|
Remembering the Canucks' 94 run as we get set for Game 6 of the Final |
|
|
|
|
|
I'm still in Edmonton, and I'm not mad about it. The good weather continues to hold, and Saturday's double-overtime win by the Dallas Stars not only extended the 2019-20 season by a least a couple more days — it was also a tremendous hockey game.
Right from the first period, it was clear that the Stars were not going to go away quietly. I was especially impressed by how relaxed Anton Khudobin looked in net, in such a pressure-packed situation and on a back-to-back after losing in overtime the night before.
I also loved being able to spot the wives of Corey Perry and Justin Dowling in the near-empty arena by following the sound of their cheers. Perry of course, had two goals and Dowling saw his first game action of these playoffs when he subbed into the lineup in place of injured Roope Hintz.
One of the things I've come to appreciate about watching games in the empty arena is being able to pick up so many sounds. The wives provided me with an audio beacon when their spouses were on the ice. The shouts and instructions of both players and officials are also fascinating. There was one moment during overtime when a Stars player warned a teammate that one of the Lightning's dangerous forwards had just come off the bench and snuck behind him to set up near the net. The defender glanced over his shoulder, spotted the threat, and adjusted his coverage accordingly.
Ever since the Lightning won Game 4, the NHL has been reminding us: teams that take a 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final are 33-1 in league history. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs are the lone outlier, having rebounded from being down 0-3 to win four straight over the Detroit Red Wings.
After the Stars' Game 5 win, the league has now added that 15 of 34 clubs that had previously been down 3-1 also made it to Game 6 — Dallas is now No. 16.
And out of those 15, just six have forced Game 7. It's only happened three times in the last 65 years — once with our 1994 Vancouver Canucks, and the other two times in series involving the Oilers.
In 1987, Edmonton got up 3-1 on Philadelphia, then lost Games 5 and 6 before winning Game 7 at Northlands Coliseum. In 2006, the Oilers rebounded from a 3-1 deficit against the Carolina Hurricanes, most notably winning 4-0 in Game 6 at the renamed Rexall Place. They fell 3-1 in Game 7.
So the odds are still very much against the Stars. But it is 2020, after all.
I'm assuming nothing — a lesson I learned during that 1994 playoff run, actually.
That was the second season of my family's season tickets — purchased when my dad correctly assessed that Pavel Bure's arrival was a game-changer for the franchise.
Over the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons, Bure posted his back-to-back 60-goal campaigns, pulling us out of our seats time and time again with his electric breakaways. Vancouver ranked 10th overall in the league with a regular-season record of 87-69-12 (yep, 84-game seasons back then, including a couple of neutral-site games in both years).
In Bure's rookie year, the Canucks won a playoff round for the first time since the run to the Final in 1982, eliminating the Winnipeg Jets in seven games before dropping a six-game series to the Oilers — who were just two years removed from their surprise Stanley Cup in 1990 but had traded away Mark Messier by that point. In the '92 playoffs, which ended up being their last trip to the Conference Final until the 2006 run, the Oilers were led in the postseason by Joe Murphy, Bernie Nicholls and Vincent Damphousse, with Bill Ranford in goal.
Bure had 10 points in 13 games in the Canucks' run, which actually only tied him for fourth in scoring. Geoff Courtnall led the way with 14 points, Cliff Ronning had 13 — including a team-leading eight goals — and Trevor Linden had 12. Both Jim Sandlak (!) and Igor Larionov also finished that playoff run with 10 points.
The 1993 playoffs ended in the second round for Vancouver, too — another first-round win over the Jets, then a six-game loss to Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings. Courtnall led the way again with 14 points, this time in 12 games. Linden and Greg Adams each had 13 — and Adams had the team-leading seven goals. Bure finished with 12 points.
In 1993-94, of course, the Canucks dropped from 101 regular-season points down to 85. Because the NHL had switched to a conference-oriented playoff format that year, Vancouver ended up seeded seventh, and had to play second-seeded Calgary in the first round.
At that time, I had a friend who was a travel agent, and she asked me if I wanted to go with her on a trip to Puerto Vallarta in June. It was a great deal, and I'd never been to Mexico, but I didn't want to commit until the Canucks were eliminated from the playoffs — just in case.
Vancouver started well in that series, with a 5-0 win over the Flames in Calgary. But as they lost Game 2, Game 3, and Game 4, she progressively turned up the heat. The deal wasn't going to be available forever, she said. She needed an answer.
I went to Games 3 and 4 at the Pacific Coliseum, and was thoroughly discouraged as the club headed back to Calgary. It seemed like the writing was on the wall, so I told her to go ahead and book the trip.
And then the comeback began...
Watching the double-overtime Game 7 win over Calgary was incredible. That goal was Bure's playoff coming-out party.
The five-game Western Conference Final win over Toronto was the highlight of my personal 1994 playoff run. Emotions were running so high, especially because it was the Leafs on the other side.
After Vancouver eliminated Toronto on home ice on May 24, the team had to wait a week before starting the Stanley Cup Final, because the Rangers were embroiled in a seven-game slugfest with the New Jersey Devils.
That was a fun week, revelling in the moment. And the Game 1 win at Madison Square Garden was amazing, with Kirk McLean's 52-save performance and another clutch overtime winner from Adams.
My trip was booked from June 6-13. And the Canucks didn't get back to the Coliseum for Game 3 until June 4. In that 5-1 loss, Bure opened the scoring with his 14th goal of the playoffs, just 1:03 into the first period. Then, with the game tied 1-1 and the Canucks on the power play, he got a game misconduct for high-sticking Rangers defenseman Jay Wells, breaking his nose and setting off a huge fracas.
Barely a minute later, still in the first period, Glenn Anderson scored what proved to be the winning goal. The Rangers went on to win 5-1, took a 2-1 lead in the series — and I headed for the land of mariachi and margaritas.
That was only time in my life I'd attended a live Stanley Cup Final game — until this past week.
In 1994, it was a miracle that the TV in our hotel room carried ESPN — and that ESPN was carrying the Stanley Cup Final. I religiously retreated from the pool area to my room for each game, first seeing the Canucks lose Game 4 in Vancouver, then watching their comeback in Games 5 and 6 on the little tube TV on our dresser.
When we got home, the international arrivals section of the airport was still decorated from having welcomed the Canucks back before Game 6. I watched Game 7 at home with some friends. Then we ventured downtown to drown our sorrows — and got caught in the wake of the riot, which was centred on Robson Street but spilled out to cover a good chunk of the downtown core, including where we were on Granville St.
My takeaways today, as I recall this tale:
• Sometimes it's better to be in a glacial arena in Edmonton than on a beach in Mexico.
• It ain't over till it's over.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»