A Battle of the Dynasties: Islanders vs. Patriots
Just a few weeks ago, the New England Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl in franchise history. Does that make them the greatest sports dynasty of all time? The early ’10’s Blackhawks, the ’90’s Bulls, ’90’s Yankees and of course the ’80’s Islanders would beg to differ. Let’s compare the two dynasties of the Islanders and Patriots and figure out which one was better.
How many players were able to be on the team for the entire dynasty?
For the Islanders, 14 players were on the roster for all four cups, while for New England it is just Tom Brady. Now there is no denying that this makes Brady one of the greatest QBs of all time. But to win year-after-year with almost the same core as the Islanders had is impressive. The Patriots kept making the Playoffs, but frequently lost in the Playoffs. The Islanders didn’t have one star to lead their team, they had multiple.
How did they start?
Both began with major clutch moments: Bobby Nystrom’s goal and Adam Vinatieri’s Field Goal. Both were in Overtime.
Legendary Coaches
Al Arbour is one of the greatest coaches in NHL History. Bill Belichick can be called the same thing but for football. Both have had countless Playoff appearances.
Superstars
Brady has had help from offensive weapons like Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski. For the Islanders, all-stars such as Mike Bossy, Brian Trottier, Denis Potvin, and Billy Smith led the way. This makes a case that the Islanders had a better nucleus against the Patriots.
Conclusion
Sure, it is hard to decide between two completely different sports. But on the number of years and absolute domination, with 19 straight playoff series wins, the Islanders take this one. Will another team ever win four championships in a row? Only time will tell. And that is why I think the Islanders had the better dynasty.
A Native of Danbury, CT. Christian is one of the longest tenured Drive4Five writers, Christian Gardecki began writing for Drive4five In May of 2017. Christian covers Minor League Hockey and the Bridgeport Islanders for Drive4Five. Outside of Drive4Five, Christian was the captain of his High School Hockey team and currently attends Hofstra University with a major in journalism. Christian was the play by play broadcaster for the Danbury Westerners summer collegiate baseball team during their 2021 NECBL Championship. Christian also was the Public Address Announcer for the Danbury Hat Tricks Minor Pro Hockey team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League and NAHL Junior team from 2019-21.
You forgot to mention the Islanders never cheated to win, while the Patriots were caught cheating red handed twice (spy gate and deflate gate). This fact settles any debate over which team had the greater dynasty.