PITTSBURGH _ The 1970s Steelers weren't the only dynasty on which "The Chief" had a positive influence. Turns out Art Rooney Sr. had a hand in the 1980s New York Islanders, too.
The current piece of history the Penguins are chasing _ those Islanders are the last to win three consecutive Stanley Cups _ traces back to the patriarch of the Steelers, and it runs through Bill Torrey, the general manager on Long Island from 1972-92.
"He was a great man and a great friend," Torrey said by phone the other day from his West Palm Beach, Fla., home, speaking of Art Rooney Sr.
The story involves Torrey having to choose between offers from the Atlanta Flames and Islanders, a pair of expansion clubs at the time, and a fateful conversation with Rooney that occurred at the Fort Pitt Hotel.
"(Art Rooney Sr.) gave me some very good advice," Torrey continued. "He said, 'If I had my choice like you may have, I would choose to go to Long Island rather than to Atlanta.' He told me, 'You'll sell out in New York, but you won't in Atlanta.' Now there's no longer hockey in Atlanta."
Nor would there be the NHL's latest true dynasty, for which Torrey was chiefly responsible. Long before that, though, starting in 1960, Torrey actually got his big break in pro hockey as business manager with the Pittsburgh Hornets.
It's an experience that sticks with him to this day and gives him plenty of fond memories of Pittsburgh.
Torrey worked for John Harris, who owned the Ice Capades, and wound up helping out in many different capacities for the minor league franchise.
"What I thought I was going to do and what I ended up doing were vastly different," Torrey said. "Titles meant nothing to Mr. Harris. Other than play and coach, I did a little bit of everything."
When Torrey was in Pittsburgh, he lived in an apartment on Mt. Washington _ and loved it.
"One of my favorite places I've ever lived," Torrey said.
Torrey said Rooney became a huge hockey fan, even though he didn't understand the sport all that much.
"Art used to come to a lot of our games, sit way up at the top and smoke a cigar," Torrey said. "He even traveled. We'd go to Quebec, Springfield, Providence, and he'd ride on the team bus with the players."
Another person Torrey met because of his Pittsburgh connection was general manager Jim Rutherford. The two have remained close, and Rutherford considers Torrey one of his idols.
The exact date of that meeting isn't totally clear, but Rutherford said the interaction occurred whenever he played for the Penguins (1971-74).
"Bill Torrey has always been one of the GMs that I've looked up to and respected the most over my playing and managing career," Rutherford said. "I have a lot of admiration for him."
Vice-versa, too.
"I remember meeting (Rutherford) as a young goalie," Torrey said. "I liked his attitude, spirit and competitiveness. Obviously he still has that.
"But, as I've since gotten to know him for a lot of reasons, he's still very competitive. He has a good sense of humor, although I didn't always enjoy some of the negotiations because I couldn't get out of him what I wanted."
One of the reasons Rutherford idolized Torrey so much is because "he had time for everybody." That and the whole winning a lot thing.
"He always nice and respectful to everybody," Rutherford said. "That sticks out to me the most. The rest is all history now. You don't have to explain Bill Torrey. He was a great hockey man who knew how to build a championship team, and he did."
Rutherford is the same way when it comes to dealing with people. Whether it's charity work or interacting with local beat reporters, Rutherford's extremely generous with his time. And funny.
Torrey and Rutherford share another belief as well: They're both really big on building through the draft.
When the Penguins took the ice Wednesday in Washington, 11 players on the bench could be classified as homegrown _ drafted or signed after nobody else took them _ a very good number.
They've won back-to-back Stanley Cups in the later rounds, too, making picks such as Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust and Matt Murray count _ all third-rounders.
"You can't cheat there," said Torrey, whose Islanders teams were legendary for homegrown talent. "You have to be as competitive there as you are on the ice. You have to win in the draft."
Torrey is 83 now, but he still drives 50 minutes south several times a week to maintain an active role with the Florida Panthers, an organization he joined in 1993.
He's been everything there from president to general manager to alternate governor and hired Florida's current general manager, Dale Tallon.
It's a life many NHL executives can only dream of living, and for Torrey, it all started in Pittsburgh.
"I was very fortunate," Torrey said of his time in Pittsburgh. "I was hired by Mr. Harris to work as the business manager of the hockey team, but whatever event Mr. Harris was running in the building or whatever he was promoting in there, somehow found its way at certain times on my desk. I didn't know anything about ice shows or circuses or anything, but I got an education in a hurry."
