Bill Torrey stepped away from the NY Islanders 34 years ago

There are few names more synonymous with the NY Islanders than Bill Torrey. The first-ever employee of the organization, Torrey was the architect behind four consecutive Stanley Cup triumphs and 19 straight playoff series victories, a mark likely never to be seen again in professional sports.

After 20 years in control of the organization, Torrey resigned from his position on August 17, 1992. The decision came after Islanders owner John Pickett sold the franchise to Cablevision, which preferred longtime NY Rangers winger and former Islander Don Maloney for the role of General Manager.

Moving forward without Bill Torrey

Torrey, who was vacationing in Scotland at the time, said that it was "time for a change" within the organization.

Torrey remained with the organization as a consultant, lasting for only one season before taking on his second expansion project when he was named President of the Florida Panthers. Similar to what he did with the Islanders, it didn't take long for Torrey to see success in South Florida, bringing the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996 - the franchise's third year in existence.

In 1993, the Islanders' first season without Torrey running the show, the Islanders nearly reached the Stanley Cup Finals but fell to the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Finals. From there, the organization saw some of its darkest days.

In 1996, John Spano bought the Islanders, in what became one of the biggest fraud schemes in professional sports history. Here we saw the introduction of the fisherman logo - a symbol of the dark days for the Islanders.

The Islanders have only recently crawled out of the NHL's dungeon, but have not seen the Stanley Cup finals without Torrey at the helm. Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1995, Torrey will go down as one of the best executives in league history and is immortalized with his bowtie banner hanging in the rafters of UBS Arena.

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