1994 Stanley Cup Finals

1994 Stanley Cup Finals
Teams1*234567Games
New York Rangers 23543134
Vancouver Canucks  3 1 12 6 4 2 3

* game decided in overtime

<tr style="vertical-align: top;><tr style="vertical-align: top;>
Location:New York (Madison Square Garden) (1,2,5,7)
Vancouver (Pacific Coliseum) (3,4,6)
Format:Best-of-seven
Coaches:New York: Mike Keenan
Vancouver: Pat Quinn
Captains:New York: Mark Messier
Vancouver: Trevor Linden
National anthem:New York: John Amirante
Vancouver: Richard Loney (3)
John Reynolds (4,6)
Referees:Terry Gregson (1,4,7)
Bill McCreary (2,6)
Andy Van Hellemond (3,5)
Dates:May 31 – June 14
MVP:Brian Leetch (New York Rangers)
Series-winning
goal:		Mark Messier (13:29, second, G7)
Networks:CBC (Canada-English), SRC (Canada-French), ESPN (United States), MSG Network (New York City market)
Announcers:(CBC) Bob Cole, Harry Neale, Dick Irvin, Jr.
(ESPN) Gary Thorne, Bill Clement
(MSG Network) Sam Rosen, John Davidson
 < 1993Stanley Cup Finals1995 > 

The 1994 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven playoff series contested between the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers and Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League. The Canucks were making the club's second Final appearance, their first coming during their Cinderella run of 1982, and the Rangers were making their tenth appearance, their first since 1979. The Rangers ended their record 54-year championship drought with a victory in game seven to claim the long-awaited Stanley Cup. It was the fourth championship in franchise history. The CBC broadcast of the deciding game seven attracted an average Canadian audience of 4.957 million viewers, making it the most watched CBC Sports program in history to that time.[1]

Road to the Final

The Canucks entered the playoffs seeded seventh in the Western Conference, and overcame a three games to one deficit against the Calgary Flames, winning the final three games in overtime with game seven ending in double overtime as Pavel Bure scored the winning goal on a breakaway to upset the Flames.[2][3] They then upset the Dallas Stars, seeded fourth and the Toronto Maple Leafs, seeded third, in five games each to capture the Western Conference title.[4][5]

The Rangers entered the playoffs with the league's best record, then swept their New York area rival New York Islanders and then beat the Washington Capitals in five games,[6] before falling behind three games to two in the Eastern Conference Final against their Hudson River rivals, New Jersey Devils.[6] They then won game six by a 4–2 score after Mark Messier publicly guaranteed a victory and then scored a third period hat trick.[7] The Rangers then won game seven 2–1 on Stéphane Matteau's goal in double overtime, prompting the call of "Matteau, Matteau, Matteau!" by Rangers radio announcer Howie Rose.[6][8] It was Matteau's second double overtime goal of the series.[9]

The series

This series brought together two assistant coaches who were teammates on the other Canucks team to reach the Finals, Rangers assistant coach Colin Campbell and Canucks assistant coach Stan Smyl, who served as team captain then, as Kevin McCarthy was injured.[10]

It was the second straight Finals that featured a former Edmonton Oilers captain trying to become the first person to capture a Stanley Cup as captain on two different teams. The previous year, Wayne Gretzky, who captained the Oilers to the first four of their five Stanley Cups in the 1980s, captained the Los Angeles Kings to the finals.[11] Here, it was Mark Messier of the Rangers, who captained the Oilers to the last of their five, in 1990.[12][13]

The Rangers players had a decided edge in Finals experience, with seven players from the 1990 Oilers,[14] including Messier, Glenn Anderson, Jeff Beukeboom, Adam Graves, Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish, and Esa Tikkanen. One 1990 Oiler, Martin Gélinas, played for the Canucks. Overall, the Rangers had eleven players with previous Finals appearances, compared to the Canucks' five. In addition, three of the Rangers (Messier, Anderson, and Lowe) were each making their seventh appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals (each having made their first six with Edmonton).

