NHL Historical Replay

[George_Bell]

1986-87 NHL Season Preview





Player Spotlight

Somehow, Winnipeg messed up even worst then I thought. They never signed Ed Belfour, and I guess, he became a free agent this summer. It’s been 3 years since he’s been drafted, so that makes sense. Belfour signed a deal with the Maple Leafs and has been promoted as their starting goalie. Oh how I want to see a playoff series between the Jets and Leafs now!! Here’s a look at Ed Belfour.



For comparison, lets take a look at Dominik Hasek. He’s a very different goalie, style wise, and strengths wise then Belfour. Both goalies are very talented though, obviously.

[George_Bell]

1986-87 NHL Regular Season

After a productive start to the new season, Mario Lemieux suffered a sprained AC joint, which will keep him out of action for 2 months. Without Lemieux, the Red Wings went on a 1-5-1 run, showing that with their top player out, they aren’t the same team that won the Norris Division last year…


Lemieux's injury crushes the Red Wing hopes!

In a somewhat surprising start, the Quebec Nordiques find themselves atop of the Adams division after 20 something games. Now, the Adams looks like the weakest division in hockey. Hartford is still a two man show, the Habs have taken a giant step back, but give the Nordiques credit. They have some real talent. Doug Gilmour, who has been named the best defensive forward in the game before, leads the league with 45 points in 25 games. Paul Coffey is a point a game defenseman, and Cam Neely is playing his first full season in the NHL. He’s clicking well with Gilmour. Imagine if they still had Andreychuk…..


Neely is developing into goal scorer Quebec has needed for years!

The Penguins are trying to do it again. After losing a record 64 games, and finishing with 26 points, they are on track to do worse this year. Halfway through the season, Pittsburgh has 3 wins, 33 losses and 3 ties. That’s a 18 point pace. How bad do you have to be too be that BAD! Here is the team’s depth chart. They shouldn’t be that bad, but Sergei Makarov is the only top talent. Everyone else is under performing something bad. Ofcourse, maybe at this point, it’s not under performing!


Pittsburgh's depth chart

25 year old Wayne Gretzky has 35 goals in 37 games on New Years. He is the latest player to take a run at 50 in 50. Gretzky has five straight 50 goal seasons, with a career high of 57, achieved three times. He’s obviously on pace for his highest goal total this year. His game rating is currently at a career high with an 85 mark, and he’s on pace to set a new career high in points. I guess this year has the potential to be a career year!


Can he get 50 in 50?

Gretzky goes on a little slump, but eventually gets on a 6 game goal scoring streak, bringing him to 45 goals in 49 games. He needs 5 goals in game 50 to achieve the mark. Hartford plays Quebec, and is defeated 6-1. Gretzky scores the lone Whalers goal, for 46 in 50! Still pretty good…


46 in 50.

With a month and a half left in the season, Doug Gilmour is running away with the scoring race. The Nordiques top center has 126 points, and 81 assists. He’s currently 27 assists shy of Bryan Trottier’s record 108 set a few years ago. The Nordiques have 16 games left. With Gilmour’s current pace, that’s possible…


A breakout year for Gilmour!

Final Standings



A year of parody, as no one hits 100 points. The Leafs and Whalers return to regular season prominence, winning their divisions.

Two time defending champion Minnesota is out of the postseason. They finished tied with the Red Wings with 79 points, but win one less game.

Pittsburgh manages to lose two less games then last year, and finish with 1 more points. That’s 24 wins and 53 points over the last 2 seasons. The worst run easily, in modern day history!



Doug Gilmour's pace falls off, but he still finishes the year with 95 assists, and a league leading 144 points, helping Quebec to the best offense in the league.

Wayne Gretzky set a career high with 62 goals, but missed a few games at the end of the season, hurting is run at a career high in points.

Former first overall pick, Brett Hull joined the 50 goal club, with 57, while Dino Ciccarelli hits the 60 goal mark for the third time!

