Best NHL playoffs ever?
 

So I just got to think about one of my favourite topics...

I can't judge it complexely because I have not had a chance to watch any series before 94, and I have only read about and seen shortcuts from the amazing times of Oilers and Islanders in the 80's, Flames in 89 Lonny McDonald holding the Stanley Cup with the biggest moustache in the NHL history plus the double for Penguins with Jagr, Mario and Paul Coffey on rooster had to be something too...

BUT at least from what i have had a chance to see, I would always vote for the:

93 / 94 NY RANGERS as the STANLEY CUP WINNER

both - semifinals with Devils and then finals with Canucks (which is my favourite team ever since) were an incredible displayment of moral and skills, moments like Mark Messier scoring a third period hattrick to turn over the game 6 of semi finals with NJ are tough to match.

Plus the whole seven game final series with Vancouver was some of the finest hockey I ever saw..

Purchased a 15 DVD set of the NY / NJ and NY / VAN series once I was in Vegas this january, just finally got to watch that and I gotta say, even after 13 years I am enjoying every minute as a little kid so far...

Which are your favourites?

i've seen many many more than you - Rangers winning the Cup was special enough but it was more memorable because Vancouver gave them a battle unlike last season's piece of shit final between Anaheim and Ottawa. :

if you only go back as far as 94 then you missed out on a lot - by 94 fighting especially in the playoffs was pretty much gone and to me the NHL has lost a lot of its appeal without the fighting.

The Oilers were amazing to watch but only their first upset Cup ending the Islanders dynasty was memorable. Any of the Calary/Edmonton playoff series were classics, two teams that hated each other with a passion. I still liked the Montreal/Quebec City one better - I forget the year but their series was bloody and violent and probably the most compelling playoff series I've ever seen.

I'm old enough to remember the Flyers two Cup wins - they were right of the movie Slapshot and it was a spectacle - they played a classic final against Buffalo to win one of them. I think the biggest championship parade in any sport up to that point happened in Philly - that city was Flyer crazy, over 2 million people lined the parade route.

Montreal and Boston always had classic playoff matchups.

You should go get some tapes from old Stanley Cup series - the game looks a lot slower and it was but the game was better to watch, without helmets it was a lot easier to connect with all the players. Most are faceless robots today.

I'm sure YouTube probably has some vintage Stanley Cup games. I watched the 1967 Toronto/Montreal final game on YouTube - i was too young to watch that one but to finally see it after reading so much about it was great - i had goosebumps.

I'm sure Bobby Orr's classic flying through the air goal to win a Cup against St Louis must be on there.

Anybody who says Gretzky is the greatest hockey player in history is wrong - just find some tapes of Orr in his prime, he was the greatest - too bad his knees were shot so young - by the time I got to see Orr he was still great but hobbled.

I have been checking out many "spotlight" videos and read lots about the history at the www.legendsofhockey.net - great web. From what I have been checking were mainly some Oilers (Kurri, Gretzky, Coffey etc.) and Islanders (Trottier, Bossy) stuff that is amazing, coming from the country that won a couple of world championships and 98 Olympics I like the hockey beeing smart and technical.

The same in soccer, I can remember players that started from the scratch, working hard for the game they loved and were personalities with their every appearance on the ice or on the pitch.

Nowadays I feel it's more like someone decides that you will be a hockey player when you are 5 years old and either you make it through the teen years or not...

Yes, who wouldn't know that one..

Would rather say Mario and Orr were the only ones to challenge and Wayne the longest lasting, but yes, Bobby was a blast, winning the Art Ross Trophy as a defenseman... don't need to say more.. Paul Coffey is probably my most favourite defense player and probably close to him a little bit.

Mentioning Philadelphia, yes I read they were pretty rough guys, could be hell of a time. If I am not mistaken I can remember the names of Dave "Tiger" Williams and Orland Kurtenbach who then finished up his carrier in Vancouver..

Tiger was a great entertainer and a goon - one of the rare goons in his era who could play a regular shift and score 20 goals a season plus goon it up to over 300 penalty minutes a season.

Most teams of that era had one or two goons, the Flyers were a whole team of them, even the skilled players on that team were dirty. They used to call it the 'Philly Flu' - there were players in the NHL who would fake illness or injuries to avoid having to play against the Flyers.

Winning the scoring championship as a defenceman like Orr did I can almost guarantee will never happen again. But I still don't think it's his most remarkable accomplishment - his plus/minus stats were bizarre - nobody has ever come close to those stats. And what most people don't know about Bobby Orr is how tough he was and what a great fighter he was, he didn't fight often but when he did he was a beast - as good as any of the top fighters of his time.

Also eight Norris Trophies in a row 1968 - 1975

Paul Coffey is the only defenseman to come one point close to his career best during a regular season.

A trivia:

Who was the first European player to win the Art Ross Trophy?


The Price for the winner:

Getting laid in our club for free

Jaromir Jagr

Here's a better question.

How many Europeans have captained a Stanley Cup winning team? :winkwink:

That wasn't hard was it? Whenever you want to claim the prize let me know!

86 and 93!


http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2...ens1992dw9.gif

Let me think, I know Mogilnyj was a captain while in Buffalo, I would give some chances probably to Larionov and Detroit, but that would have to be as a substitute for Steve Yzerman so not the real captain.. Forsberg and Naslund were also captains with their teams, but no stanley cups there. Also Niklas Lidstrom put the badge after Steve in Detroit and I am not sure if Saku Koivu also was not a captain with Montreal.

I can't think of any Stanley cup winner though.. so my answer would be none.

Correct ;)

In the history of the nhl only once has a team captained by a non-canadian won a stanley cup. The Dallas Stars with US Born Derrian Hatcher :winkwink:

That was on reason to root for the Ducks over the senators last year.