With the Rangers having 112 points and the Canucks having only 85, the 27 point difference was the largest point differential between two teams in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1982, when there was a 41-point difference between the New York Islanders (118) and the Canucks (77).[10][15]

Game one

The Rangers scored early and led 2–1 late in the third period before Martin Gélinas tied the game with 1:00 to play in regulation time.[16] It was the third time in eight games that the Rangers had surrendered a last-minute tying goal.[16] The Rangers were all over the Canucks in overtime, but goaltender Kirk McLean made 52 saves on the night. In the last minute of the first overtime, Brian Leetch hit the crossbar at one end, and the Canucks went down to score the winner at the other on an odd-man rush by Greg Adams, as the Rangers, once again, lost a series opener at home in overtime.[6]

Game two

The Rangers evened the series with a 3–1 victory before the series shifted west.[17]

Game three

The Canucks came storming out in front of their home fans and Pavel Bure scored on his first shift to give them the early lead. But late in the period, with the score tied 1–1, Bure hit Jay Wells in the face with his stick and cut him, leading to a major penalty and Bure's expulsion from the game. Glenn Anderson scored on the ensuing power-play and the Rangers then cruised to a 5–1 victory.

Game four

In the fourth game, the Canucks again jumped out to an early lead, this time 2–0, before Mike Richter and Brian Leetch took over the game. Richter made some key saves to keep the game within reach, including one on a penalty shot against Pavel Bure, and Leetch picked up a goal and three assists as the Rangers won 4–2 to take a commanding 3–1 series lead.

Game five

Most who entered Madison Square Garden for the fifth game thought they were going to see the Rangers win the Cup that night. New York had already set the date for a victory parade.[14] However, the celebration plans got ahead of the work at hand. The Canucks were leading 3-0 by the third minute of the third period. Even though the Rangers scrambled to pull even by the midway point, Vancouver took the lead 29 seconds later on a goal by Dave Babych and cruised to a 6-3 win.

Game six

The Canucks fired 14 shots at Mike Richter in the first period and led 1–0 on a Jeff Brown bullet from the point. The score was 2–1 after two periods before another Brown goal gave the Canucks a 3–1 third period lead. Late in the third, Geoff Courtnall appeared to score for the Canucks, but the play continued and the Rangers scored to temporarily make the score 3–2. But, in the ensuing video review, it was confirmed that Courtnall had indeed scored his second goal of the game to clinch the game for the Canucks and force a seventh game.

Game seven

For the second time since 1971 and the tenth time overall, the Final went to seven games. Rangers Coach Mike Keenan became the first person to be a head coach in game sevens of the Stanley Cup Finals for two different teams. Keenan had coached the Philadelphia Flyers in 1987 when they lost to the Edmonton Oilers.[18] Mike Babcock would join him in this feat in 2009 while with the Detroit Red Wings, having been with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim when they lost to the New Jersey Devils in 2003 (the home team won all seven games of the series).[19]

The game at Madison Square Garden was an "electric affair"[14] with the Rangers jumping to an early 2-0 lead. Canucks captain Trevor Linden, however, silenced the home crowd with a short-handed goal early in the second period. Mark Messier restored order with a third Ranger goal only to have Linden make it close again with a goal early in the third. After that, it was "hectic, jittery hockey." Nathan LaFayette "frightened all Manhattan wobbling a loose puck" off the post behind Mike Richter with five minutes left.[14] The remaining seconds of the game were agony for both team's fans, with three faceoffs in the New York end in the last 37 seconds.

Mark Messier provided two of the most memorable images of that Stanley Cup Finals that would become iconic images to the Rangers and their fans: first, jumping up and down like a little kid with overwhelming emotion as ticker tape fell, then, showing incredible emotion as he accepted the Stanley Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, as he became the first (and as of 2013, the only) player to captain two different teams to the Stanley Cup. For scoring the winning goal, Messier earned the tongue-in-cheek nickname of "Mr. June."[20]

Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st NYR Brian Leetch (11) Sergei Zubov (13) and Mark Messier (18) 11:02 1–0 NYR
NYR Adam Graves (10) - pp Alexei Kovalev (12) and Sergei Zubov (14) 14:45 2–0 NYR
2nd VAN Trevor Linden (11) - sh Brian Glynn (3) and Pavel Bure (15) 5:21 2–1 NYR
NYR Mark Messier (12) - pp Adam Graves (7) and Brian Noonan (7) 13:29 3–1 NYR
3rd VAN Trevor Linden (12) - pp Geoff Courtnall (10) and Cliff Ronning (10) 4:50 3–2 NYR
Penalty summary
Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM
1st VAN Jyrki Lumme Cross-checking 14:03 2:00
VAN Bret Hedican Roughing 18:50 2:00
NYR Esa Tikkanen Roughing 18:50 2:00
2nd VAN Jeff Brown Interference 4:38 2:00
VAN Dave Babych Tripping 12:46 2:00
NYR Mark Messier Hooking 16:39 2:00
3rd NYR Esa Tikkanen Hooking 4:16 2:00
NYR Craig MacTavish Roughing 10:55 2:00
VAN Trevor Linden Roughing 10:55 2:00
Shots by period
Team 1 2 3 T
Vancouver 9 12 9 30
New York 12 14 9 35

Television

In Canada, the series was televised in English on the CBC and in French on SRC. In the United States, the series was broadcast on ESPN. However, ESPN was blacked out in the New York City market because of the MSG Network's local rights to the Rangers games. ESPN also sent its broadcasts to a record 120 countries, for a potential audience of 285 million.[21] MSG Network broadcaster Al Trautwig said that the Rangers themselves contributed to those numbers in putting the first Russian names on the Stanley Cup—Alexander Karpovtsev, Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Nemchinov, and Sergei Zubov—giving a huge European audience, including those watching on the brand-new television screens across the former Soviet Union, a Stanley Cup story to remember.[22]

Ratings

In the United States, game seven was the highest-rated hockey game on cable. ESPN's broadcast drew a 5.2 rating.[23] However, in New York, the ESPN blackout meant MSG Network's broadcast drew 16.2 rating, a record for the network.[22][23] The two networks combined yielded a 6.9 rating.[23]

With an average Canadian audience of 4.957 million viewers, game seven was the most watched CBC Sports program until the 10.6 million viewers for the men's ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2002 Winter Olympics, when Canada won its first Olympic ice hockey gold medal since the 1952 Winter Olympics.[24] Bob Cole, who called both games,[25] said that game seven was one of his most memorable TV games.[25][26]

Rosters

Bolded years under Finals appearance indicates year won Stanley Cup.

New York Rangers

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
30 Glenn Healy L 1992–93 Canada Pickering, Ontario first (did not play)
35 Mike Richter L 1985 United States Abington, Pennsylvania first
Defencemen
# Player Shoots Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
2 Brian Leetch - A L 1986 United States Corpus Christi, Texas first
4 Kevin Lowe – A L 1992–93 Canada Lachute, Quebec seventh (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990)
6 Doug Lidster R 1993–94 Canada Kamloops, British Columbia first
21 Sergei Zubov R 1990 Soviet Union Moscow, USSR first
23 Jeff Beukeboom R 1991–92 Canada Ajax, Ontario fourth (1987, 1988, 1990)
24 Jay Wells L 1992–93 Canada Paris, Ontario first
25 Alexander Karpovtsev R 1993–94 Soviet Union Moscow, USSR first
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
9 Adam Graves – A LW L 1991–92 Canada Toronto, Ontario second (1990)
10 Esa Tikkanen RW L 1993–94 Finland Helsinki, Finland fifth (1985, 1987, 1988, 1990)
11 Mark Messier – C C L 1991–92 Canada Edmonton, Alberta seventh (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990)
12 Ed Olczyk C L 1992–93 United States Palos Heights, Illinois first (did not play)
13 Sergei Nemchinov C L 1990 Soviet Union Moscow, USSR first
14 Craig MacTavish C L 1993–94 Canada London, Ontario fourth (1987, 1988, 1990)
15 Mike Hudson C L 1993–94 Canada Guelph, Ontario first
16 Brian Noonan RW R 1993–94 United States Boston, Massachusetts second (1992)
17 Greg Gilbert LW L 1993–94 Canada Mississauga, Ontario fourth (1982, 1983, 1992)
18 Mike Hartman LW L 1992–93 United States Detroit, Michigan first (did not play)
19 Nick Kypreos LW L 1993–94 Canada Toronto, Ontario first
26 Joe Kocur RW L 1990–91 Canada Kelvington, Saskatchewan first
27 Alexei Kovalev RW L 1991 Soviet Union Tolyatti, USSR first
28 Steve Larmer - A RW L 1993–94 Canada Peterborough, Ontario second (1992)
32 Stephane Matteau LW L 1993–94 Canada Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec second (1992)
36 Glenn Anderson RW/LW L 1993–94 Canada Vancouver, British Columbia seventh (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990)

