GM of Isles’ 4 Stanley Cups dies at 83

SUNRISE, Fla. — Bill Torrey, the jovial bow-tie wearing Hall of Famer who was the general manager of the New York Islanders when they won four consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1980s and eventually became the first president of the Florida Panthers, has died.

Torrey died at his home in South Florida on Wednesday night, the NHL said. He was 83.

No cause was immediately revealed, though he was not known to be in any sort of poor health.

Torrey, who spent the last several years of his career as an advisor to Florida general manager Dale Tallon, was at work like usual in his Panthers’ office earlier this week.

“Bill was a giant of our game,” Tallon said. “He was the architect of a dynasty, a Hockey Hall of Famer and most importantly, a committed family man. I’m heartbroken by the news of his passing.”

Torrey left an indelible impact on hockey, particularly the Islanders and the Panthers.

He was the first employee in Islanders history when the franchise was born in 1972, and the team raised a banner in his honor years ago calling him “The Architect.”

Torrey then became Florida’s first president, and the Panthers gave him a banner in 2010 with the number “93” — a nod to 1993, when the team played its first game.

“He was a pioneer, who became a mentor and even better friend, to so many in the industry,” Islanders president and general manager Garth Snow said.

Florida reached the Stanley Cup final in 1996 under Torrey, falling to Colorado.

Earlier that season, Torrey went into the Hall of Fame as a builder who specialized in taking expansion teams and turning them into quick winners.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman called Torrey “a true legend of our game. His imprint is on virtually every team in our league, as he personally mentored and inspired generations of NHL general managers who have followed him and established the team-building blueprint based upon scouting, drafting and player development that today remains the model for lasting success,” Bettman said.

Torrey