Al Arbour has another kind of fight now - STLtoday.com
And one was Al Arbour. “He was the toughest competitor, most courageous player I ever coached,” Bowman said. Arbour will battle, as he did as a defenseman for the Blues, as he did throughout a career in which he has been with teams that won the Stanley Cup eight times, representing four cities. At one time, the Blues had Bowman as their general manager and Arbour as their coach. Bowman turned the coaching duties over to Arbour at the start of the 1970-71 season. When the team faltered — in part because of Arbour’s absence on defense — he put the skates back on and Bowman returned to the bench. Stanley Cup finalists in three previous seasons, the Blues lost to Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs. Arbour was restored as head coach, but ownership never believed in his promise. “They said Al is a good sergeant, but he’s not a general,” said Bowman, who championed Arbour as his successor. “That’s exactly what they told me. ”. The Blues had no time for “sergeants,” but the New York Islanders did. Fired in St. Louis just 13 games into the 1972-73 schedule, Arbour got another chance the following season in New York, inheriting a team that won 12 games. Source: www.stltoday.com
