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Islanders: Best Player To Wear Number 10

By Matt O'Leary

Canadian professional hockey player Lorne Henning, center for the New York Islanders, attempts to break free from an opposing player from the Atlanta Flames who blocks him with his stick in a game at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, January 1974. (Photo by Melchior DiGiacomo/Getty Images)
Canadian professional hockey player Lorne Henning, center for the New York Islanders, attempts to break free from an opposing player from the Atlanta Flames who blocks him with his stick in a game at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, January 1974. (Photo by Melchior DiGiacomo/Getty Images) /
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Continuing our best of series, today we will look at the best player to wear number 10 for the New York Islanders in their history.

21 players in the history of the New York Islanders have worn the number 10. The first guy to ever wear it is our winner today, spoiler alert, so I’m going to hold off on telling you who that was and instead start with the other notables.

Alan Kerr, Dave McLlwain, Claude Loiselle, Mats Lindgren, Richard Park, Alan Quine, and most recently Derick Brassard have worn that number for the Islanders. Of that bunch, I might go with Richard Park as the honorable mention.

Park was with the Islanders for four seasons but was a fan favorite as a depth forward. In four years he had 120 points (45 goals, 75 assists) in 316 games. He averaged just under 15 minutes per game and the best years of his career were as an Islander.

In 2008-2009, Park had his best season putting up 31 points (14 goals, 17 assists) with the Islanders in 71 games. Park’s biggest moment with the Islanders came on April 8, 2007 as he scored two goals against the Devils in order to help the Isles into the playoffs (the poke check game).

Even with Park as a fan favorite, the best player to ever put that number on has to also be the first to ever do it which is Lorne Henning.

Henning was drafted by the Islanders in the second round of the 1972 Amateur Draft and was an original Islander. In his first year in the league, he had 26 points (7 goals, 19 assists) in 63 games. His best season was in 1978-79 when he had 33 points in 73 games.

Over a nine-year career, all with the Islanders, he played in 543 games and had 184 points (73 goals, 111 assists). Henning is a two time Cup champion, in fact, he picked up an assist on the Bob Nystrom goal that gave the Islanders their first Stanley Cup.

In the summer of 1980, Henning became an assistant coach with the Islanders. He also played in nine games that year and a playoff game becoming the last player-coach for a Stanley Cup-winning team.

Henning would remain an assistant with the Islanders before leaving to take the Minnesota North Stars coaching job. In1994-1995 and for the second half of 2000-2001, Henning coached the Isles as well. In 65 games, he was 19-39-7.

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Most recently, he served as an assistant GM for the Vancouver Canucks in 2015. With his time as a player and a coach, Henning is the obvious choice for number 10.

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