Return of Jean Potvin was a big lift for Denis Potvin, his younger brother
Islanders alumni Jean Potvin speaks to people during an event held at the Fox Hollow Country Club to celebrate the life of Former Coach Al Arbour. April 7, 2016. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
Denis Potvin still remembers the shock of walking into the Islanders’ dressing room at Nassau Coliseum in January 1978 and seeing his brother Jean’s locker stall empty.
“My brother would sit directly across the room from me,” Potvin told Newsday recently. “His stall was empty. I couldn’t believe this. I didn’t get a call or a warning or anything. That’s the way it was in those days. It was a tremendous blow.”
Yet when the Islanders and first-year captain Denis Potvin won their first of four straight Stanley Cups 40 years ago this month, Jean Potvin was back in the organization.
And even if his on-ice contributions were diminished compared with his first tenure with the Islanders, Jean Potvin’s presence was extremely beneficial to both the team and his younger brother.
“It was a brilliant move by [general manager] Bill Torrey to bring Jean back because it certainly settled things down with Denis,” Butch Goring told Newsday last month. “Denis and Jean are as close as brothers can be. To have him on the team certainly makes life a little more fun for Denis.”
Jean Potvin was traded to the lowly Cleveland Barons — soon to be merged with the Minnesota North Stars — on Jan. 10, 1978. Torrey re-signed the defenseman as a free agent on June 10, 1979, and less than four months later, Denis Potvin was named the Islanders’ new captain.
The right-shooting Jean Potvin, the older brother by 4 1/2 years, often had been the left-shooting Denis Potvin’s defense partner both five-on-five and on the power play after the latter joined the Islanders as the first overall pick in 1973,
Jean Potvin also had eased his younger brother’s transition to junior hockey as Denis Potvin’s teammate with their hometown Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey Association.
“He made that transition a lot easier for a kid coming out of Ottawa to be in New York,” Denis Potvin said. “When he was traded away, it was very, very tough.”
Which made Jean Potvin’s reacquisition that much sweeter.
“I was named captain of the team in training camp in 1979, which meant a lot to me, and my brother was back,” Denis Potvin said. “Those two things personally for the Potvin clan meant a lot.
“I think anybody you talk to on the team will always go back to Jean’s personality and the maturity,” Denis added. “One of the problems we faced as a team was we were a very young team and, maybe, a little too uptight, knowing we were better but not being able to prove it in critical times.”
Jean Potvin played in only 32 games in 1979-80, with two goals and 13 assists, and did not dress for any of the 21 playoff games, though his name still was engraved on the Cup.
“Jean was just a fun guy to have,” Glenn “Chico” Resch told Newsday last month. “He could laugh at himself. I think he taught Denis to laugh at himself, to be a little more self-deprecating. I think that’s what helped Denis, too.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
