As a player, he was a member of the 1972 United States Olympic Hockey team that surprisingly won the silver medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics. Ftorek also played for Team USA at the 1972 "Pool B" Ice Hockey World Championship where he was selected to the tournament all-star team. Originally drafted by the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association in 1972, he instead signed with the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. However, the Red Wings regarded Ftorek as too small to make it as a professional and he only appeared in a handful of NHL games. Having spent most of his time in the minors with the AHL's Virginia Wings, Ftorek decided to move over to the WHA in 1974, and it was at this time the Whalers traded his WHA rights to the Phoenix Roadrunners. Ftorek quickly became the Roadrunners' biggest star and he made history in 1977 when he won the Gordie Howe Trophy as the league's most valuable player—the first American ice hockey player in major professional hockey to accomplish this feat. Ftorek confirmed his status as the most accomplished American player of the 1970s in the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup where he was elected MVP of Team USA and also was the US team's leading scorer. After playing parts of three seasons in Phoenix and when the Roadrunners franchise folded, Ftorek signed with the Cincinnati Stingers. After the WHA folded following the 1978–79 season, he signed with the Quebec Nordiques of the NHL and served as the team's captain in 1981. Ftorek played for Team USA at the 1981 Canada Cup tournament. He was traded to the New York Rangers during the 1981–82 NHL season, where he played through the 1984–85 NHL season and finished his NHL career. He played several seasons with the New Haven Nighthawks before retiring from professional play.
"I'd rather not have any options. I'd rather just have the right amount, but it's good. In case anybody goes down, you've got people ready to go in. The thing that was nice is that you could put anybody out there, and you knew you were going to get an effort."
"There's a rhyme and a reason for why you have to do certain things against certain teams. We were doing a really good job and we just stopped. You can't have that happen and expect the flow to go the same way."
"It was a good game, it was an exciting game. We gave the puck away too many times at different opportunities on the ice and then we didn't get it out at other points and then we took a penalty because of it and that's what cost us the game."
"You have to be in New Jersey in two hours. You have 10 minutes to pack."
"We've done that in three or four of them. But they find a way to win and that's why they're up in first or second place."
"They give chances all night long. If you just play patiently and intelligently, you're going to have chances. Bury them, and you'll win games. We didn't do that. Portland plays a wide-open game because they've got prolific scorers. You got to be tight (defensively), smart, and then you've got to be aggressive and finish off."
"I think he's looking to go play for an East Coast League team."
"But he had all of those experiences last year. And granted they were at the American Hockey League level, but those were still experiences at that level which was the highest level that there was. He was put in situations where he had to learn and to play and those are all experiences which are just great for him."
"I'm excited about having the opportunity for the young kids to go up and play at the NHL level. Which is something that we missed last year that was part of the the minor-league experience. If you work and play well, you get an opportunity to go up."
The Devils were in first place in the East and had the third best record in the NHL with eight games left in the regular season when GM Lou Lamoriello made the shocking decision to fire Robby Ftorek and promote Robinson from his role as an assistant.
The Devils were in first place in the East and had the third-best record in the NHL with eight games left in the regular season when GM Lou Lamoriello made the shocking decision to fire Robby Ftorek and promote Robinson from his role as an assistant.
Everyone was going out for dinner. Everyone but Bassin ... He wasn’t screaming ... Less than two years later, when he was about to fire his friend Robbie Ftorek in Erie, in Connor McDavid’s first year of junior hockey, Bassin called Knoblauch ... He had Connor ... .
Everyone was going out for dinner. Everyone but Bassin ... He wasn’t screaming ... Less than two years later, when he was about to fire his friend Robbie Ftorek in Erie, in Connor McDavid’s first year of junior hockey, Bassin called Knoblauch ... He had Connor ... .
Dwight Gooden and Gary Carter had unlikely 'amazing friendship' ... 20, to be a most-difficult trick ... 4 ... 22 ... the Devils were in first place when Robbie Ftorek was axed on March 24, 2000, and they immediately blew that by going 4-4 under Robinson.
As a player and coach at the NHL level, Robbie Ftorek made his mark on hockey’s top league. And in this cover story from THN’s Nov. 25, 1988 edition (Vol ... .
Story continues below. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content ... In 2012, Bassin fired his older, popular coach Robbie Ftorek to bring in Knoblauch, who had been head coach of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice ... .
Union Leader
18 Jun 2024
Union Leader
18 Jun 2024