Al Arbour

Alger Joseph Arbour (November 1, 1932 – August 28, 2015) was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and executive who ranks seventh in games coached and eighth in all-time wins in National Hockey League history. Born in Sudbury, Ontario, he played amateur hockey as a defenceman with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League before appearing in his first professional games with the Detroit Red Wings in 1953. Claimed by the Chicago Black Hawks in 1958, Arbour helped the team to a championship in 1961. He then spent the next five years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, winning another Cup in 1962. Selected by the St. Louis Blues in their 1967 expansion draft, he played his final four professional seasons with the club, and during his last year was hired mid-season to coach the team, leading them to a 42–40–25 record over 107 games but only a single playoff series win.

Arbour went on to coach the New York Islanders, where his 740 wins remain the most for a coach with a single team in NHL history. Under him, the Islanders captured four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983 and won a record 19 straight playoff series through 1984.