Mario Lemieux played 56 games and finished with 80 points. Not last years pace, but enough to help the Wings sneak into the playoffs!

[George_Bell]

1987 NHL Playoffs


Adams Division

Hartford and Montreal meet a little earlier then usual this year. Todd Gill’s game 6 overtime goal eliminates the division winning Whalers in 6 games. Wayne Gretzky did not play. His day to day injury kept him out all series. Quebec almost blows a 3-0 series lead, but Doug Gilmour gets 4 points in a seventh game blowout, avoiding disaster. The Nordiques best ever season came to an end after 7 hard fought games with their provincial rivals. Montreal, the 4th place team in the Adams, wins the division, and will play in the Wales Conference Finals.



Patrick Division

Philadelphia wins their opening round series with the Rangers fairly easily. They allow just 9 goals in the 5 games. The Devils shake off a bad start to win 4 straight against the Islanders. They are trying to get back to the finals. They get another step closer with a 6 game victory over the Flyers. Philly must feel like this is an opportunity wasted, as they held a 2-0 series lead before losing 4 straight!



Norris Division


Detroit with a healthy Lemieux is not a 4th place team. Mario gets 9 points in their first round victory over Toronto. St. Louis, impressively smothers the Blackhawks into submission to advance in 5. The Blues won big, while Detroit seemed to win the close ones in their division final series. It came down to game 7, where Mario Lemieux scored both Detroit goals in a 2-1 win. The Wings advance!



Smythe Division

Winnipeg scores 3 unanswered goals in game 6 to tie it, and Al MacInnis wins it in a fantastic comeback to eliminate the Flames in 6. It takes LA seven games, and almost a full on 4th period to beat the Canucks. Bob Brooke scores the overtime goal that wins the series. Another marathon series sees the Kings go up 3-0, only to lose that lead with the Jets winning consecutive overtime games. In game 7, on their home ice, the Jets blow a 2-1 third period lead, allowing the Kings 3 straight goals. LA advances in 7!



Wales Conference Finals


Montreal, with a 28-45-7 record, good for 63 points, gets home ice advantage over New Jersey, who won 43 games, and finished with 90 points. That alone, is enough for me not to buy the new game. Come on…..

New Jersey, angry that the NHL’s lack of attention, awarding the Habs home ice advantage, take their frustrations out on Montreal. Jody Gage scored twice, Doug Lidster and Brett Hull get powerplay goals, and Mats Naslund added another. Then the first period ended. 5-0 Devils. New Jersey would go on to score 6 more, on their way to an 11-3 route. Montreal gives a better game two effort by default. Pat LaFontaine and Dave Andreychuk give them a lead, that’s short lived, as the Devils have it tied after a period. New Jersey goes ahead in the 2nd, on a Dave Reid goal. Mats Naslund adds some 3rd period insurance. Devils win game two, 4-2.


Jody Gage's two game one goals help the Devils blow out Montreal!

In New Jersey for game three, we see five first period goals, bringing the series total to 14 so far! New Jersey led 3-2 after a period, and it stay that way until the third. With the final seconds ticking away, and the goalie pulled, while on a PP, Pat LaFontaine gets his 11th of the playoffs with just 27 seconds left to tie it, keeping Montreal hopes alive. In overtime, Brian MacLellan is the hero, winning a must win game for Montreal! 4-3 Habs. Montreal keeps the road team pattern alive in game 4. They dominate, starting with Dave Andreychuk’s goal, just 5 seconds into the game. They end up building up a 5-1 lead, to eventually tie the series with a 5-2 win!


McLellan's OT goal kept Montreal alive!

Montreal seems to have grabbed all the momentum. New Jersey scores the first goal of game five, but Montreal answers almost immediately, with 2 goals, and lead 2-1. Brett Hull ties it early in the third, but Montreal again responds with 2 goals! Hull adds another to cut the lead to one, but the Devils have nothing left. Montreal wins their third straight, 4-3, and are on the verge of another upset! Brad Shaw gives the Devils a first period lead in game six that actually holds up for a while. The key wording being for a while. Montreal ties it in the 2nd, off the stick of Dave Babych. In the third, Dave Poulin gives Montreal a lead with 6 minutes remaining. The Devils can’t find another goal. Montreal wins 2-1, and upsets the Devils!



