Bill Torrey William A . Torrey ( born June 23 , 1934 in Montreal , Quebec , Canada ) was a General Manager and executive in the National Hockey League , most famous for building up the expansion New York Islanders into a dynasty that won four consecutive Stanley Cup s . He is known as " Bow - Tie " Bill , after the signature bow tie he always wore . Oakland Seals . Bill Torrey began his hockey career in the AHL in the mid 1960 ' s , with the Pittsburgh Hornets , but his talent soon landed him a job as Vice - President of the Oakland Seals , a recently created expansion team in the NHL . Torrey quickly forged a reputation as a shrewd executive , and his deals propelled the Seals from laughingstock to playoff contenders in his 2 plus seasons in Oakland . He quickly soured on the experience , however , due to constant interference provided by owner Charlie Finley . Finley had a reputation of flamboyance , insisting his teams wore white skates and trying to convince the NHL to start using orange pucks . More importantly , Finley and Torrey clashed on issues ranging from personnel moves to marketing , and Torrey left the organization in 1971 . New York Islanders . In 1972 , the expansion New York Islanders hired Torrey as their General Manager . The organization ' s first employee , Torrey was given the formidable job of building the organization from scratch , in the shadows of the much more established New York Rangers . He added the title of vice president in 1973 . Rather than trade for veteran players in hopes of winning right away , Torrey was committed to building through the draft . He felt that pursuing a " win now " strategy didn ' t make sense in the long run . In the Islanders ' first two seasons , the team finished last in the league . However , those dreadful records netted them high picks in the draft . With those picks , Torrey quickly assembled a roster that rose from a doormat to an NHL power . It culminated in 1980 , when the Islanders became the second - fastest team to win the Stanley Cup , in only their eighth season of existence . Under Torrey , the Islanders won 6 Patrick Division titles , made five consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup finals , and won four Cups in a row 1980 , 1981 , 1982 , 1983 . His clubs had 14 consecutive winning seasons , from 1975 – 1988 . Along the way , he picked future Hall of Fame goalie Billy Smith in the team ' s original expansion draft , drafted five Hall of Fame players - - Denis Potvin , Clark Gillies , Bryan Trottier , Mike Bossy , and Pat LaFontaine - - in the entry draft . He also hired as head coach Al Arbour , another Hall of Famer and winner of four Cups as a player . After helping minority owner John Pickett , Jr . buy the franchise in 1979 , Torrey was promoted to team president . In 1989 , he added the title of chairman of the board . Key transactions . Right after Torrey drafted Denis Potvin first overall in the 1973 entry draft , Montreal Canadiens General Manager Sam Pollock approached Torrey , hoping to trade for Potvin . Pollock ' s strategy was to offer a " quick - fix " package of mature players to exchange for the top draft pick , and it was tempting as the Islanders would immediately benefit from the trade . Torrey ultimately turned down the offer . Within several years Potvin blossomed into one of the NHL ' s elite defencemen and eventually became captain of the team . In the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft , Torrey had the 15th pick and had to make a tough decision between Mike Bossy and another forward . Bossy was known as a scorer who couldn ' t check , while the other forward could check but wasn ' t very good offensively . Coach Al Arbour persuaded Torrey to pick Bossy , figuring it was easier to teach a scorer how to check . Bossy immediately emerged as one of the league ' s elite snipers in his first season , in which he set a then - NHL record with 53 goals as a rookie . Bossy achieved nine consecutive 50 - goal seasons , as well as also having strong defensive skills not commonly seen in other prominent forwards . In 1979 , after the Islanders had underachieved in the playoffs for the past few years despite success in the regular season , Torrey made the difficult decision to trade longtime and popular veterans Billy Harris and Dave Lewis to the Los Angeles Kings in return for Butch Goring . The trade is acknowledged as bringing in the " final piece of the puzzle " : Goring was pivotal to the team ' s first Stanley Cup championship win and went on to win the Conn Smythe Trophy for the Islanders ' second championship in 1981 . After star Pat LaFontaine demanded a trade and held out for the start of the 1991 – 92 season , Torrey engineered a rebuilding project . He dealt Lafontaine , Randy Wood , and Randy Hillier ( along with future considerations ) to the Buffalo Sabres in return for Pierre Turgeon , Benoit Hogue , Uwe Krupp , and Dave McLlwain . He also sent Brent Sutter and Brad Lauer to the Chicago Blackhawks for Steve Thomas and Adam Creighton . The trades paid dividends in 1992 – 93 season where the Islanders ' made a surprise playoff run to the Wales Conference Finals . They defeated the higher seeded Washington Capitals and the defending champions Pittsburgh Penguins before falling to the Montreal Canadiens , who went on to win the Cup . Turgeon himself hit career highs in goals and points and won the Lady Byng Trophy . However , Torrey was not around to see this rebuilding bear fruit . Pickett had turned over day - to - day control to a management committee of four minority owners , and they weren ' t nearly as patient as Boe and Pickett had been before . After the Islanders missed the playoffs in 1992 , Torrey was forced to resign . Florida Panthers . Not long after being forced out in Long Island , Torrey was named president and general manager of the Florida Panthers , a new expansion team , in 1993 . Torrey built his new team similarly to the Islanders , and within three years , the Panthers were in the Stanley Cup finals . He retired in 2001 . Honors . Torrey was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995 . He is honored with a banner in Nassau Coliseum along with Al Arbour and six of the players he drafted . While the players have their jersey numbers retired and Arbour has a similar banner with the number 1500 , the number of games in which he coached the Islanders ( until 2007 , when he returned to coach one game , the number was 739 , the number of wins he coached the Islanders to ) , Torrey ' s banner has the words " The Architect " and the image of a bowtie . In 2001 , he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame .