New York Islanders Selected 1972 Expansion Team

Defensemen

Bart Crashley (3)

He never played a game for the New York Islanders. Which should tell you everything you need to know. You think he wishes he’d rethought joining the L.A. Sharks in the WHA rather than the Isles?

Lary Hornung (7)

Yet another played that opted to join the WHA instead of the Isles who drafted his NHL playing rights. He had a great first year with 58 points with the WHA Winnipeg Jets but never made the jump back to the NHL.

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Bryan Lefley (8)

He played 70 games for the Isles putting up seven points before he was drafted by the expansion Kansas City Scouts in 1974.

Gerry Hart (12)

Gerry put up a good seven seasons with the New York Islanders with128 points in 476 games. He left the Isles in 1979 when the Québec Nordiques claimed him in their own expansion draft.

John Schella (13)

Schella was another of the players to join a WHA side rather than the NHL Isles. Sure he won the Avco cup with the 1974 Houston Aeros, but four back-to-bacl Stanley Cups has a better ring to it.

Bill Mikkelson (14)

Mikkelson played the entire 197-73 season with the New York Islanders, putting up eleven points. He played the next season in the AHL before being selected by the Washington Capitals in the 1974 NHL Expansion Draft.

Jim Mair (20)

Selected from the Philadelphia Flyers, Jim Mair didn’t complete a full NHL season before being sent through waivers by the Isles. He was claimed by the Vancouver Canucks, playing 23 NHL games over three years.

Ken Murray (21)

On January 10th 1973 the Isles sent Murray and Brian Lavender to the Detroit Red Wings for Bob Cook and Ralph Stewart. A trade which the Isles won handsomely, with the exiled duo registering 53 points in their entire NHL careers, Stewart would put up 110 in an Isles jersey across four seasons.