The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

[DrJones]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

#3 - Oilers def. Flames 4-3 (1991 Smythe Semifinal)

As previously mentioned, the 1986 Flames finally bested their provincial rivals, but couldn't seal the deal with a Stanley Cup that year. The Oilers regained the Cup in '87 and humiliated the Presidents' Trophy winning Flames with a 4-game sweep in '88 en route to their 4th championship in 5 years. Calgary broke through with their first Cup in '89, but thanks to Gretzky's LA Kings, didn't have to go through Edmonton to do it. The situation was reversed in 1990, as the Oilers won their 5th Cup after watching Gretzky & co. douse the Flames.

And so now we move on to 1991, and the first round matched up the last two Stanley Cup champions. The 1980s were over, but its biggest rivalry demanded a fitting finale. One last kick at the can for two elite teams who hated each other's guts. One final Battle of Alberta.

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[DrJones]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

Random Aside: Everyone knows that the NHL is extremely conservative when it comes to rule changes. When it comes to safety issues, death or extreme injury is required to make common sense changes. When it comes to dumb rules, something embarrassing has to happen in a big spot. Ahem.



Someone among you might have wondered what happened to make the NHL finally adopt video review? The answer: Game 1 of the above CGY/EDM series. Joe Nieuwendyk's tying goal was disallowed because it hit the padding inside the post and then came out quickly. Although you can't really tell on the footage above, the puck did indeed cross the goal line. The front page of the Calgary papers the next day had a close up shot of the puck clearly across the goal line with "ROBBED" in 3-inch font.

So video review was introduced in the 91/92 season. A few Detroit and Minnesota fans on the boards might be old enough to remember its first important test case:

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[jvalverde88]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

I had a teacher in Middle School who would wear a "No Goal" shirt and would always remind people that goal should've not counted and the Sabres should've been in the SCF.

[DrJones]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

#2 - Kings def. Maple Leafs 4-3 (1993 Campbell Final)

As mentioned earlier, most of the later playoff rounds during the NHL's original divisional era (1982-1993) were duds. There never seemed to be a particularly compelling Wales (ie, East) matchup (though I guess you could make an argument for Pens/Bruins in '91) and Edmonton usually pounded on some Norris jobber. The stakes were pretty low.

1993 was a different animal though; a wildly unpredictable one. Gretzky's Kings had finally broken Alberta's stranglehold on the Smythe and reached the NHL's Final 4 for the first time since 1969. Their opponent? Gretzky's hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, who had survived 7-game wars with the Wings and Blues. The Leafs hadn't made the semis since 1978 or the SCF since 1967, their last title. The Kings had never made a Cup Final.

The stakes for this series would've been sky-high regardless, but Canada's greatest athlete vs the Centre of the Hockey Universe? And awaiting them in a clash for the 100th Stanley Cup, Patrick Roy and the Montreal Canadiens? Gretzky vs the Habs? A Toronto vs Montreal Stanley Cup Final? At a time when the league's entertainment value and star quality had never been higher? (Not the mention the peak of the Sega Genesis NHL era!) This was a big deal, kids.

Then there was the series itself. Close, exciting games. A memorable hit (McSorley on Gilmour), a memorable fight (Clark vs McSorley immediately following the hit). The teams quickly grew to dislike each other. The coaches (Pat Burns and Barry Melrose) quickly grew to dislike each other. A dramatic OT win by Toronto in Game 5 left them one win away from a date with Montreal. A Wendel Clark hat trick tied Game 6 at 4-4 late in the 3rd, followed by the most famous missed penalty in NHL history and seconds later, the Great One, who by NHL rules at the time should've been given 5 and a game, scoring in OT to force Game 7 in Toronto. And then...

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(PS: If you're reading this, sorry DGB.)

[DrJones]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

#1 - Ducks def. Wild 4-0 (2003 West Final)

There are no words to describe how much this series su--

Oh, wait. Wrong list.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

For someone who wants to learn more about hockey history, this thread is golden. I have to live here over the summer.

[rdnk]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

For someone who wants to learn more about hockey history, this thread is golden. I have to live here over the summer.

I agree. Great thread, especially for those of us who grew up in the trap era and missed the 80s.

Way too many Wings heartbreaks in this thread though:

Leafs Wings 93'
Sharks Wings 94'
Avs Wings 96'
Oilers Wings 06'
Ducks Wings 07'
Pens Wings 09'
Sharks Wings 11'

Plus, Psyblast had to go and mention Adam Deadmarsh, leading to more Wings chokejobs:

Avs Wings 99' (went up 2-0 on the road, then got swept)
Kings Wings 01' (DEADMARSH)
Hawks Wings 13' (we had no business being up 3-1, still should have finished the job)

[DrJones]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

I agree. Great thread, especially for those of us who grew up in the trap era and missed the 80s.

Way too many Wings heartbreaks in this thread though:

Leafs Wings 93'
Sharks Wings 94'
Avs Wings 96'
Oilers Wings 06'
Ducks Wings 07'
Pens Wings 09'
Sharks Wings 11'

Plus, Psyblast had to go and mention Adam Deadmarsh, leading to more Wings chokejobs:

Avs Wings 99' (went up 2-0 on the road, then got swept)
Kings Wings 01' (DEADMARSH)
Hawks Wings 13' (we had no business being up 3-1, still should have finished the job)

Trade you for one of your 4 Stanley Cups!

[SidVish]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

I was just going to say it'd be tough to get sympathy with all those Cups.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

[DrJones]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

A few might be wondering why no 2011 SCF? The stakes and bad blood were certainly off the charts, but the Canucks were destroyed in the games they lost, so no dice. Even a modicum of drama in G6 or G7 would've earned it an HM, but c'est la vie.

