Denis Potvin makes honorable offer to Ed Westfall at NY Hockey Hall of Fame induction

The NY Islanders were well represented at this year's New York Hockey Hall of Fame induction, as Denis Potvin, Ed Westfall, and Ken Morrow were celebrated alongside the likes of Sam Rosen and Mike Eruzione, at the Hilton Hotel in Troy, NY.

Westfall, selected by the Islanders in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft from the Boston Bruins, was named the first captain in Islanders history and remained in that role until 1977. From there, Clark Gillies assumed the role of captain for two seasons, until passing the torch to Potvin before the 1979-80 season.

When Potvin received the itinerary for this year's Hall of Fame induction, he noticed he was scheduled to speak before Westfall. As hockey players, and more notably captains are, they like to honor those who came before them, with Potvin offering to have his predecessor speak before him on their special night.

"The lady next to me who had the whole script for tonight, and had me speaking before Ed, I said 'Look, why don't you have Ed go first," Potvin told Matthew Blitner of Sportsology. "And Ed said he didn't want to do that. So eighteen said we'll leave it as is and that's the way it worked out... I was totally committed to giving my captain the first go at it, and he just said he was very happy with it."

Potvin and Westfall spent seven seasons together on Long Island, with Westfall hanging up his skates after the 1978-79 season - just before the start of the Islanders dynasty. He was however the captain of the 1975 Islanders who upset the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs, following that up by becoming the first team to ever win a playoff series after trailing 3-0, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round.