This Day in Hockey History – September 29, 1997 – LaFontaine Has New York Down Pat

Sep 29, 2019

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Though born and raised in Missouri and Michigan, center Pat LaFontaine was made for New York. With his trade to the New York Rangers on September 29, 1997, he became one of just five skaters to play for all three NHL teams in New York. Of them, he has been the only one to spend his entire career in that same state. LaFontaine joked, “I think I’m the only player in history who has been traded twice and hasn’t had to change his license plate.”

Thanks to some canny misdirection, the newly four-time Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders were able to draft LaFontaine 3rd overall in 1983. As Nashville Predators general manager David Poile later remarked, “It was the rich getting richer.” LaFontaine joined the Islanders after playing in the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo. Over his eight seasons with the Islanders, he became a premier scorer.

Due to a contract dispute, on October 25, 1991, the Islanders traded LaFontaine (along with Randy Hillier, Randy Wood, and a fourth-round draft pick) to the Buffalo Sabres. In return, they received Pierre Turgeon, Uwe Krupp, Benoit Hogue, and Dave McLlwain. LaFontaine summarized his time in Buffalo saying, “I stayed in New York State. I had some of my best career years there. … We had an amazing powerplay.” Indeed, during the 1992-93 season, he had a career high with 148 points, second only to Mario Lemieux. This was a record for the Sabres and for an American-born player for which he received the USA Hockey Distinguished Achievement Award. Having been made the Sabres’ captain back in 1992, he concluded, “I had six wonderful years there, and my two other children were born in Buffalo.”

Unafraid to push through tough opponents, LaFontaine’s career only stalled due to numerous injuries. A broken jaw made him miss 13 games in 1991, but that was nothing compared to what happened after he injured his right knee during the 1993 playoffs. He made it through a mere 16 games of the 1993-94 season before needing surgery, and then he was out for the remainder of the season and half of the next (already shortened by the lockout), missing about 90 games in all. His drive to get back to the game in 1995 earned him the Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance and dedication. Things seemed to be looking up when he accrued 91 points during the 1995-96 season. Unluckily, on October 17, 1996, a hit by Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Francois Leroux gave LaFontaine his fifth concussion in six years. Even worse, LaFontaine attempted to return too soon and developed post-concussion syndrome. He only managed to play 13 games that entire season.

Having been cleared by two pre-eminent neurologists that summer, LaFontaine felt ready to return. The Sabres’ medical team disagreed and would not clear him to play. Many speculated that they used this as an excuse to cut costs by not having to pay the remaining two years on his contract. Whatever the reason, LaFontaine’s desire to play led him to request a trade to the Rangers. He seemed to have chosen the New York City team to be closer to his wife’s family on Long Island. LaFontaine explained his insistence on playing saying, “Why come back? It’s a simple question for me. I still feel I have a lot to give. And, most important, I love this game and have a passion for this game and enjoy competing at this level.” Before the Rangers agreed to bring him aboard, they had him examined by their choice of neurosurgeon, who agreed that LaFontaine had sufficiently recovered and was not at high risk for another concussion.

The deal was made, and LaFontaine was traded by the Sabres to the Rangers in return for only a second-round draft pick and future considerations based on how much he would actually be able to play. His contract still would pay $4.8 million per season, which would perhaps limit the Rangers’ options if he was “significantly diminished” from his health issues. However, in the case of another concussion, insurance would pay all but $2.7 million of the contract. The New York Daily News thought the trade was “an absolute steal” no matter how much time LaFontaine actually played because they didn’t have to give up another proven player in return. However, the reporter warned that the Rangers should not rush him into full-time.

Rangers GM Neil Smith was hoping LaFontaine could help fill the gap left by Mark Messier’s departure as he was a captain and a center. LaFontaine would take Messier’s center position on the second line. Smith explained, “Mark is a totally different player than Pat and I think, no matter what I did other than getting Mark back, I couldn’t replace Mark except with Mark. But that’s not to say that we can’t have a good team with the current roster rather than a roster that included Mark. … We’re thrilled with the composition of this team right now.” He continued, “I think that Patty is a guy that puts dynamic speed into your lineup and gives your team an element of speed that we just don’t have, because Pat is one of the elite speed players in the league. He’s had terrific offensive output throughout his career. And my hope is that he’ll play at the same level as he played during that World Cup when he joins the Rangers.”

LaFontaine started off fairly smoothly with the Rangers. He later said, “In my last year, I was traded to the New York Rangers and got to play on Broadway and to see what it was like to be part of the New York Rangers’ organization, which was first class.” He scored 62 points (23G, 39A) in 67 games, and he tallied his 1,000th point that January before participating in the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano.

Then disaster struck on March 16, 1998, when a collision with teammate Mike Keane resulted in another concussion. This one turned out to be career-ending. He explained, “I always said if it got to the point where there was more than minimal risk I would stop playing, and it got to that point.” After seven months without playing another NHL game, on October 12, 1999, he officially retired at the age of 34. LaFontaine tried to count his blessings saying, “I was very fortunate in my career to play with three great organizations. I was traded twice and never changed my license plate and had the opportunity to raise our family locally and play in the great state of New York, which I still live in.”

With a career total of 1,013 points, LaFontaine remains eighth-highest scorer among American-born NHLers. However, he played fewer games (865) than anyone else in the top 10, making his career average of 1.171 points per game the all-time best for those born the U.S.

Upon retiring, LaFontaine has been known for his charity work, but he also served brief stints with each of his former New York state teams. For six weeks over the summer of 2006, he joined the Islanders as Senior Advisor to the Owner. He resigned to protest the firing of his former GM from the Rangers, Neil Smith, who had since switched to the Islanders. Beginning in 2010, LaFontaine became a commentator for a Rangers broadcast network. Finally, between November 2013 and March 2014, he served the Sabres as their President of Hockey Operations.

LaFontaine was inducted into both the Hockey Hall of Fame and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003. The following year, the Sabres inducted him into their Hall of Fame, and two years later, they retired his No. 16. Every year since 2001, the winner of the Rangers-Islanders season series wins the Pat LaFontaine Trophy while the loser contributes to his choice of charities.