The Game 1 HNIC intro is still one of my all-time faves, though. Someone in the States should be throwing serious coin at the guy who edits these to put together similar pieces for NFL, MLB, and NBA games.

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[DrJones]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

A few more classic HNIC intros:

2013 Playoff Opening Montage

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2008 Habs/Flyers Game 5

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2010 Playoff Closing Montage

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11/30/13 Habs/Leafs

This was the first Saturday night game after it was announced that CBC was losing Hockey Night in Canada at the end of this year after 61 seasons on the air. The pathos!

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[SidVish]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

In regards to the ones you posted that 2010 Hawks team will always be my favorite.

Now you've got me on Youtube viewing all of the CBC HNIC playoff montages starting with most recent. I'm on 2008 now and see one with the moments of the 2000 decade. That stuff is goose bump inducing.

Did Havlat ever get killed by Kronwall in 2009. Holy smokes.

Damn that Campoli turnover leading to Burrows OT goal in 2011. That was a fun series.

*Back to viewing more montages*

[rdnk]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

Trade you for one of your 4 Stanley Cups!

I was just going to say it'd be tough to get sympathy with all those Cups.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

We don't deserve any sympathy, but it doesn't make the tough losses any less painful. We've all been through it. We all wonder "what if..."

[SidVish]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

We don't deserve any sympathy, but it doesn't make the tough losses any less painful. We've all been through it. We all wonder "what if..."

It's painful but it could always be worse. Heck Game 7 of this Western Conference Final was a tough loss but those 2 Cups help ease the pain.

[DrJones]

Re: The Greatest Playoff Series of the Modern Era

#1 - Rangers def. Devils 4-3 (1994 East Final)

In 1994, the two best teams in hockey played in arenas 7 miles apart.

New York Rangers - 112 pts (1st), 299 GF (3rd), 231 GA (3rd)
New Jersey Devils - 106 pts (2nd), 306 GF (2nd), 220 GA (2nd)

Wait, a Jacques Lemaire Devils team was 2nd in the NHL in scoring with 300+ goals?? (Remember, no team scored more than 267 goals this season.) Yep. The early 90s, man.

I remember that Rangers team being a real GD powerhouse. If the Devils were better offensively and defensively, how'd they finish beneath them in the standings? Well, the Rangers going 6-0-0 vs New Jersey during the regular season might have something to do with that.

The Rangers had brought in Mark Messier to be their "messiah". The Oilers were owned by a, shall we say, corrupt, businessman named Peter Pocklington (he's appealing a prison sentence as we speak). Gretzky, Coffey, Kurri, Fuhr were sold off. Promising youngster Adam Graves was given away (to the Rangers). Messier was traded to New York for Bernie Nicholls, Louis DeBrusk, and Steven Rice. Good going, Slats.

The Rangers won the 91/92 Presidents' Trophy behind Messier's 118 pts and Hart Trophy, but were stunned in the playoffs by the Mario-less Penguins (Lemieux missed most of the series due to a vicious Graves slash on his wrist). The next year, the Rangers were stunned again by missing the playoffs. For the 93/94 season, the Rangers decided to load up on as many of Messier's former Edmonton teammates as they could (Glenn Anderson, Kevin Lowe, Esa Tikkanen, Craig MacTavish, Jeff Beukeboom). Mike "Hitler" Keenan was brought in to coach. Of course, they also had the fantastic Brian Leetch (strangely underrated for an American born Hall of Famer who played in New York), the brilliant-but-streaky Mike Richter in net, ex-Blackhawk scorer Steve Larmer, and young, talented Russians Alexei Kovalev and Sergei Zubov. That team was stacked.

The 93/94 Devils were led by the NHL's top rookie that year, a 21-year-old phenom named Martin Brodeur. Their leading scorer was... Scott Stevens!!! The forward corps was unspectacular but solid, led by veterans Stephane Richer, John MacLean, Claude Lemieux, and the aforementioned Bernie Nicholls, who had bounced back east by this point. Joining Stevens on D were Soviet legend Slava Fetisov and a 20-year-old Scott Niedermayer.

The Rangers reached the East Final with ease, dispatching the Isles and Caps in 9 games total. The Devils had a tougher road, outlasting Dominik Hasek's Sabres in 7 games and losing the first two games against the Bruins before winning 4 straight.

The Rangers hadn't won a Cup since 1940. The Devils had never won, and lived in New York's shadow both figuratively and literally. This was big. It was put up or shut up time.

Bear in mind that I'm a diehard Canucks fan who grew up absolutely loathing the Oilers of the 80s. They were the bane of my teenage years. At one point, they had a 27-game unbeaten streak vs Vancouver. When I was 12 in 1984 and visiting West Edmonton Mall, I said to someone that Messier was an ugly SOB, and Messier heard me. And, oh yeah, my adopted Eastern team was the Devils, as I had latched onto New Jersey's underdog run in '88. So, yeah. I was invested in this series. 1994 was the best of times; it was the blurst of times. Stupid monkeys.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. The two best teams in hockey. Seven games. Three double-OT classics. One game-tying goal with under 10 seconds left in Game 7. The most famous guarantee in sports history this side of Joe Willie Namath. An ungodly amount of (mostly deserved) hype. A series whose legacy will live forever, much to my chagrin.

EDIT: Amazingly, I couldn't find many good highlight packages online. My apologies. I'll replace the videos with better ones if I come across them later.

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