Al Arbour took an ordinary team and made them good, a good team and made them great and a great team and made them legends.
He died Friday at the age of 82, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease and dementia.
The numbers say he is the second-greatest coach in NHL history, just behind Scotty Bowman and ahead of current Chicago Blackhawks boss Joel Quenneville who has built a modern-day dynasty by winning three Stanley Cups in six seasons.
Well, Arbour didn’t work with modern-day standards. He built a juggernaut that reeled off four straight championships.