 The Oilers run to the Stanley Cup final ending in a Game 7 loss to the Hurricanes in 2006. (Sun Media/Jason Franson) |
Everyone loves a good underdog story.
From David vs. Goliath to anyone beating the New York Yankees or Tiger Woods, the sports world is full of surprises from teams and individuals expected to be fodder for the real contenders.
With the NHL post-season party set to begin this week -- is there a better time to be a hockey fan than the first week of the playoffs? -- we figured it was the right time to take a look at some of the greatest underdogs to make waves on ice in the spring.
So we present to you our top 10 NHL playoff Cinderella stories.
10. 1968 St. Louis Blues
They were an expansion team that made it all the way to the Stanley Cup final, but that's not as impressive as it sounds. The NHL set up the divisions to ensure an expansion team would play an Original Six team for the Cup. The Blues had just a .473 winning percentage and finished third in the regular season but beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in the first round and did the same to the Minnesota North Stars in Round 2. Not surprisingly, the Blues were swept by the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final, but their goalie, Glenn Hall, did win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
|
9. 2003 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
The team with the lamest name in NHL history was seeded seventh in the Western Conference, but that didn't stop them from sweeping second-seeded Detroit in the first round, dumping the top-ranked Dallas Stars in the second round and fending off the sixth-seeded Minnesota Wild in Round 3. The Mighty Ducks, riding the brilliance of goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, made it all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, before finally bowing out to the New Jersey Devils. Giguere won the Conn Smythe Trophy anyway.
8. 1993 Los Angeles Kings
Wayne Gretzky's Kings finished 11th in the NHL with a 39-35-10 record and 88 points before taking a run at Lord Stanley's mug. The Kings had their work cut out for them just to get out of the Smythe Division, but upset the Calgary Flames (97 points) and Vancouver Canucks (101 points) to reach the conference final. There, they faced Killer Doug Gilmour and the Toronto Maple Leafs (99 points) in a thrilling seven-game series and prevailed with Gretzky scoring the overtime winner in Game 6 and a hat trick in the deciding Game 7. But even Cinderella couldn't beat the good fortune of the Montreal Canadiens, who won the Stanley Cup final 4-1 over the Kings on the strength of three overtime wins (and 10 overall in the playoffs).
7. 2004 Calgary Flames
The Flames were seeded sixth in the Western Conference after posting 94 points in the regular season and had to pull off three huge upsets to reach the Stanley Cup final. They knocked off the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in the first round, then stunned the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings 4-2 in the second round and beat the second-seeded San Jose Sharks in the conference final. The Stanley Cup final against the Tampa Bay Lightning went seven games, with the Lightning winning in double OT in Game 6 and 2-1 at home in Game 7. Few Flames fans will ever forget that Martin Gelinas appeared to score in overtime of Game 6 -- a goal that would have given them the Cup -- but it was never counted and video reviews were ruled inconclusive. Oh, well, the Red Mile was fun anyway.
6. 2006 Edmonton Oilers
Although they did have 95 points in the regular season (thanks in large part to 13 overtime loss points), the Oilers were seeded eighth in the Western Conference and had the 14th-best record in the NHL as the playoffs started. What came about then was a run that included a 4-2 win over the President's Trophy-winning Detroit Red Wings in the first round, a 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks and a 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks in the conference final. Their dream of an unlikely sixth Stanley Cup didn't die until the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final against the Carolina Hurricanes, where they lost 3-1.
5. 1994 Vancouver Canucks
They finished just one game above .500 in the regular season (41-40-3) but made everyone take notice in the playoffs, rubbing out the second seeded Calgary Flames in seven games, the fourth-seeded Dallas Stars in five and the third-ranked Toronto Maple Leafs in five to reach the Stanley Cup final. There, they took Mark Messier and the New York Rangers to seven games before finally falling by a score of 3-2. The excitement and stress of the playoff run combined with loss in the final set off nasty riots in downtown Vancouver after Game 7.
4. 1991 Minnesota North Stars
The North Stars made the playoffs in the Norris Division with a 27-39-14 record and a measly 68 points, but it was enough to put the 16th-best team in the NHL on a long run before they eventually turned into pumpkins. The Stars upset the No. 1 team in the NHL, the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 in the first round of the playoffs, then topped the St. Louis Blues 4-2 in the Division Championship. A 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers gave them the Campbell Conference title and a date with Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup final. They lost 4-2.
3. 1948 Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs finished fourth in the six-team NHL with a 22-25-13 record, but lost only one playoff game on their way to capturing the Stanley Cup. The Leafs beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 in the semifinal and then swept the top-ranked Detroit Red Wings in the final. The Leafs became just the second team with a sub-.500 record to win the Cup and still hold that distinction to this day.
2.1982 Vancouver Canucks
Who can forget King Richard Brodeur and the Canucks going from regular-season also-rans (30-33-17, .481 winning percentage) to Stanley Cup finalists? Wearing what many hockey people consider to be the ugliest uniforms of all time, the Canucks tore through the early rounds of the playoffs, going 11-2 in series' against the Calgary Flames, L.A. Kings and Chicago Blackhawks. It was during the conference final against the Blackhawks that coach Roger Neilson raised a white towel at the end of a stick to protest the work of the referees, prompting a phenomenon known as Towel Power. All those white towel-waving fans weren't enough to help the Canucks in the Stanley Cup final, however, as they were swept by the dynasty-building New York Islanders.
1. 1938 Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks finished with a 14-25-9 regular-season record and just barely squeaked into the playoffs before going on a major run to win their second Stanley Cup. To this day, they have the worst winning percentage (.384) of any team to win the Cup. The Hawks knocked off the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, winning the third and deciding game of the best-of-three in overtime and then did the same to the New York Americans in the second round. They met the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that went 24-15-9 during the regular season, in the final. After losing goalie Mike Karakas to injury, the Hawks, as legend has it, pulled minor leaguer Alfie Moore out of a Toronto bar, put him in net, and won Game 1. The same trick failed in Game 2, but Karakas was back for Games 3 and 4 in Chicago and the Hawks prevailed to cement their status as the NHL's greatest Cinderella story.
Disagree with our picks? E-mail yours to topten@wpgsun.com.