Campbell Conference Final


The Red Wings have a chance to make their first finals in 21 years! Wayne Presley and Gaetan Duchesne score a minute apart in the first, making it 2-0 Wings. The lead widens to 4-0 before the Kings score two quick ones in the last 5 minutes, but it’s not enough. 4-2 Detroit strikes first. The Kings provide a response in game two. Bruce Cassidy scores 89 seconds in. Despite Detroit tying it, LA adds 3 more goals in the final 5 minutes of the period. They score again in the 2nd, and the rout is on. 7-1 Kings tie the series.


Vanbiesbrouck is chased from the Red Wings net in game two!

Mario Lemieux makes his first impact on the series, getting 3 assists. Detroit builds up a 4-1 lead, which is too big for the Kings to counter. Lemieux is first star as Detroit wins 4-2. In game four, LA grabs an early lead. Mario Lemieux then got going. He assists on 4 straight Detroit goals, while completely shutting down the Kings offense. LA is held to just 20 shots. The Red Wings cruise to a 7-1 win.


Lemieux gets with 7 assists in games 3/4!

Mario Lemieux finally scores his first goal of the series in game five. It gives Detroit a 2-1 lead in the first period. The Red Wings defense is again suffocating. LA is held to just 16 shots today. When Randy Cunneyworth scores Detroit’s third goal, that lead seems insurmountable for the Kings. It is! Detroit wins 3-1 and takes the series in 5!

[George_Bell]

This is the first, original 6 finals since 1981, and the first none Toronto/New York original 6 final since 1972. Detroit and Montreal last met in the Stanley Cup back in 1961, when they met 5 times in an 8 year span! This years edition also features two teams that both finished 4th in their divisions, and finished the season under .500!

Detroit isn’t a 4th place team when Mario Lemieux is healthy, but injuries are part of the game. He’s healthy right now though, and has Detroit 4 games away from their first championship since 1960! Mario Lemieux is a difference maker. If he gets going, the Habs will have no answer for him. Truth is Montreal just isn’t a good team. They can’t compete with a hot Mario Lemieux. Dave Andreychuk is elite, but had a bad season, for his standards. Montreal has been an underdog for a while now, so this series won’t be any different.

[JaytheGreat]

I really thought the Wings would need to give Mario more help to make the Stanley Cup but it seems like he's content on being a one man demolition crew.

[George_Bell]

The upstart Canadiens get first blood when Norm Maciver gets his 3rd of the playoffs in the first. Detroit responds early in the 2nd. Terry Ruskowski ties it. A tight checking defensive affair stay tied at 1 until the midway point of the third, when Mario Lemieux sets up Ilkka Sinisalo for the winning goal! 2-1 Detroit takes the opener. Game two is a very similar to the first. Pat LaFontaine gives Montreal a first period lead. Detroit ties it in the 2nd with Mario Lemieux’s first of the finals. Detroit then outscores Montreal 2-1 in the third, making it a 3-2 final for Detroit! They lead the series 2-0!


Vanbiesbrouck looking great, allowing only 3 goals in the first two games!

Is it possible for Detroit to basically end this series in three games. I don’t know, but they sure did their best to do that. Al Iafrate scores twice in 30 seconds, minutes into the game. It’s 3-1 after a period, and 6-1 after two! Iafrate eventually completes the hat trick, and the Red Wings win 8-1!! Looking for the sweep in game four, Detroit’s Brian MacLellan opens the scoring. 20 seconds later, Montreal ties it. The teams then go back and forth for the next two periods. Detroit thinks they have the Habs on the ropes with 2 quick third period goals by Sinisalo, but LaFontaine and Cliff Ronning tie it before too long. Overtime will decide this game. A minute in, Dave Andreychuk keeps Montreal alive with his 14th. Nice fightback by Montreal with a 5-4 win, but I still think they are on borrowed time…


Defenseman don't usually get hat trick in the Stanley Cup Finals!

