Monday, May 29, 2006
Upsets in the Final
With the Stanley Cup Final almost upon us, I thought I'd have a look at some of the biggest upsets to occur in the final round. As it turns out, upsets are few and far between when it comes down to the last series, but there are still a few to speak of.
1995: New Jersey 4, Detroit 0. After years of good regular seasons followed by early playoff exits, Steve Yzerman’s Red Wings finally got over the hump and reached the final. Their opponents were the trapping New Jersey Devils. Detroit had breezed their way through both the regular season (33-11-4) and the playoffs, with only two losses after the first three rounds. Paul Coffey, Sergei Fedorov, Dino Ciccarella, Keith Primeau, and Ray Sheppard all had suberb seasons, while Yzerman was below his usual standard, but still bagged 38 points in 47 games. The Devils meanwhile, had a pedestrian regular season and only finished 5th in the East. They upset Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to reach the final where it was expected their run would come to an end. But that was certainly not the case as the Devils blasted Detroit, outscoring them 16-7 in the sweep, forcing long-suffering Wings fans to wait another two years for the Stanley Cup.
1938: Chicago 3, Toronto 1. This year’s edition of the Blackhawks remains the “worst” team ever to capture the Cup. They slogged through the regular season, winning only 14 out of 48 games, yet their 14-25-9 record was good enough for a playoff berth. The head-scratching playoff format saw them play the Canadiens, themselves only one game above .500, in round one. Chicago dropped game one of the best of three, but fought back to win the series 2-1 on an overtime goal in the decisive match. Round two pitted them against the New York Americans, also only a single game above .500 for the year. The Blackhawks again lost game one, but won the series 2-1. The final was a best of five affair and saw Chicago take on the Maple Leafs, who had lost in the final in both 1935 and 1936. The Leafs must have thought they could easily break the jinx against such an easy opponent, but it was not to be. Chicago took the opener 3-1, though Toronto rebounded with a 5-1 victory to tie the series heading to the Windy City. In Chicago, goaltender Mike Karakas held Leafs snipers Syl Apps and Gordie Drillon at bay to lead the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup after 2-1 and 4-1 triumphs.
1930: Montreal 2, Boston 0. In what turned out to be an ominous foreshadowing of the decades to come, the Canadiens stunned the Bruins in the best-of-three final, in which is surely the biggest upset the final has ever witnessed. The Bruins had arguably the greatest regular season in history, going 38-5-1 to finish in first place by an astounding margin. Led by Tiny Thompson's goaltending, Eddie Shore's defense, and 40 goal outputs (in just 44 games) by both Cooney Weiland and Dit Clapper the Bruins allowed the fewest goals and scored far more than anybody else. Montreal was a respectable club at 21-14-9 with all-star Howie Morenz, but nowhere near the level of their American rivals. The playoff format in 1930 was rather strange. Boston defeated the other Montreal team, the Maroons, 3 games to 1 to reach the final directly. The Canadiens needed two rounds to reach the last stage, but went 4-0 en route to the final. Heavily favoured they were, but nonetheless Boston dropped two quick games 3-0 and 4-3 to lose the Cup.
1995: New Jersey 4, Detroit 0. After years of good regular seasons followed by early playoff exits, Steve Yzerman’s Red Wings finally got over the hump and reached the final. Their opponents were the trapping New Jersey Devils. Detroit had breezed their way through both the regular season (33-11-4) and the playoffs, with only two losses after the first three rounds. Paul Coffey, Sergei Fedorov, Dino Ciccarella, Keith Primeau, and Ray Sheppard all had suberb seasons, while Yzerman was below his usual standard, but still bagged 38 points in 47 games. The Devils meanwhile, had a pedestrian regular season and only finished 5th in the East. They upset Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to reach the final where it was expected their run would come to an end. But that was certainly not the case as the Devils blasted Detroit, outscoring them 16-7 in the sweep, forcing long-suffering Wings fans to wait another two years for the Stanley Cup.
1938: Chicago 3, Toronto 1. This year’s edition of the Blackhawks remains the “worst” team ever to capture the Cup. They slogged through the regular season, winning only 14 out of 48 games, yet their 14-25-9 record was good enough for a playoff berth. The head-scratching playoff format saw them play the Canadiens, themselves only one game above .500, in round one. Chicago dropped game one of the best of three, but fought back to win the series 2-1 on an overtime goal in the decisive match. Round two pitted them against the New York Americans, also only a single game above .500 for the year. The Blackhawks again lost game one, but won the series 2-1. The final was a best of five affair and saw Chicago take on the Maple Leafs, who had lost in the final in both 1935 and 1936. The Leafs must have thought they could easily break the jinx against such an easy opponent, but it was not to be. Chicago took the opener 3-1, though Toronto rebounded with a 5-1 victory to tie the series heading to the Windy City. In Chicago, goaltender Mike Karakas held Leafs snipers Syl Apps and Gordie Drillon at bay to lead the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup after 2-1 and 4-1 triumphs.
1930: Montreal 2, Boston 0. In what turned out to be an ominous foreshadowing of the decades to come, the Canadiens stunned the Bruins in the best-of-three final, in which is surely the biggest upset the final has ever witnessed. The Bruins had arguably the greatest regular season in history, going 38-5-1 to finish in first place by an astounding margin. Led by Tiny Thompson's goaltending, Eddie Shore's defense, and 40 goal outputs (in just 44 games) by both Cooney Weiland and Dit Clapper the Bruins allowed the fewest goals and scored far more than anybody else. Montreal was a respectable club at 21-14-9 with all-star Howie Morenz, but nowhere near the level of their American rivals. The playoff format in 1930 was rather strange. Boston defeated the other Montreal team, the Maroons, 3 games to 1 to reach the final directly. The Canadiens needed two rounds to reach the last stage, but went 4-0 en route to the final. Heavily favoured they were, but nonetheless Boston dropped two quick games 3-0 and 4-3 to lose the Cup.
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