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The cup stays here
06.06.06 (2:58 pm)   [edit]
When the Edmonton Oilers returned to the Stanley Cup final for a third consecutive year in 1985, the third time in their sixth season in the league, there was somebody new at the dance. The Philadelphia Flyers had emerged from the East with a rookie head coach in Mike Keenan and a rookie general manager in Bobby Clarke. "After all those years playing the Edmonton Oil Kings in junior with the Flin Flon Bombers, it's quite a coincidence it's Edmonton in my first year as GM," said Clarke, who had faced off against the Oilers as a player in their first playoff series - their first season in the NHL. "Those series were battles. This one should be, too." Game 1, however, wasn't much of a battle. The Oilers were supposed to be the high firepower squad, not the Flyers, but Philadelphia won 4-1, outshooting Edmonton 41-26 and registering 17 scoring chances to the Oilers' four. Viking's Ron Sutter checked Wayne Gretzky to a standstill. He didn't get a shot. People seemed shocked. But the Flyers had lost only twice in the Spectrum since Dec. 6 and only five times in their previous 50 home games. "They did everything our coaches told us they would do," said Paul Coffey. "There were no surprises. We were just horrible. They outworked us, outmanned us, out-hit us, outskated us, outchecked us and beat us to every puck. We were out-everythinged." Coach Glen Sather knew he had to do something. Enter 20-year-old Esa Tikkanen, direct from Finland, making his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup final. Tikkanen refused to back down in a first period incident with Rick Tocchet and was a one-man adrenalin hit for the entire team. "I must have asked him 100 times before the game if he was nervous and he kept saying no," said Gretzky. "And he wasn't." Gretzky opened the scoring and Willy Lindstrom and Dave Hunter scored the others as the Oilers won 3-1. After what happened next - as was the case the year before with the New York Islanders - the NHL abandoned the 2-3-2 World Series format and went back to 2-2-1-1-1. All the Oilers needed was the last line change to get Gretzky away from Sutter. End of series. It didn't hurt, either, to get back home on the NHL's fastest ice. In Game 3, Gretzky scored two goals in the first 75 seconds and another in the 13th minute. The Oilers held on for a 4-3 win. "Mr. Gretzky didn't waste any time showing his abilities," said Keenan. In Game 4 it was the other way around, with Philadelphia leading 3-1 after 11 1/2 minutes. It was a penalty shot save by Grant Fuhr on Sutter that turned the tide. Gretzky fed both Jari Kurri and Coffey behind-the-back passes for goals, Mark Messier scored on two breakaways and the Oilers had a 5-3 win - and a chance to carry the Stanley Cup for a second straight year on Coliseum ice. In Game 5 the crowd chanted "The Cup Stays Here, The Cup Stays Here" as the Oilers handled the Flyers with ease in an 8-3 win to put the series away. The Oilers had won all 10 home playoff games that year and - combined with the last six from the previous year - that broke the Montreal Canadiens' record for most home playoff wins in the playoffs, dating back to the 1960s. Gretzky won the Conn Smythe. "It was probably the toughest one ever picked," he said. "I wish I could have Paul Coffey and Grant Fuhr's names with me. "We all get our names on the Stanley Cup. That's all that matters. We've got to be rated as good as any team which ever won two in a row," bubbled Gretzky as he poured the bubbly. "All I know is that 15 years from now I'm going to say 'Gawd, I played on a great hockey team.' "In terms of emotion and excitement, the first one was bigger. But to do what we had to do to win the Cup twice ... "We proved a lot of things by winning it twice. And I'll say the same thing now I said last year. It's going to take a darn good team to take it away from us." That darn good team turned out to be the Calgary Flames.