Trailing 2-1 in the 2nd period of game five, Mario Lemieux went to work. He scored not one, not two, but three straight goals, giving the Wings a 2 goal lead. Bob Rouse would score into the empty net in the third, clinching the 5-2 win. Detroit wins the Stanley Cup!!

[George_Bell]

[JaytheGreat]

Stanley Cup win for the Red Wings!!! While he may not be the best player attribute wise I think it could be fair to say that Mario Lemieux is the best player in the NHL right now.

[ThatSeventiesGuy]

A champ with a losing record? Wow. Of course, this is kind of like the hockey equivalent of the 2006 Cardinals - due to an injury to a superstar, the W-L record doesn't reflect how good the team is with said star.

[George_Bell]

Originally Posted by JaytheGreat

Stanley Cup win for the Red Wings!!! While he may not be the best player attribute wise I think it could be fair to say that Mario Lemieux is the best player in the NHL right now.

I'm gonna compare Lemieux and Gretzky in the preseason. Mario very while might be the most talented!!

[George_Bell]

Originally Posted by ThatSeventiesGuy

A champ with a losing record? Wow. Of course, this is kind of like the hockey equivalent of the 2006 Cardinals - due to an injury to a superstar, the W-L record doesn't reflect how good the team is with said star.

Exactly, Mario means that much to the Wings. How the hell did Montreal navigate the Wales though? They finished with the third worst record in all of hockey!!

[enf91]

Iafrate got 5 goals all season, then a Finals hat trick. Whoever had that in the pool would be laughing all the way to the multiple banks it would take to store that much money.

[George_Bell]

1987 NHL Offseason News and Notes

Here are last seasons staking leaders.



Here are last season goalie leaders.



Here are last seasons playoff leaders.



Doug Gilmour, rightfully, wins the Hart Trophy. Mario Lemieux is probably the real MVP, but I agree with the notion that 50 games isn’t enough to win that award. Lemieux won the championship and the playoff MVP instead. That’s probably pretty satisfying for him!





Milan Novy has retired at the age of 36. Novy didn’t spend a lot of time in the NHL, but if you take a look at his 10 year career, it’s very impressive. In only 679 games, Novy totaled 843 points, with a career game rating of 73!! His 6.5 years in St. Louis have him third in franchise scoring, and a key contributor on the Blues 1983 championship team. Novy will have his number 11 honored by the Blues!



The talent available at the top of the draft is elite. After the first 6 picks though, the talent seems to fall off drastically. Joe Sakic goes first overall to the Penguins. He’s good enough to play right now, and be an effective offensive option. I don’t think Sakic alone is enough to turn the Pens into a playoff team this year, but he’s good enough to be a franchise player going forward!



The Winnipeg Jets get a potential steal, taking Russian winger Alexander Mogilny in the 6th round. Mogilny looks great. They just need to find a way to get him to North America now! Here is a look at Sakic.



Former Habs goalie Al Smith is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. After being a mid round draft pick in the Rangers organization, he kept moving up the ladder. A minor league backup, to a minor league starter. Then an NHL backup, to an NHL starter after a few years. Played his whole career in Montreal, and even though the Habs run of cups was largely over during most of his career, he led some runs to the finals, and won an amazing 420 games!! 170 more wins then any other Montreal goalie!



When inducting Al Smith into the Hall of Fame, I noticed there is a new all times win leader in NHL history. Would be great if that kind of record was mentioned in game. If I’m not looking for it, I won’t see it, obviously. Billy Smith eclipsed the 500 win mark last year, and passed Terry Sawchuk! Here is a look at the goalies with the most wins ever…



19 year old Vladimir Malakhov is the latest Russian to defect to the NHL. The 19 year old will sign a contract with the Hartford Whalers. Malakhov is a big boy. 6’4, 230lbs!! He’s already filled out, so he just needs to develop a better head for the game before he’s ready for the big time. At 19, he’s got lots of time to do that.



