Islanders: Best Player To Wear Number 6

Continuing our best of series, today we will look at the best player to wear number six for the New York Islanders in their history.

Yesterday we spoke about an Islanders legend in Denis Potvin, and today while looking at the best player to wear number six we will speak of another legendary defenseman. In the Islanders’ history, 18 players have worn the number six.

The first to ever wear it was Bill Mikkelson in 1973 and some other notables were Bert Marshall, Wane McBean, Doug Houda, and Ryan Pulock.

For the honorable mention we’re going to go with Ryan Pulock. Pulock was drafted by the Islanders 15th overall in 2013. The right-hander with the booming slap shot made his NHL debut in the 2015-2016 season and had an immediate impact for the team in the playoffs.

The next year he got hurt four minutes into the first game of the season and he never returned to the Isles. He rehabbed in Bridgeport but was never deemed well enough to come back up. By 2017-2018 he was back up as a regular for the Islanders.

He finished with 32 points and 10 goals in 68 games. He took over as the Islanders number one d-man last year, putting up 37 points, and 35 points this year averaging just over 22 minutes a night each of the last two years.

Pulock’s been very solid but with only three years under his belt it’s hard to surpass him over our winner, Ken Morrow.

Morrow played for the US Olympic Hockey Team that won Gold in 1980 and got added to the Islanders roster to finish out the season. He had three points in 18 games before being a part of the Islanders run to their first Stanley Cup Championship.

Morrow was never someone who put up a ton of points, his career-high was 19 and his career-high In goals was five, but he was a steady defender who finished top-12 in Norris voting twice during his career.

He had a 10 year NHL career, all with the Islanders, as his final year in the league came in 1988-1989. He finished with 105 points in 550 games. In 1995, Morrow was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame.

In his post-playing career, he’s served with the Islanders as the Director of Pro Scouting. He’s done this for 28 years and has been a staple to the organization since his arrival 40 years ago.