million CAD in 2016), but his contract with the Marlies tied him to the OHA team for three years plus an option. In June 1975, the WHA owners voted to void Tonelli's Houston contract. Tonelli's agent threatened to sue, and the Marlies asked for $100,000 in compensation, plus 20 percent of Tonelli's three-year WHA contract. Tonelli refused to play for Toronto in the playoffs after he turned 18, so that it would not imperil his legal arguments. Tonelli's agent Gus Badali sued the Marlies and the OHA, and eventually the Ontario courts ruled that the contract was unenforceable because Tonelli had been under the age of 18 when he signed it, and his parents had not signed it. Tonelli's teammate, future NHLer John Anderson, followed this same lead, sitting out for a period, but eventually returned to lead Toronto in the Memorial Cup. Tonelli played for Houston for three seasons. During his time in Houston, he was drafted by the New York Islanders in the second round (33rd overall) in the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft after Jim Devellano, who was the Islanders Director of Scouting, came and visited Tonelli in Houston. Devellano was the only NHL scout to come and personally visit Tonelli in Houston while Tonelli was there, taking him out to dinner to talk. Up until 1977, Tonelli often suffered once or twice a year from devastating migraine headaches that started age 10 and that doctors said were caused by his intensity and nervousness at game time. Move to Islanders Tonelli's NHL rights were reclaimed by NY Islanders after the Houston WHA franchise folded in July 1978. In 1982 and 1985, Tonelli was a second team All-Star left wing for the Islanders. He played in the Stanley Cup finals in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1984 with the Islanders, winning four championships in the process, and made an additional appearance as runner-up in the Cup finals in 1986 with the Flames. On May 24, 1980, Tonelli had the assist on Bob Nystrom's overtime Stanley Cup-winning goal against the Philadelphia Flyers, giving the Islanders their first of four straight Cups. In Game 6 at Nassau Coliseum, Lorne Henning stole the puck at center ice, passed to Tonelli, who then criss-crossed with Nystrom, feeding him the puck on Nystrom's backhand for the winning goal at 7:11 of overtime. It was a play the two had perfected during practice. On January