The Winnipeg Jets are the next team to get lucky, but they won’t be getting Alex Mogilny just yet. 29 year old Czech center Jiri Hrdina will sign a contract with the Jets. Hrdina will be the team’s #2 centerman this year, 8 years after being drafted by the Rangers. The Jets acquired his rights in 1979 for retired defenseman Glenn Patrick, who played 175 NHL games.


Hrdina will help the Jets right away!

[George_Bell]

Originally Posted by enf91

Iafrate got 5 goals all season, then a Finals hat trick. Whoever had that in the pool would be laughing all the way to the multiple banks it would take to store that much money.

I don't think Iafrate ever played a Stanley Cup game in real life. Look what would of happened if he did!

[George_Bell]

1987-88 NHL Season Preview





Player Spotlight

So, lets take a look at the two real life legends.





Both have been great in our league. Mario Lemieux is younger, both have a cup, both have awards, both are true superstars. Who is better? According to my scientifically proven evaluation process, Mario Lemieux is the better player. What do you think?

[JaytheGreat]

I may be biased but Lemieux looks like the better player. He's got the better ratings and is younger, he just has to stay healthy.

[George_Bell]

1987-88 NHL Regular Season

The season starts off with Guy Lafleur scoring his 800th career goal! Lafleur has scored an average of .65 goals per game in his career. Here is a table showing the GoalsPerGame of some of the greatest goal scorers in NHL History.



I think this is pretty cool. On November 7th, LA Kings goalie Billy Smith, and defenseman Denis Potvin both played their 1000th games. 1000 games as teammates with the Kings in this world. They also spent their whole real life careers together too. These two are attached!!


Smith and Potvin.

The Philadelphia Flyers started the season 28-5-5, with a lot of that on the back of 37 year old goalie Ron Low. Low is having a career year. In 26 starts, he’s 21-4-1, with 6 shutouts, a 1.82 GAA, and a SP of .902, which is great these days. Low just broke his elbow. His season is over. It’s a huge blow to the Flyers, who look like they will now go with Pete Peeters. Peeters has been the starter for almost a decade, but the success Philly had with Low in net made each game an easy decision. Peeters save percentage is currently .871….


Ron Low was in the middle of a career year!

Mario Lemieux is hurt. After 38 games, and 54 points, the superstar ruptured a disk in his back. He’s out indefinitely, but according to the team page, it’s 230 days. Lemieux got hurt on January 3rd. Detroit won that game, and their next one against the Kings. They didn’t win another game for the rest of January. 11 losses in a row sunk them to last place in the Norris. Lets look at this two ways. Without Lemieux, Detroit is bad. Really bad. Their season is done. But, they will now almost assuredly get a high draft pick, and have a chance to add someone that can really help Mario out! This years draft will have an enormous effect on Detroit going forward!


Mario will miss the rest of the season!

Another milestone for Guy Lafleur. He’s reached the 1800 point mark, the 2nd player to achieve this! Lafleur, as long as he doesn’t retire, will break Gordie Howe’s career points record early next season. Lafelur is 36, so it’s possible. Very productive players have retired at this age before, so who knows. If Lafleur plays 2 more full seasons, he’s got a shot at 2000 points!!


The future top scorer in NHL history?

Final Standings



Detroit wins just 9 games the rest of the way without Mario Lemieux. As expected, for the 2nd straight season, the defending champions fail to make the playoffs.

With the best goalie, according to the game, and two of the best players, the Whalers have disappointed again. 8 games under .500. Is it time to say Gretzky, Messier and Lemelin are overrated?

The Flyers set franchise records for wins, 58, and points, 123! They are the only team to eclipse 100 points, and their dominance has to make them the Stanley Cup favourites!



