1989 Stanley Cup Finals

1989 Stanley Cup Finals
1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Calgary Flames 3 2 3** 4 3 4 4 Montreal Canadiens 2 4 4** 2 2 2 2
* – overtime periods
Location(s)	Calgary: Olympic Saddledome (1, 2, 5) Montreal: Montreal Forum (3, 4, 6)
Coaches	Calgary: Terry Crisp Montreal: Pat Burns
Captains	Calgary: Lanny McDonald, Jim Peplinski Montreal: Bob Gainey
Dates	May 14 – May 25
MVP	Al MacInnis (Flames)
Series-winning goal	Doug Gilmour (11:02, third)
Networks	CBC (Canada-English) SportsChannel America (United States)
Announcers	Bob Cole, Harry Neale and Dick Irvin (CBC) Jiggs McDonald and Bill Clement (SC America)

The 1989 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1988–89 season, and the culmination of the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens, the top two teams during the regular season. It is also the most recent time that the Finals series was played entirely in Canada, and was the second time in the decade that the Canadiens and Flames met in the Finals.

The Flames defeated the Canadiens in six games to win their first, and as of 2018, only Stanley Cup. The winning goal in game six was scored by Doug Gilmour. They became the first team to win a Stanley Cup after relocating, as they had begun life as the Atlanta Flames in 1972. Since then, four more teams have accomplished this feat: the New Jersey Devils (formerly the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies), the Colorado Avalanche (formerly the Quebec Nordiques), the Dallas Stars (formerly the Minnesota North Stars), and the Carolina Hurricanes (formerly the New England/Hartford Whalers). The Flames reached the Finals again in 2004, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning; they had gone that entire span without a single playoff series victory. This was also the second-to-last of eight consecutive Finals where either the Flames or their provincial rival Edmonton Oilers represented Alberta in the Stanley Cup Finals. Both Calgary and Montreal were the only two teams to win the Stanley Cup in the 1980s other than the New York Islanders and the Edmonton Oilers.

This was the Canadiens' first defeat in a Finals since 1967. It is also, as of 2018, their most recent defeat; the Canadiens won their most recent Cup in 1993. The defeat was Patrick Roy's only Cup Finals where he was not on the winning side; he went on to win the 1993 Cup with the Canadiens and the 1996 and 2001 Cups with the Avalanche.

The 1989 Finals featured two coaches making their first appearances, as Calgary's Terry Crisp faced Montreal's Pat Burns. For Crisp it was his only appearance, while Burns returned one more time in 2003 where he led the Devils to their third Cup. In the interim between their two matches both teams had replaced their coaches; Crisp was hired to replace Badger Bob Johnson after his departure following the 1987 season while Burns took over for 1986 Cup winning coach Jean Perron after his 1988 firing. For Crisp, this was his third Stanley Cup championship in his career. He had already won two as a player with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1974 and 1975. Following the series, Bob Gainey, Rick Green and Lanny McDonald would retire, while long time defenseman Larry Robinson would sign with the Los Angeles Kings, where he played the final three years of his career.

Paths to the Finals

Calgary defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4–3, the Los Angeles Kings 4–0 and the Chicago Blackhawks 4–1 to advance to the Final.

Montreal defeated the Hartford Whalers 4–0, the Boston Bruins 4–1 and the Philadelphia Flyers 4–2.

Game summaries

Co-captain Lanny McDonald scored the second Flames goal in game six. This turned out to be the last goal in his Hockey Hall of Fame career because he retired during the following off-season. It was also his only Stanley Cup victory. Doug Gilmour scored two goals in the third period, including the eventual game and Cup winner to cement the victory for the Flames. Al MacInnis won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, and at 31 points, became the first defenceman to lead the NHL in post-season scoring.^[1] The Calgary Flames are the only visiting team to have won the Stanley Cup on the Canadiens' home ice.

Broadcasting

This was the first Cup Finals since 1984 that the CBC had the sole English-language rights to the entire series in Canada instead of having to share it with another network. This was also the first season that SportsChannel America held the national U.S rights.

Calgary Flames – 1989 Stanley Cup champions

Players

Stanley Cup Finals Patch

The 1989 Stanley Cup Final was the first to feature a special commemorative patch on both teams' sweaters, in honor of the championship series. Placed on each player's left shoulder, the patch employed the same design that would be used from 1989–1994 before being tweaked for the 1995 Final. A commemorative patch has been issued in every Stanley Cup Final since, though subsequent patches were sewn onto the sweaters'` upper right breast area (with the only exceptions being the 1994 and 2014 New York Rangers, whose diagonal wordmark necessitated the patch's placement on the top of each sweater's left shoulder).

Notes

References

• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont: Fenn Pub. pp. 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.