LAKE PLACID – As he tries to block out the haunting memory of last season, two-time all-star goaltender Felix Potvin looks at his first training camp with the Islanders as a fresh start.
“What happened last year was last year,” Potvin said yesterday after the second day of camp at the Olympic Center. “It was definitely a tough year. I’m happy to be here right at the start.”
Last year at this time, Potvin was beginning his sixth season with the Maple Leafs and was coming off his lowest goals-against average (2.73) of his career .
But Toronto, unhappy over missing the playoffs for two consecutive years, had signed free agent Curtis Joseph, one of the NHL’s top goalies. Pushed to a back-up role, Potvin was furious, and, in an attempt to force a trade, he bolted the Leafs shortly after the season began.
It wasn’t until Jan. 9 that Toronto dealt the disgruntled goaltender to the Islanders for defenseman Bryan Berard. The clubs also swapped sixth-round draft choices.
Playing on another poor team, Potvin struggled mightily and didn’t earn his first win until Feb. 4 at Boston. As if it were possible, his season took a further turn for the worse when he suffered a serious groin strain that kept him sidelined from Feb. 13 through April 6.
With the Islanders far out of any playoff race, Potvin could have just taken off the rest of the season. Instead, the Anjou, Quebec native made an improbable and dramatic return on April 12. Starting a game at New Jersey, Potvin stopped 55 shots to tie Billy Smith’s franchise save record in a 4-2 victory. Coincidentally, Potvin’s favorite player growing up was Smith.
Dissatisfied with Potvin’s overall showing, general manager Mike Milbury refused to give the goalie a raise, signing him to a one-year deal worth $2.7 million, plus incentive-laden bonuses.
Now, the 28-year-old Potvin knows it’s time to prove himself.
“I think it’s important to have a good season for myself,” he said. “You always have to believe in yourself. I never lost my confidence. I know I can put that year behind me and look straight ahead.”
Having looked rusty on the first day, allowing five goals, the 6-foot-1, 195-pounder was sharper yesterday, giving up just two goals (by Mike Watt and Dmitri Nabokov) during the 50-minute scrimmage.
“I thought he was better, [but] I don’t think he has his ‘A’ game going yet,” first-year coach Butch Goring said. “You have to remember he hasn’t played a lot of hockey [the past year]. But when the puck’s dropped for Game One, he’ll be ready.” *With neither side ready to budge on contract talks, restricted free agent center Mats Lindgren remains unsigned and out of camp. A well-placed source told The Post yesterday that the Islanders have offered $625,000, which is only $75,000 less than Lindgren is demanding. The Islanders, however, are playing hardball because they don’t feel Lindgren has any leverage, the source said.
Milbury and Lindgren’s agent, Mike Barnett, have not spoken since Thursday and have no future talks scheduled.
Meanwhile, Lindgren, who joined the Isles from the Oilers in exchange for Tommy Salo last March, began playing for a team in Sweden over the weekend. * Goring raved about the play of rookie centers Jason Krog and Tim Connolly. “They both had good days,” he said.
After a weak showing in his first day of camp Sunday, Krog, the Hobey Baker Award winner as college hockey’s best player last season, had one goal yesterday. *Goring said he will make his first cuts sometime after the first exhibition game Saturday at Pittsburgh.