Jari Kurri joins the 70 goal club! He’s the 5th member of that exclusive club. Kurri has 8 straight 30 goal seasons, and hit 62 in 1985. It’s time to consider him an elite goal scorer!

One of the reasons for Philly’s dominant season is Geoff Courtnall. A 3 star player with a career high of 63 points, he almost doubled that this year. Courtnall puts up 52 goals and 66 assists!! That kind of production from a player you don’t expect it from is how teams set franchise records!

It ofcourse helps that Courtnall plays beside Steve Yzerman, who will win the Art Ross trophy as the leagues top scorer. Lanny McDonald also had his best season in 6 years, getting 47 goals and 106 points on the Flyers 2nd line!

Pete Peeters save percentage stays in the .870s the rest of the season, but it didn’t matter. He still goes 31-7. The team in front of him was too good to fail…

[enf91]

As a Flyers fan, I heartily approve of that last post. Especially since the Flyers ITTL have been so bad for so long.

[JaytheGreat]

That should be a top 5 pick for the Red Wings, now let's get Super Mario some help. Also Stevie Y as a Flyer is hard to look at, I guess it's better then Quebec/Colorado though.

[George_Bell]

1988 NHL Playoffs


Adams Division

The Battle of Quebec is a long and strange one. After narrowly winning the first two games, the Nordiques, with the 2nd best record in the NHL, get their buts kicked 3 straight times. Montreal, with the 3rd worst record again, should have no business being in this series. Quebec, then facing elimination, blow out the Canadiens twice to take the series. Anything goes in the battle of Quebec! The Bruins have an easy time against Hartford. Mark Messier is held scoreless, while young Boston stars Ron Francis and Phill Housley each get a point a game. In the division final, the Bruins jump out to a 2-0 lead before the Nordiques win 3 of the next 4 to force a game 7. In the 2nd straight series, Quebec crushes in game 7, advancing to the Wales Conference finals!



Patrick Division

The first four games between the Flyers and Devils go to the home team. The home teams then lose the next two, meaning a game 7 is needed. With two third period goals by Brett Hull and Glen Anderson, and despite being outscored 23-14 in the series, New Jersey upsets the president’s trophy winning Flyers. After losing game one, the battle of NY is a one way series. The Rangers easily dispatch the Islanders in five. In the finals, NY says to the hockey world, WE ARE BACK!! NY easily sweeps the Devils, to return to the semi finals for the first time in years!



Norris Division

It seems like a different team wins the Norris each year. This season is Chicago's turn, and they show its no fluke, sweeping the North Stars out of the playoffs. St. Louis matches the Blackhawks performance, sweeping the Leafs. The home team ends up winning every game in the division finals series. That means Chicago, who had home ice advantage, goes to the Campbell Conference finals. The Blackhawks haven’t won a cup in almost 50 years!



Smythe Division

The Jets score 32 goals in their 7 game series against the Kings. That’s 4.5 goals per game. The problem is that in games where they scored 4 or more, they lost 4 times!!! The Flames score just enough goals to beat the Canucks in 5. When you limit your opponent to 2 goals a game, that isn’t too hard. Calgary continued their great defensive play into the 2nd round, improving their GAA this round to 1.50! That helped the Flames sweep first place LA, which improves them to 8-0 in the playoffs so far!



Wales Conference Finals


Quebec and New York finished within 3 points of each other, so this should be a even series. Game one isn’t that even though. Vincent Damphousse gets 3 assists, taking advantage of Quebec’s inability to stay out of the penalty box. The Nordiques spend 27 mins in the sin bin, giving the Rangers 8 power plays. NY took 2 minors all game. The Rangers use this to jump out to a 4-0 lead, and win it 5-2. Quebec again gooned it up in game two. They give the Rangers 13 power plays, but their penalty killing was fantastic! NY goes 1/13 on the PP. Unfortunately for Quebec, spending half the game shorthanded stifled their offense, and they got just 14 shots on goal. Rangers win 2-1.


Damphousse is the first star of game one!

