Tag Archive for 'stanley-cup'
…so consider the following SI.com photo gallery link 27,000 words about how the Islanders became synonymous with “suck”, “circus”, and “farce”. Thanks to an old co-worker/Toronto fan for the link. No really, you shouldn’t have. Great to hear from you too…how’s that Jason Blake signing working out?
Watch the Isles go from this proud moment - Stanley Cup Champions, top of the world…
To this confused mess, throwing money into a seemingly bottomless pit…
All your favorite Islander low-lites are accounted for…Ron Hextall, Fishsticks, John Spano, Alexei Yashin, Dale Hunter, Dave Chyzowski, Brett Lindros, Don Maloney, Kirk Muller, Mad Mike Milbury, Neil Smith, Cryin’ Ryan Smyth, and the aging Nassau Coliseum. Normally I’m not big on Vanilla Ice quotes, but “Will it ever stop? Yo, I don’t know!” is just too fitting for this franchise.
Over at Joe Pelletier’s Greatest Hockey Legends blog, Joe’s been recapping every Stanley Cup finals since 1930. I’ve been reading them and just waiting for the day when he got to 1980. Well that day is here. Joe’s recapped all four of the Islanders Stanley Cups.
1980
The year is 1980. With a new decade comes a new champion, and, as it turns out, a new dynasty.
1981
The year is 1981. The New York Islanders successfully defend their first Stanley Cup championship, knocking off the Minnesota North Stars 4 games to 1.
The North Stars were an interesting team blessed with talent that, for whatever reason, never really had much success. But the stars were aligned for them in 1981, as their playoff road was smooth until meeting the Islanders in the finals.
1982
The year is 1982. It has been 65 years since the city of Vancouver celebrated their only Stanley Cup victory, courtesy of Cyclone Taylor and the Vancouver Millionaires. But the city came alive, energized with Towel Power, as the Vancouver Canucks made an unexpected Stanley Cup appearance.
Unfortunately for Vancouverites, the dynastic New York Islanders made sure the beautiful British Columbia city would have to continue their wait.
1983
The Islanders didn’t just win, they completely humbled the high scoring Edmontonians. The Oilers scored 424 goals in the regular season, but could only must 6 in the 4 game finals loss. Wayne Gretzky scored 71 goals in the regular season, and another 12 goals and 38 points in these playoffs. But the Islanders great checking and the belligerent goaltender Billy Smith kept #99 off of the score sheet.
And I know it’s difficult, but if you’re so inclined you can read about 1984 and where the “Drive for Five” fell apart.
The year is 1984. The Edmonton Oilers, in just their 5th year in the National Hockey League, win the Stanley Cup!
With the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Kevin Lowe and Grant Fuhr forming a young nucleus, Stanley Cup inheritance was only a matter of time.
But like all great teams, the oilers had to lose in order to learn how to win. That happened in 1983, as the Islanders swept the Oilers.
That would all be forgotten a year later, as the Oilers dismantled the Islanders incredible dynasty and began their own reign.
Of all the nights to have men’s league hockey this week, I’m have to miss TWO game seven’s tonight?? After Ovechkin turned the 3rd period of last night’s game into “Ovietime” to force game 7 tonight, Washington and Philly start the party at 7pm tonight. I should be able to catch the first two periods of that game before mine.
That’s followed by Calgary @ San Jose @ 10pm. If you see a red Jeep hauling ass from New Hyde Park to Woodside tonight around 11:30p…that’s me racing home to catch the end of that game. Go Flames!
Anyways…the point of this post is not my impending speeding ticket tonight. It’s this article in the Globe and Mail about the CAL/SJ tilt tonight. It’s the first trip to the playoffs for the Flames’ Eric Nystrom, who’s famous father knows a thing or two about playoff heroics.
This may be Eric Nystrom’s first visit to the NHL playoff party, but he spent his whole life hearing stories from and about his famous father, Bob Nystrom, a member of the New York Islanders’ four Stanley Cup championship teams.
Nystrom, the Calgary Flames’ rookie left winger, doesn’t remember a whole lot of talk about famous seventh games; mostly because his dad’s most famous playoff heroics came in overtime of a sixth game to give the Islanders the 1980 Stanley Cup.
“But he’s talked to me about the time they were down 3-0 and they came back and won it in seven,” said the younger Nystrom.
That came in 1975, when the Islanders, just an up-and-coming team three years removed from their expansion birth — they came into the league with the Atlanta Flames — rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Then they almost did it again next round, overcoming a 3-0 deficit to get it to 3-3 against a Philadelphia Flyers’ team that would eventually win the series and go on to win the Stanley Cup that season.
Only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs earned a similar distinction.
“He just said, they focused on one game at a time and slowly climbed back,” said Nystrom. “That’s what you need to do in the playoffs. You can’t let one game upset you or rattle you. You’ve just got to keep focused and push the envelope next game.”
