Maven's Memories: Pain and Progress Inseparable in 1981 Stanley Cup

In the spring of 1981 -- a good 40 years ago -- the Islanders were competing for their second consecutive Stanley Cup.
Virtually all hands agreed that the crusade was a darn sight easier than the first time around; especially their ultimate five-game vanquishing of the Minnesota North Stars in the Cup Final.
Still, sipping champagne and regaling each other with the triumphant feelings was just as special the second time around. The following are some thoughts from the Champs on their 1981 expedition.

They were collected by Minnesota-based journalist, Ross Bernstein, in his book, "Raising Stanley -- What It Takes To Claim Hockey's Ultimate Prize."
As I recall -- covering that four-series run for SportsChannel, there were real episodes of pain that went with the progress. Here are some of the Islanders observations.
BOB NYSTROM: "One of my best memories goes back to 1981. I got to be the first guy to hoist The Cup. It was payback for my teammates completely ignoring me the year before when I was off doing interviews out on the ice after I had scored the Cup-winning goal. By the time I was done, the festivities were over. I was crushed because i never got to hold the Cup. So luckily I got to make up for it in a big way in '81. It was actually a motivating factor for me that next season. Believe it or not, I wanted to make sure we won it a second time so that I wouldn't miss out on something that I had always dreamed about as a kid. Then, when it finally happened, it was just an incredible feeling. I held that thing up there for a while too. absolutely. What a thrill!"
MAVEN'S MEMORIES
WRITTEN COVERAGE
Islanders Win Second Cup
Isles Sweep Rangers in 1981
Road to 1981 Cup, Round 2
First Steps Towards 1981 Cup
From Viking to Uniondale, the Sutter Bros
Bob Bourne's End to End Rush
Mikko Makela: The Flying Finn
Stan's 17 Birthday Memories
Jason Blake Played Big
Shirley Fischler Breaks Gender Barriers
Jim Devellano, The Other Architect
The 2003-04 Season
Maven's Haven
Al Arbour was behind the bench for the 1981 Cup victory as he was for the three others. John Tonelli has vivid memories of the coach nicknamed Radar and Arbour's influence in the spring of '81.
JOHN TONELLI: "Big Al ... what a great guy, and what a great motivator. His calmness, his ability to lead, the way he set the example -- he just had all the right tools. I can still picture him all nice and calm behind the bench, just thinking and not reacting in a negative way. That's something that I really took away from my time with him; to stop and think when things go wrong. He was dealing with 24 different personalities, yet he had the ability to make all those players work together and concentrate on their own contributions to the team. That's a tough thing for a coach to do but he did it and that's why the guys really respected him."
There was plenty of pain involved because the playoffs also are like a war of attrition. Butch Goring would second that motion. He had a lot of hurt.
BUTCH GORING: "The 1981 playoffs were just brutal for me. I'll never forget breaking my finger on literally the first shift of the postseason against Toronto. I had to get it frozen and shot up before every game, which was tough. I could barely shoot the puck. I was not going to sit out though; no way. Then, if that wasn't bad enough, I took a skate blade to the face in the Final round against the North Stars. My tongue even got sliced open; it was pretty bad. I took about 50 stitches in my chin in that one. The hardest part about that wasn't the injury, though, it was the fact that I had lost seven pounds due to the fact that I couldn't eat. I had no energy. I just hung in there and my teammates picked up the slack. Hell, everybody was beat up at that point. That's playoff hockey. So, when I was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy that year after we won the second Cup, it was extra special."

Once a team wins a Cup; it desperately wants to repeat while the other teams want very much to beat the Champs. Defenseman Ken Morrow remembers well what it was like facing foes after the first title was history.
KEN MORROW:"That second Cup in '81 was a totally different experience. We were the favorites coming into that season, and we had to defend our title; which meant that we had a big target on us the whole year. But we had a lot of confidence about us and we were able to come together in order to repeat as champions. We wound up beating Minnesota in the Finals and it really validated our first Stanley Cup. Nobody could say it was a fluke. We were for real."
While Denis Potvin, Stefan Persson Mike McEwen and Ken Morrow of the Islanders defense corps got most of the attention in the 1981 playoffs, the grunt guy on the blue line, Dave (Bammer) Langevin, played his usual steady, hitting game.
DAVE LANGEVIN:"The first Cup made all the sacrifices we previously had endur seem worthwhile. But the second Cup, in '81, was special in its own interesting way. I know that I spoke for most of my teammates when I said we wanted to make sure that the first one wasn't a fluke. What the second Cup did was validate the first. Plus, nobody wants to be a one-time winner.
We all wanted to keep the streak going. It was extra special for me in that we beat Minnesota in the Final. Minnesota is where I came from and where I used to root for the North Stars. To be able to play there in front of my hometown friends also was special."