Vancouver Canucks

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
1 Kirk McLean L 1987–88 Canada Willowdale, Ontario first
30 Mike Fountain L 1992 Canada North York, Ontario first (did not play)
35 Kay Whitmore L 1992–93 Canada Sudbury, Ontario first (did not play)
Defencemen
# Player Shoots Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
3 Bret Hedican L 1993–94 United States St. Paul, Minnesota first
4 Gerald Diduck L 1990–91 Canada Edmonton, Alberta first
5 Dana Murzyn – A L 1990–91 Canada Calgary, Alberta second (1989, did not play)
6 Adrien Plavsic L 1989–90 Canada Montreal, Quebec first (did not play)
21 Jyrki Lumme L 1989–90 Finland Tampere, Finland first
22 Jeff Brown R 1993–94 Canada Ottawa, Ontario first
24 Jiri Slegr L 1990 Czech Republic Jihlava, Czechoslovakia first (did not play)
28 Brian Glynn R 1993–94 Germany Iserlohn, West Germany first
44 Dave Babych L 1991–92 Canada Edmonton, Alberta first
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of birth Finals appearance
7 Cliff Ronning C L 1990–91 Canada Burnaby, British Columbia first
8 Greg Adams LW L 1987–88 Canada Nelson, British Columbia first
10 Pavel Bure RW L 1989 Soviet Union Moscow, USSR first
14 Geoff Courtnall LW L 1990–91 Canada Victoria, British Columbia second (1988)
15 John McIntyre C L 1993–94 Canada London, Ontario first
16 Trevor Linden – C C R 1988 Canada Medicine Hat, Alberta first
17 Jimmy Carson C R 1993–94 United States Southfield, Michigan second (did not play)
18 Shawn Antoski LW L 1990 Canada Brantford, Ontario first
19 Tim Hunter RW R 1992–93 Canada Calgary, Alberta third (1986, 1989)
20 Jose Charbonneau RW R 1993–94 Canada Ferme-Neuve, Quebec first (did not play)
23 Martin Gelinas RW R 1993–94 Canada Shawinigan, Quebec second (1990)
25 Nathan LaFayette RW R 1993–94 Canada New Westminster, British Columbia first
27 Sergio Momesso – A LW L 1990–91 Canada Montreal, Quebec first
29 Gino Odjick LW L 1990 Canada Maniwaki, Quebec first (did not play)
32 Murray Craven C L 1992–93 Canada Medicine Hat, Alberta third (1985, 1987)
33 Michael Peca C R 1992 Canada Toronto, Ontario first (did not play)

New York Rangers - 1994 Stanley Cup champions

Roster

  Centres

(also played wing)

  Wingers
  Goaltenders


A - Did not play in Final.

  Coaching and administrative staff
  • Neil Smith (President/General Manager/Governor). Robert Gutkowski (Alt. Governor)
  • Stanley Jaffe (Alt. Governor), Kenneth Munoz (Alt. Governor)
  • Larry Pleau (Asst. General Manager), Mike Keenan (Head Coach)
  • Colin Campbell (Associate Coach), Dick Todd (Asst. Coach)
  • Matthew Loughran (Manager of Team Operations), Barry Watkins (Director of Communications)
  • Christer Rockstrom (Scout), Tony Feltrin (Scout)
  • Martin Madden (Scout), Herb Hammond (Scout), Darrwin Bennett (Scout)
  • Dave Smith (Medical trainer), Joe Murphy (Equipment trainer)
  • Mike Folga (Equipment Manager), Bruce Lifrieri (Massage Therapist)

