Bill Torrey

William Arthur Torrey was the first employee of the New York Islanders franchise, hired on February 15, 1972, before the team had an office, a phone, or a single player. Twenty years later, he left behind four Stanley Cup championships, an NHL-record 19 consecutive playoff series wins, and a blueprint for building a dynasty that NHL executives still study today. He passed away on May 2, 2018, at the age of 83, universally mourned as one of the greatest executives in hockey history.

Torrey grew up near the Montreal Forum and studied psychology and business at St. Lawrence University. After losing depth perception from a hockey injury, he moved into management, working in radio and eventually for NBC before landing in hockey administration with the Pittsburgh Hornets and then the Oakland Seals. His work in Oakland — turning a laughingstock into a playoff contender through shrewd personnel decisions — caught the attention of the people building a new NHL franchise on Long Island.

When he arrived in New York in 1972, Torrey made a decision that would define the franchise's future: he would build through the draft, not through quick fixes. He told owner Roy Boe to expect nothing from the expansion draft. He was right about the players available — he called them "19 problem children" — but he got what he needed, including a young goaltender named Billy Smith who would win four Stanley Cups. Torrey then told Boe the team would lose for a while, get high draft picks, and eventually become a champion. It was an almost unheard-of long-term commitment for a new franchise, and it worked perfectly.

The draft picks came like clockwork. Denis Potvin, first overall in 1973 — Torrey resisted enormous pressure from the Montreal Canadiens' Sam Pollock to trade the pick away. Clark Gillies and Bryan Trottier in 1974, both future Hall of Famers. Mike Bossy fifteenth overall in 1977, when fourteen other teams passed on the greatest pure goal scorer in NHL history. John Tonelli in the same draft. At every turn, Torrey and his scouts — most notably Jim Devellano — identified talent that others missed or undervalued.

He also made the moves that completed the puzzle. He hired Al Arbour as head coach in 1973 and maintained an extraordinary partnership with him that lasted two decades. He acquired Butch Goring from the Los Angeles Kings on March 10, 1980 — widely regarded as the greatest trade deadline acquisition in NHL history — for the precise reason that he understood what his team needed: a two-way center who could check the opponent's best player and take pressure off Trottier. The Islanders won the Cup that spring, and three more after that.

Bill Torrey was always immaculately dressed, always wearing the signature bow tie that became his trademark. He was soft-spoken, methodical, and relentlessly patient in an industry that constantly demands immediate results. His banner — reading simply "The Architect" with an image of a bow tie — hangs at UBS Arena alongside those of the players he drafted and the coach he hired. It is exactly the right tribute for a man whose greatest work was invisible to most fans, done in draft rooms and on telephone calls, long before the puck ever dropped.