Granville57 said:
What's your most memorable Stanley Cup Finals?
It's very hard for me to name just one!
Way too many to choose from.
Two consectutive years stand out for me though, in terms of how much I had invested emotionally in the series.
1993 & 1994
'93 was the LA Kings vs Montreal Canadiens.
I REALLY wanted to see Gretzky pull-off his attempt at being the first player to captain two different teams to the Championship. Plus, I believe that King's coach Barry Melrose (mullet and all) was attempting to become the youngest coach to ever win The Cup. IIRC, Montreal was undefeated at home that post-season and appeared to be the strong favorite, especially with the seemingly unbeatable Patrick Roy in goal.
The Kings came into town with Gretzky and Luc Robitaille firing on all cylinders (63 reg season goals for Luc!). Game one: BAM! Kings win!
Game Two: Kings had a one goal lead late into the 3rd period. If they could return home with a 2-0 series lead, it would've been huge. But...
The Canadiens challenged the legality of tough-guy (no joke, you didn't mess around with him) Marty McSorely's stick. Sure enough, the refs brought out that little measuring device and the blade of his stick was deemed to be just a bit over the limit (width or curve, I forget). That changed the entire series. Two minute penalty against the Kings. Canadiens pull Roy for the man advantage, and after and insane flurry of attacks against King's goalie Kelly Hrudey (no stranger to high-stakes drama!
*) they tie the game, sending it into overtime. Within the first minute of OT the Canadiens score and never look back.
The next two games in LA would also have to go to OT before being decided—
such intense hockey—but Montreal would win them both before returning home to secure The Cup. Like all Stanley Cups, that one was extremely hard fought.
Then Montreal went ablaze with riots!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5iJQDZeElw
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1994
New York Rangers beat the Vancouver Canucks in 7 games to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years.
A truly epic series. Mark Messier would achieve what Gretzky had hoped to do the previous year by becoming the first NHL player to captain two different teams to Stanley Cup glory.
I remember a post-game interview with Messier where he said that before game seven, coach Mike Keenan gave "the greatest motivational speech" he had ever heard.
Great, great drama.
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* Hrudey was the Islanders' goaltender in 1987 when they defeated the Washington Capitals in the longest game in club history, a four-overtime Game 7 thriller known as the "
Easter Epic", which was won on a goal by Pat LaFontaine after 68:47 of overtime. Hrudey made 73 saves (a playoff record) in a 3–2 Islander victory that ended just before 2am on Easter morning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZmLSFBGpEc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVPGSu7HOf4