About Al Arbour
Alger Joseph Arbour was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and executive. He is seventh for games coached in National Hockey League history and eighth all-time in wins. Under Arbour, the New York Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983 and won a record 19 consecutive playoff series through 1984. His 740 wins with the Islanders is the most for a coach with one team in NHL history. Born in Sudbury, Ontario, Arbour played amateur hockey as a defenceman with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League. He played his first professional games with the Detroit Red Wings in 1953. Claimed by the Chicago Black Hawks in 1958, Arbour would help the team win a championship in 1961. Arbour played with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the next five years, winning another Cup in 1962. He was selected by the St. Louis Blues in their 1967 expansion draft and played his final four seasons with the team. In 107 games, he led them to a 42–40–25 record, but only one playoff series win. Arbour led the team to a winning record every season from 1974–75 until he stepped down in 1985–86. Arbour won nineteen consecutive playoff series, which remains an NHL and North American sports record.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.