The key for Quebec, is to stay out of the box in game three. They manage to do that, getting just 11 mins. This allows the Nordiques to open the scoring for the first time. They take a 3-1 lead late into the third, but Doug Trapp and Iain Duncan each score in the final 5 minutes to tie it for New York. In overtime , no scores, so we need a 2nd overtime. 6 minutes in, Bill Kitchen deflects a Paul Coffey shot in, winning it for Quebec! 4-3! The Nordiques for up 2-0 in game four, but just like two nights ago, they blow the 2 goal lead in the third. Steve Dykstra scores with 4 minutes left to tie it to force overtime. The extra frame ends much quicker tonight. 18 seconds in, Cam Neely gets the winner, tying the series! 3-2 Quebec.


Neely wins game four in OT!

Doug Gilmour gets his first of the series to open the scoring in game 5, but Vincent Damphousse ties it 2 minutes later. The teams exchange goals in the 2nd, to conclude regulation scoring. Overtime for the 3rd straight game. After 17 minutes, Doug Gilmour sets up Mark Lamb, for his 2nd goal of the series, and Quebec’s third straight overtime winner! 3-2 Nordiques! Game 6 is scoreless until the midway point of the 2nd, when Gilmour gives Quebec a lead. The Rangers, who have owned the third period in this series, tie it, forcing an overtime, which has been owned by Quebec. For the 4th straight game, a Nordique comes through. Paul Coffey scores the winning goal 2 minutes in, to win the game, and the series. Quebec is going to the Stanley Cup finals!!



Campbell Conference Finals


A pair of goals from Calgary’s Timo Jutila and Chicago’s Jim Wiemer makes for a exciting first period of game one. The Flames then score twice in the 2nd, allowing them to withstand a late Jari Kurri tally in the third. 4-3 Calgary strikes first. Game two sees the Blackhawks fight back. After falling behind early, Larry Robinson keys a 3 goal outburst with a goal and 2 assists. Michal Pivonka and Michael Thelven expand the lead to 5-1 before they settle down. Chicago cruises to a 6-3 win to tie the series!


Robinson has a big game two!

Game three is a tight, back and forth affair. Chicago leads 2-1 after a period, and adds to it in the 2nd, with a Bernie Nicholls goal. Rick Middleton cuts the lead to one in the third. Chicago’s Gary Roberts then makes it 4-2, only to see Brian Skrudland again cut the lead to one 20 seconds later. Chicago is able to withstand the pressure late in the third to hold that lead. 4-3 Blackhawks win. Calgary scores in the opening minute of both the first and second periods, giving them a 2-0 lead heading into the third period of game four. Nobody scores for the first 16 minutes of the frame. Kjell Dahlin gets Chicago on the board late, but is it too late? Yes, as Calgary scores two into empty nets to finish it. 4-1 Calgary ties the series.


Hayward makes 28 saves in Calgary's game four win!

Jari Kurri took over game 6. After falling behind after a period, Kurri assists on Tom Tilley’s first playoff goal to tie it. He then scores to give Chicago a lead heading into the third. Kurri scores 45 seconds into the third, then assists on Michael Thelven’s 2nd goal. Jari finishes with 2 goals and 2 assists. Chicago wins 5-1. Facing elimination, the Flames decide to beat the crap out of Chicago. There are two fights, and two Flames are ejected from the game. Calgary takes 50 PIM’s, but the strategy holds Chicago to just 16 shots, and only on of those shots got by Flames goalie Brian Hayward. With a 2-0 lead, Bryan Trottier scores early in the third, giving Calgary an unsurmountable lead. 3-1 Flames win, we head to game 7!


Kurri's huge game five keys Chicago's 3rd win of the series!

Game seven turns out to be a blowout. Calgary’s first line dominates. Brian Sutter, the Flames leading goal scorer gets 3 goals. Bryan Trottier tallies 4 assists. Defenseman Joe Reekie scores twice, and goalie Brian Hayward stops 25 shots. Calgary wins 6-0. The Flames return to the Stanley Cup finals!