Maven's Memories: The Amazing Polatoffs

It isn't easy being the most intense Islanders fan in Far Rockaway, but Eli Polatoff somehow manages to pull it off with consummate ease.
Call it family power.
Between being a volunteer rescue EMT, stock trader, husband, father and devoted synagogue member, energetic Eli spends at least an hour a day rooting for the Nassaumen in one form or another.

There's only one break per week -- for 25 hours.
It begins on Friday night -- the start of the Jewish Sabbath -- and concludes on Saturday evening. When it comes to prayer and hockey, Eli is strictly observant.
"I'll miss a game when Shabbat begins on Friday," Polatoff explains, "but I try to make it to UBS Arena for games on Saturday nights, even if it means missing the opening face-off."
The son of a rabbi, the 54-year-old Polatoff never is alone at the Islanders ice palace. His full family crew of rooters includes Ahron, 26, Avi, 24, Tzivi, 22, Leah, 18, Tzipporah, 13 and Mordy, 8.

According to their father, each has his and her own inimitable way of spurring their Islanders heroes on to victory.
Eli: "Most of the family says a little extra prayer when the team really needs a win. But Leah -- the real Islanders nut -- will make sure she wears the same jersey after a really big win."
As far as the issue of whether prayers should enter the rooting process, Polatoff allows that it once was a vexing problem that since has been solved.
"Prayers are really a time where we ask God for help with everyday life and pray for health and good things for the family. But you can always add some extra prayers for things that will make you really happy. By that I mean an Islanders win."
Eli's Islanders roots can be traced to his fifth year on earth in 1972, coincidentally the season when the Isles were born. At the time, his father, Phil, asked him to pick an NHL team and root for that club.
"Since my dad was a Rangers fan," Eli explains, "I naturally couldn't root for them so I decided to cheer for one of the expansion teams. At the time, we lived in Scranton where I was able to get Islanders away games on tv. After watching a few games, I took a liking to them as a group.
"I began to recognize various players and eventually picked out favorites. One of them was Glenn (Chico) Resch. I loved the way he played goal -- kissing the goal posts and neat stuff like that. Frankly, I cried the day he was traded to Colorado. For days, I was inconsolable."
Eli and The Maven originally met through mutual friends and soon Polatoff became one of my most valued interns or, as he liked to put it, "a Fischler-ette."
One of his chores was to help out during SportsChannel pre-game shows. If I needed a certain guest, Eli always delivered the best.
MAVEN'S MEMORIES
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Trottier Wins Hart Trophy
Behind the Scenes with Bryan Trottier
Stan's Fans: Jake April
Maven's Haven
Polatoff: "When we lived in Rochester, NY I had become friendly with an AHL player at the time named Randy Cunneyworth. Randy moved up to the Penguins and when we had a Penguins game I was able to get Randy to come on for an interview. Randy agreed and did an excellent interview. Stan liked it and we've been friends ever since; now going on 35 years."
Apart from missing a game due to Sabbath, the only thing that would keep Eli away from UBS Arena would be if his volunteer ambulance service, Hatzalah, buzzes his ubiquitous cell phone with an emergency call. If someone needs help and Polatoff is available, you can be sure he'll pitch in with aid.
"One night I was down by the Islanders locker room when someone nearby had a medical episode," Eli remembers. "I treated him until the team doctors arrived. Volunteering to help always has been something I wanted to do and I've been doing it since I was 18 years old."
Eli's lovely wife Marni -- a teacher -- roots long-distance for the Isles from her Far Rockaway kitchen or classroom or wherever she may be. She allows that her family's hockey mania is "refreshing."
"My wife is great about letting the kids watch the game," Eli chuckles, "and, more importantly, to go to games. Marni really enjoys watching the kids -- myself included -- get excited about the team."
Polatoff can be as critical as any writer on the beat and has no hesitation picking his Islanders All-Timers:
Goal: Glenn Resch; Defense: Denis Potvin and Dave Langevin. ("The two steadiest blue liners I ever saw.") Right Wing: Mike Bossy. ("The greatest pure scorer.") Center: Bryan Trottier: ("Without Trots, is there a Bossy?") Left Wing: Bob Bourne. ("Fastest skater I ever saw.")
Eli also picked out what he called his "Three favorite Cup Moments," starting with Bob Nystrom's winner in 1980. "This," he insists, "was the absolute beginning of the greatest hockey dynasty including 19 straight playoff series wins. That record never will be broken."

He also savored the 1983 sweep of Edmonton, especially Billy Smith's harassing of Wayne Gretzky. ("Nobody could get under an opposing player's skin like Battlin' Billy.")
He added one other "Goal I'll Never Forget," pinpointing the 1982 Game Four Final against Vancouver. ("Bossy scoring a goal while floating through the air is the most unbelievable goal I've ever seen scored.")
When I asked Polatoff to name a couple of his "favorite things," on a purely personal level, he answered on the short hop.
"For sure, one was just being at the Coliseum before it closed," Eli concludes. "I was with of three of my kids -- Avi, Leah and Mordy. That was the night that Anthony Beauvillier scored an overtime goal.
"And the second was at the UBS Arena opening. I saw my old pal, Eddie Westfall, who I had first met when I was interning. I introduced all my kids to our original captain and then Eddie told my brood in a very affectionate way, 'I've known your Dad for 30 years!"
Then, a pause and a yard of a Polatoff grin: "That made my night!"