Stanley Cup engraving

See also

References

Inline citations
  1. ↑ Canadian Press (June 15, 2011). "Babych haunted by Canucks' Game 7 loss in 1994". CBCSports.ca. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved May 19, 2012. The broadcast of Game 7 attracted an average audience of (4.957) million viewers to CBC. At the time, it was the most-watched CBC sports program in history.
  2. ↑ Canadian Press (May 1, 1994). "Canucks conquer Falmes in OT". Toronto Star. p. B5.
  3. ↑ Jamieson, Jim (May 1, 1994). "YEEEE-HAH!: Pavel buries Flames in double overtime". Vancouver Province. p. A72.
  4. ↑ Strachan, Alex (May 25, 1994). "Final-ly: Canucks make Stanley Cup after thriller". Vancouver Sun. p. A1.
  5. ↑ MacIntyre, Ian (May 25, 1994). "Canucks advance to Cup final: Adams scores winner in double overtime to sink Maple Leafs". Vancouver Sun. p. D1.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Morrison 2008, p. 106
  7. ↑ Morrison 2008, pp. 106, 137
  8. ↑ "Howie Rose". MSG.com. Madison Square Garden, LP. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  9. ↑ LaPointe, Joe (May 28, 1994). "2 Overtimes Later, It's a Final and It's the Rangers". New York Times. p. 27. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Olson, Arv (June 1, 1994). "1982 Canucks were unlikeliest of heroes". The Vancouver Sun. p. E3.
  11. ↑ Morrison 2008, pp. 131, 145
  12. ↑ Cole 2004, p. 120
  13. ↑ Morrison 2008, pp. 134–137
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Cole 2004, p. 128
  15. ↑ Jamieson, Jim (May 31, 1994). "Paper rout for Rangers". Vancouver Province. p. A54. The 27-point differential is the greatest, ironically, between Stanley Cup finalists since the last time the Canucks made the trip to this mega-city 12 springs ago.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Sell, Dave (June 1, 1994). "Canucks Take Stanley Cup Opener in OT". The Washington Post. p. F01. The Rangers lost the first game of their Eastern Conference finals against New Jersey in much the same fashion. In both cases, they controlled play, took leads, then lost leads...Martin Gelinas scored for a 2-2 tie with 60 seconds left in regulation.
  17. ↑ Fisher, Red (June 3, 1994). "Cup final tied heading to Vancouver". The Montreal Gazette. p. D1.
  18. ↑ Morrison 2008, p. 109
  19. ↑ Podell, Ira (June 13, 2009). "Penguin power: Pittsburgh motors away from Detroit with the silver Cup". Salt Lake Deseret News. Associated Press. p. D1. The Penguins...beat the defending champion Detroit Red Wings 2-1...in Game 7 and win the Stanley Cup for the third time...In 2003...the last series in which the home team won all seven games...the Mighty Ducks team that lost then was coached by current Red Wings bench boss Mike Babcock.
  20. ↑ Barron, James (June 18, 1994). "New Yorkers Bury the Rangers' Curse in a Sea of Confetti". The New York Times. p. 28.
  21. ↑ Christie, James (June 15, 1994). "Rangers Bask on Highest Plateau". The Globe and Mail. p. C8.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Kalinsky, George (2004). Garden of Dreams. New York: Stewart, Tabori, & Chang. p. 171. ISBN 1-58479-343-0.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 "Game 7 a Cable-Ratings High". New York Times. June 16, 1994. p. B12.
  24. ↑ Ohler, Shawn (February 26, 2002). "Lucky Loonie Stunt Pays Off". The Calgary Herald. p. A1. A record-busting average of 8.7 million Canadians watched on television as the men's hockey team snatched gold from the United States in Salt Lake City...The audience actually peaked at 10.6 million, the CBC said Monday...CBC says that prior to Sunday, its highest-rated sports show was Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup between the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks, which attracted an average of 4.97 million viewers.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Morrison, Scott (2010). Hockey Night in Canada: Best of the Best. Toronto: Key Porter Books. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-55470-316-6.
  26. ↑ Houston, William (November 6, 1997). "Cole's Close Call". The Globe and Mail. p. S4. Cole's three most memorable TV games: 1. Game 7 of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals (Edmonton 3, Philadelphia 1). The Oilers at their peak. 2. Game 3 of 1996 World Cup of Hockey Final (United States 5, Canada 2). 'I was devastated.' 3. Game 7, 1994 Stanley Cup Finals (New York Rangers 3, Vancouver 2). 'A great series.'
Bibliography
Preceded by
Montreal Canadiens
1993		 New York Rangers
Stanley Cup Champions
1994 		Succeeded by
New Jersey Devils
1995