Hall of Fame coach Al Arbour, who guided the New York Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cup championships in the 1980s and ranks as the NHL's second-winningest coach, has died at age 82, the team announced Friday.
The cause of death is unclear, though Arbour was battling Parkinson's disease and dementia. He had been living in Florida.
Arbour transitioned from a successful 14-season NHL playing career as a defenseman to become one of the league's all-time best coaches.
He coached 1,500 regular-season games over 19 seasons with the Islanders after he was hired at the start of the 1973-74 season. He retired after the 1994 playoffs but returned in 2007 at age 75 to coach one more game for the team -- a 3-2 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"Al will always be remembered as one of, if not, the greatest coaches ever to stand behind a bench in the history of the National Hockey League," Islanders president and general manager Garth Snow said in a statement released Friday by the team. "The New York Islanders franchise has four Stanley Cups to its name, thanks in large part to Al's incredible efforts.
"From his innovative coaching methods, to his humble way of life away from the game, Al is one of the reasons the New York Islanders are a historic franchise. On behalf of the entire organization, we send our deepest condolences to the entire Arbour family."
Arbour won 119 playoff games -- an NHL record for a coach with one team -- over 15 postseason appearances and hoisted the Stanley Cup each postseason from 1980 to 1983.He finished his coaching career with 740 victories and was elected to the NHL Hall of Fame in 1996.
Overall he had a 782-577-223 record, including three seasons coaching the St. Louis Blues, and ranks second on the NHL win list behind Scotty Bowman.
