Dale Henry

All good things come to an end. Still, the New York Islanders probably had no intentions of that when they were winning four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early 1980s.

To try to remain a top contender for many years beyond the dynasty the Islanders loaded up on some prospects like Pat Lafontaine, Kelly Hrudey, Greg Gilbert, Pat Flatley and Shawn Evans.

The Isles may have thought they found a late round gem in Dale Henry. He was the 157th overall pick in 1983 after a 21 goal, 213 penalty minute season with the Saskatoon Blades.

Henry emerged the year following the draft with an impressive 41 goal season with continued rambunctious play which totalled 162 penalty minutes.

In his first year of pro hockey Henry ended up playing 16 games with the Islanders. Ten minutes into his first NHL game he got into a fight with Chicago's Bob McGill. He would go on to score a couple of goals that season, too.

Over six seasons Henry was up and down between the Islanders and the minor leagues. He would total 132 games, scoring 13 goals and 39 points.

Henry also played 14 Stanley Cup playoffs games, with the Easter Epic four overtime game seven game vs Washington being the highlight. Pat Lafontaine scored the immortalizing goal, but as defenseman Gord Dineen explained there was a lot more going on on that play, including a strong play by Henry.

"Kenny Leiter kept the puck in Washington’s end on the opposite side of the rink and I was just coming on the ice. Kenny missed the net on the shot and the puck came to me on the other side. I had a second wind coming off the bench, so I went in behind the net and came out the other side and tried to score myself, but it was blocked out in front. The puck went right out to Patty, who was covering my point. But nobody ever mentions Dale Henry as our guy out front. He did a great job of screening. Mason never even saw the puck."

Henry went on to a long minor league career playing and coaching in San Antonio and Shreveport.
He now works as a hockey director at a local rink in San Antonio.