Bill Torrey’s greatness is there to see for anyone who cares to look

“Lookit.”

If Bill Torrey did not preface every sentence that way, it sure was pretty darn close.

“Lookit,” he would say as he did at a press conference in 1978, for instance, upon the announcement of the Islanders’ signing of a Swedish netminder named Goran Hogosta. “There’s no question that Hogie is a world-class goaltender and what that means for Chico [Resch] and Smitty [Billy Smith], we’ll have to see.”

Can’t win them all.

But for a time, and what a time it was, the Islanders of Bill Torrey and Al Arbour almost did win them all. The general manager and the coach, linked inextricably as quite likely the greatest such tandem in NHL history, are together again in the wake of Torrey’s passing at his home in Florida on Wednesday night at the age of 83.

Bow Tie Bill and Radar.

Nineteen straight series victories for the Dynastic Islanders through the four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983 and the “Drive for Five” that finally fell three wins short in the 1984 final. Nineteen straight, a number that never has been approached in the history of pro sports and, it’s safe to say, never will.

Nineteen straight with the players acquired through the draft and via trades by Torrey and then coached by Arbour.

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Torrey had worked for Charlie Finley in California and he worked for Roy Boe on the Island and each experience was an adventure. He was a promoter when he ran the AHL Pittsburgh Hornets back in the day and then he became The Architect from the moment he took command of the expansion team located in Uniondale, L.I., in 1972.

He selected Smith, Eddie Westfall and Gerry Hart in the expansion draft; Billy Harris (first overall), Bobby Nystrom and Lorne Henning in the amateur draft. The Islanders won 12 games. He added Denis Potvin (first overall) and Dave Lewis in the ’73 draft, Clark Gillies and Bryan Trottier (in the second round!) a year after that.

My first job in this business — my first full-time job, period — was covering the Islanders in 1976-77. Imagine breaking in with those guys. At the time, I had my hair permed, and wore an Afro. You know who I was to Torrey and Arbour?

“Buffalo Head.”

The last time I talked with Torrey was in Edmonton on Dec. 11, 2015, upon the banner-raising ceremony for his good friend, Glen Sather. Torrey’s banner, one simply depicting a bow tie and the title, “The Architect,” had been raised at the Coliseum in January 2001.

“Lookit, Buffalo Head,” Torrey said, before telling stories about the rivalry between the two powerhouses of the 1980s. I reminded him that I had once written that the team might be on the verge of trading for a center named Guy Chouinard.

He shook his head and cackled as he had done maybe 37 years earlier.

“Geeeeee Shwee-nard,” he said in an extended phonetic pronunciation of the one-time Flames’ center, who did score 50 goals in 1978-79.

Within two days of January 1975, Torrey traded Ernie Hicke, Doug Rombough and Craig Cameron to the North Stars for J.P. Parise and Jude Drouin. The Islanders, in their third season and second coached by Arbour, went to the 1975 semifinals. They went to the semis in 1976 and then again in 1977. They added Mike Bossy (15th overall!) in 1977-78 and lost in the second round when they were bullied by the Maple Leafs. They were upset by the Rangers in the Battle of New York in the 1979 semis after finishing first overall.

About that time, folks began to wonder if the Islanders could win the big one. Other than getting Wayne Merrick from Cleveland in 1978, Torrey hadn’t made a trade of substance in years. I began to refer to him as “Stand Pat Bill.”

Then, he pulled off arguably the most impactful deadline deal in NHL history, the one in March 1980 in which Torrey dealt franchise favorite son Billy Harris and Dave Lewis to the Kings in exchange for Butch Goring. It was Dave DeBusschere coming to the Knicks to the nth power.

Then, history.

Lookit.

You could look it up.