Tim Ryan has two Stanley Cup rings from the Islanders, from 1979-80 and ’80-81, but he does not wear them. He believes that is not the place of a mere television play-by-play announcer.
But his contribution to the Islanders dynasty of the early 1980s goes far beyond that role. It turns out the announcer helped “The Architect” get the job that started it all.
Ryan was working as a sports anchor at WPIX in New York in the early 1970s when he interviewed Roy Boe, the owner of an NHL expansion team headed for Long Island.
“He was a huge basketball fan but knew nothing about hockey,” Ryan said recently from his home in Victoria, British Columbia.