awarded the Jean Béliveau Trophy as the top scorer, out-dueling future NHL icon Mario Lemieux.

His rookie season broke many records, including Guy Lafleur's 40-game point-scoring streak and Mike Bossy's 70 goals by a rookie.

Other awards LaFontaine received after the season were the Michel Brière Memorial Trophy as the MVP of the regular season, the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs, the Michel Bergeron Trophy as the Offensive Rookie of the Year, the Mike Bossy Trophy as the best professional prospect, and the Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy as the most sportsmanlike player.

Lafontaine was also chosen as the CHL Player of the Year.

LaFontaine played for the New York Islanders from 1983 until 1991, the Buffalo Sabres from 1991 until 1997, and the New York Rangers from 1997 until his retirement in 1998, scoring 468 goals and 1,013 points along the way before his career was ended by concussions.

His 1.17 points per game (1,013 points over 865 games) is the best among American-born ice hockey players, active or retired.

After representing the United States in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, LaFontaine joined the Islanders in time for the Stanley Cup Finals.

His arrival was concurrent with the beginning of the end of the Islanders' dynasty, as the team was steeped deep in aging veterans.

The Islanders lost in the finals that year to the Edmonton Oilers, ending the team's run of consecutive Stanley Cup championships at four.

LaFontaine had a strong performance, scoring two third-period goals during the Islanders' 5–2 loss to the Oilers in the fifth and deciding game of the series.

In the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs, LaFontaine scored the winning goal in the fourth overtime period of the seventh and decisive game between the Islanders and Washington Capitals, known as the "Easter Epic".

The Islanders continued to struggle and in 1989, they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1974.

In the first game of the Islanders' next playoff series, in 1990, LaFontaine suffered the first of many concussions, after a controversial, open-ice hit by James Patrick of the New York Rangers.

He fell on his head and was unconscious while being taken off the ice on a stretcher.

The ambulance he took was delayed en route to the hospital by Ranger fans who rocked and pounded it as it left Madison Square Garden.

He was lost for the remainder of the series.

The 1990–91 season was a successful season for LaFontaine, but not the Islanders, who finished with a record of 25–45–10.

LaFontaine, frustrated with his situation on Long Island, turned down a four-year, $6 million contract offer and refused to report to the Islanders for the start of the 1991–92 NHL season.

Three weeks into the season, on October 25, 1991, LaFontaine was traded, along with Randy Wood, to the Buffalo Sabres for four players, including former first overall pick Pierre Turgeon.

In only 57 games in 1991–92, LaFontaine scored 46 goals and 93 points.

The following season, LaFontaine recorded a personal-best and team-record 148 points (53 goals and 95 assists).

The 148 points are also the most points scored by an American-born player in one season.

In 1994–95 he was awarded the Bill Masterton Trophy as the player who best exemplified the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.

LaFontaine served as an executive of the Buffalo Sabres as the president of hockey operations until March 2014.

Although he was born in St. Louis, LaFontaine grew up in Waterford, Michigan.

In 2017, LaFontaine was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.

The game was started on Saturday, April 18, and concluded just before 2 a.m. on the 19th, Easter Sunday.

"It was the most memorable moment in my hockey life," he later recalled.

"Even today, wherever I go, people come up to me and start telling me where they were during the Easter Epic."

His play-making ability helped his linemate Alexander Mogilny set a team season record with 76 goals (as of 2020, both LaFontaine's 95 assists, 148 points and Mogilny's 76 goals still stand as the Sabres' team records for a single season).

LaFontaine finished as runner-up to Mario Lemieux in the scoring race and earned a spot on the postseason NHL All-Star second team.

He was also a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL MVP and the Lady Byng Trophy as the most sportsmanlike player.