The Stanley Cup is visiting Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan this week.
A group of NHL hockey heroes arrived Wednesday in Afghanistan to give Canadian soldiers a battle of a different sort.
Skating stalwarts like Mark Napier, Chris Nilan and Bob Probert touched down in Kandahar - some of them for the second time in less than a year - in hopes of boosting military morale.
Also on the ground at Kandahar Airfield were country-rock crooners Blue Rodeo, Montreal rocker Jonas Tomalty and Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada’s chief of defence staff.
But the true guest of honour, making its second appearance in Afghanistan, was hockey’s Holy Grail - the Stanley Cup.
“For Canadians, I mean, this symbolizes something that every young boy or girl grows up dreaming about - playing for the Stanley Cup,” said Defence Minister Peter MacKay, whose departure after a top-secret three-day visit to Afghanistan coincided with the team’s arrival.
“The soldiers on the base - there’s probably a few of them who didn’t sleep last night in anticipation of getting to play against some of their heroes, getting to see the Stanley Cup - it’s just a huge morale boost.”
I don’t even know what else to say about Saturday night. It was quite an event…oh and there was a pretty good hockey game in there too. Tommy and I started Islanders Army a little over a year ago, and if you had told me I’d be bumping into Scotty Bowman and watching Al Arbour give a press conference in the locker room of the Coliseum, I would have had you committed or tested for drugs. Really, how could it possibly get any better than Saturday night? Chris Botta and the Isles’ PR/Marketing team have set the bar pretty high for “a press pass with training wheels“. The only way to top Saturday night probably involves spraying champagne and Lord Stanley. And so far this season, I’m liking our chances of seeing that happen better than a certain Caps blogger we all know and respect. Thanks again to the Isles’ staff for making this possible and letting the bloggers be a part of it.
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
NYI over BUF (6)
NJD over TB (5)
ATL over NYR (7)
PIT over OTT (6)
Western Conference Quarterfinals
CAL over DET (6)
ANA over MIN (5)
VAN over DAL (5)
SJ over NASH (4)
Eastern Conference Semifinals
NYI over NJD (7)
PIT over ATL (6)
Western Conference Semifinals
CAL over ANA (7)
VAN over SJ (6)
Eastern Conference Finals
NYI over PIT (6)
Western Conference Finals
CAL over VAN (6)
Stanley Cup Finals
NYI over CAL (6)
OK, hypothetically if the Isles don’t beat Buffalo - then I call BUF vs CAL in the Finals and CAL, Iginla, Phaneuf and Kipper take home Lord Stanley.
Via PopJocks.com comes this update on the official NHL store.
National Hockey League shop brings you the 2′ tall replica Stanley Cup complete with white handling gloves, table cloth for trophy presentation ceremonies, carrying crate, and a letter of authenticity from the Hockey Hall of Fame.
This is a brilliant idea. You know how many of these are going to be found throughout Canada? There’s going to be millions of kids and hockey leagues that could use this as a trophy for their leagues. The fact that the Cup comes blank makes it engraveable and gives fans the chance to have their own name etched on Lord Stanley’s prize.
You know you want one. If this Ryan Smyth thing doesn’t work out, we might have to all chip in and buy Wang one of these.
As promised, I’ve uploaded some videos to YouTube of the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals Game 4. The Islanders defeated Vancouver 3-1 and won the series 4 games to none. We start it off with all the Islanders goals of the game, including 2 by Conn Smythe winner Mike Bossy.
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Next up we’ve got the end of the game and the beginning of the celebration on the ice.
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Finally we wrap it up with the post-game interviews, Bossy, Trotts, the Sutter brothers, John Pickett, Butch Goring, and Al Arbour.
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OK, I swear I’m working on uploading 1981-82 Stanley Cup video to YouTube. I mean it’s only the third time I’ve mentioned it. I actually started tonight, but got interrupted in the first five minutes when a familiar name took a penalty for Vancouver.
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Haha! That’s Colin Campbell, now the NHL’s Senior Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations breaking the rules in the Stanley Cup playoffs and getting caught. I had to upload it. Then after he’s done tripping Butch Goring, he’s got the nerve to complain about the call. What kind of example are you setting for the youngsters Mr. Campbell?
Hey Islander fans, are you busy for the next fifteen minutes? I hope not…because you are now. IslandersArmy.com has fifteen minutes of Stanley Cup celebrating, drinking, and interviews from 1981.
First we start with the end of the game - the last :45 seconds and the beginning of the celebration. On ice interviews with Bryan Trottier, Butch Goring (Conn Smythe Trophy Winner), Denis Potvin, and John Tonelli. Then the action heads inside the locker room where there is a lot of champagne being sprayed and an interview with Mike Bossy. Finally, they present the Conn Smythe trophy to Goring.
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In part two, there are interviews with Anders Kallur, Clark Gillies, Wayne Merrick (game winning goal), and Ken Morrow.
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