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Islanders: Best Player In Franchise History Round 2

By Matt O'Leary |
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 21: John Tonelli takes part in a ceremony honoring his career with the New York Islanders that saw his jersey retired and raised to the rafters of NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on February 21, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 21: John Tonelli takes part in a ceremony honoring his career with the New York Islanders that saw his jersey retired and raised to the rafters of NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on February 21, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Round 2 of the Eyes on Isles bracket challenge is complete. Let’s see who makes it to the final four of the best Islanders of all time.

With no March Madness, I was itching for a tournament. So I decided to make my own to figure out who the best Islander of all-time was. When compiling this list it was difficult to see who would be included and the matchups were tricky.

One of the flaws of my bracket was the lack of re-seeding. It wasn’t set up where the one seed would take on the lowest seed and so on and so forth. You’ll see but some favorable guys got voted out in round two.

Here’s how the voting went for round two:

Denis Potvin (1) vs Billy Smith (3)

Seeing Billy Smith go in round two wasn’t a lot of fun but matched up against Denis Potvin, the one seed, it’s not too hard to see why he was bounced. Both guys are hall of famers with their number retired, it’s okay Billy you’re still a legend.

Potvin advanced with 71.6 percent of the vote which was the second-largest margin of victory in round two.

Bob Nystrom (5) vs Clark Gillies (7)

This one was rather close, but when your nickname is literally Mr. Islander it’s hard to see you drop out before the final four. Bob Nystrom advanced vs Clark Gillies with 62.3 percent of the vote. He will take on Potvin in the final four.

Mike Bossy (2) vs Bryan Trottier (4)

People were not happy with this as a second-round matchup. Well, think of it like the second round of the NHL playoffs when the one seed usually takes on the two seed from their division. Like the Capitals and Penguins all those years. Bossy advanced with 80.5 percent.

Pat LaFontaine (6) vs John Tonelli (8)

Upset alert! John Tonelli upsets Pat LaFontaine 55.3 percent to 44.7 percent, for our closest matchup so far in the tournament. Tonelli will take on Mike Bossy in the final four of the tourney.

So in the Final Four, we have Potvin vs Nystrom on one side and Bossy vs Tonelli on the other. Voting will start up again tomorrow to determine who the best Islander is in franchise history.

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