The National Hockey League saw the birth of a new dynasty in 1980. The New York Islanders had been an expansion franchise in 1972 in the New York City suburbs of Long Island. For years they played in the long shadow of the big-city New York Rangers and wee considered the league"s laughingstock during their first season. Miraculously, eight years later, they were champions. Despite their mercurial rise in the 1970s--which included a first-place overall finish in the 1978-79 season--the Islanders were stillconsidered chokers because of playoff failures. The most frustrating failure of all came at the hands of the rival Rangers, who beat them in 1979 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. A year later they stumbled through an injury-plagued and inconsistent rgular season. When the playoffs arrived again, however, they were ready. Bolstered by the late-season addition of speedy center Butch Goring and the bitterness of the previous year"s defeat, the Islanders overcame their past failures...