Maven's Memories -- Ken Baumgartner, The Isles Tough Troubadour

You can call him an enforcer, an educator and a vocalist -- take your pick -- and you'd be right about former Islanders defenseman Ken Baumgartner.

Amazingly, a player who once went 94 games without scoring a single point, "The Bomber" became an instant rock star once he arrived on the Island during the 1989-90 season.

"We loved him because he was a hitter and had personality," said Action Sports Hockey publisher Bob Stampleman. "Plus, Ken helped revive the team at just the right time."

The "time" in question was not a pleasant one in Isles annals. Al Arbour's club was slumping and needed a jump-start in the worst way. Fortunately, a player-coach dispute turned out to be the igniter.

"We had a pretty good player in Mikko Mäkelä," said General Manager Bill Torrey, "but Miko wasn't playing up to par and it bothered Al. Mäkelä’s play was bringing down the club and I had to trade him."

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Kings general manager Rogie Vachon was looking for a finisher to play on a line with Wayne Gretzky. Bow Tie Bill talked to Rogie and a deal was cut.

Vachon got his "finisher" -- who was finished in Uniondale -- while Torrey wound up with a Mutt and Jeff pair -- the hulking 6-2 beefcake of Baumgartner and 5-9 center Hubie McDonough.

Torrey: "I figured that if my club was going to struggle, I might as well have a couple of characters in the lineup. It was a seemingly minor move at the time, but it had surprising results."

Writing in "Rangers Vs. Islanders," authors Zachary Weinstock and The Maven put it this way: "The move was viewed as waving a white flag on the season. But instead, what followed was one of the most insane and surprising 10-week runs in the history of the storied Arbour-Torrey duo."

Surprising was an understatement. Astonishing was more like it. Mired in the NHL hinterlands with not a playoff berth dancing in their heads, the Isles took fire with Ken and Hubie like nobody's business.

"I'd become accustomed to surprises in our game," smiled Torrey, "but I never could have dreamed of the effect that Bomber and McDonough had on our hockey club."

Baumgartner and McDonough made their Islanders debut in a game against a tough Blackhawks squad. Early in the match a scrap along the boards developed. In one of the scrums Chicago's gritty Steve Thomas accosted the Isles pint-sized superstar Pat LaFontaine.

"Normally, the Islanders would have been benign in their response," noted a member of the Long Island press corps. "But this time Baumgartner made a beeline for Thomas and pummeled him before linesmen intervened."

The Bomber's response was not lost on the New York bench. The team clearly was revived by his police action and responded with a 2-0 win over the Windy City skaters.

"Kenny was a big addition," said Arbour, "because he gave us muscle and enthusiasm."

In a sense, Baumgartner provided the Isles with the brand of Alpha Male leadership needed at that moment. Or, as Ken put it, "I had learned that about a third of the opposition players I could intimidate by my presence.

"Another third I could intimidate if I growled at them a bit. As for the other third, I was not going to intimidate regardless. What I did know was a lot of my opponents would say things like, 'Just leave Bomber alone; don't wake him up.'"

Simply put, with Ken and Hubie leading the way, the Islanders embarked on an 18-3-1 tear, winning their first four games after the deal. Then they engaged in a memorable scoreless tie with the Rangers.

Apart from the rare 0-0 score the game featured a never-to-be-forgotten goaltending duel between the Rangers John Vanbiesbrouck and Mark Fitzpatrick.

Then, after losing both ends of a home and home series with New Jersey the Islanders won another five in a row. After a 6-3 loss at Quebec on December 30, the Isles went on a nine-game winning run. Go figure!

In the Islanders 25th Anniversary history co-authored by The Maven and Chris Botta, we had the answer: "McDonough and Baumgartner were the perfect antidote to the Islanders' ills. Bomber had become very popular with his long hair (and fists) flying in the face of the toughest of enforcers."

It was inevitable that the show biz side of Bomber would emerge and -- to the further astonishment of Bow Tie Bill and his coach -- Baumgartner signed a deal with Metal Blade Records. By that time he had firmly established himself as a lovable character among his teammates and the hometown fans.

Amiable and often humorous, Bomber surprised The Faithful when they'd meet him in person. "They expected the same kind of tough guy," said publisher Bob Stampleman. "Instead, they found a surprisingly sweet fellow."

Writing in his definitive Who's Who in Hockey, "Players -- The Ultimate A-Z Guide," historian Andrew Podnieks had high praise for Baumgartner. "Heavy as he was on the ice with his fists, he was smart as a whip off."

Ken studied business and finance at Hofstra University when he wasn't working the blue line for Arbour. Bomber freely allowed that he pursued higher education with the same zeal as he did winning hockey games.

Baumgartner: "Away from the rink I was never a violent person. I was actually more of a pacifist. I was the boy who was chased home from school until Grade Seven. That's when I finally stood up for myself; I beat up four people on my way home from school that day and from that day on, they left me alone."

As a convivial Islander, Baumgartner enjoyed mingling with the ticket holders and giving advice to anyone who would listen, especially young stickhandlers hoping for a pro career.

"What I'd tell all the kids," Ken said, "was to work on their skills because they would say they wanted to fight like me. And I'd tell them all, 'No, what I do is not a life for everyone.' I'd tell the kids to be like Pat LaFontaine -- and to do that they had to work on their skills."

What nobody could have envisioned in the second half of that 89-90 season was how the Islanders went into orbit and eventually climbed from last to first place in the Patrick Division. Naturally, it wasn't all because of Baumgartner and McDonough but Ken's belligerence certainly didn't hurt. Coach Arbour did his best to keep Bomber in line.

"I didn't mind Kenny trying to be a rock star," said Radar. "And I knew that he had recorded a pair of hard rockers, which was okay with me as long as he kept rocking the opposition."

By early February 1990 the Isles had climbed to a season-best mark of 28-24-6 but the All-Star break slowed their surge and then it stopped altogether. By late March they were in big trouble and a 4-2 loss to Calgary put the team one point away from missing the playoffs.

But that merely set the stage for yet another miraculous homestretch finish. Skating on to Maple Leaf Gardens' ice, the Isles appeared to be doomed to defeat but they scored five goals in the third period to win 6-3 and set up another memorable moment in franchise history.

"We were home and up against the Flyers," Baumgartner recalled, "and needed to win in order to stay alive but there was a hitch. We also needed Buffalo to beat Pittsburgh if we were to make it."

The Arbourmen took care of their part of the business with a resounding 6-2 victory over Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the Sabres-Penguins game was a late starter, which meant that Baumgartner and pals could retire to their dressing room and watch the fateful action.

"We were on pins and needles," Bomber remembered, "knowing that there was nothing we could do but hope that Buffalo would do us a big favor and win their game. Fortunately, it didn't take long for us to find out."

Only one minute into overtime Sabres defenseman Uwe Krupp fired a slap shot that grazed off a Penguin and sailed past Pittsburgh goalie Tom Barrasso. The Islanders were in the playoffs!

Goalie Mark Fitzpatrick yelled across the raucously jubilant dressing room: "Uwe Krupp just became my best friend in the world."

He could have added, "and we couldn't have done it without Bomber and Hubie!" because that was the truth behind the miracle finish!