1979 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1979 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1978–79 season, and the culmination of the 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the New York Rangers and the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, making their fourth straight appearance. It was New York's first appearance in the Finals since 1972. The Canadiens would win the best-of-seven series, four games to one, to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup championship.[2]
| 1979 Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location(s) | Montreal: Montreal Forum (1, 2, 5) New York City: Madison Square Garden (3, 4) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Montreal: Scotty Bowman New York: Fred Shero | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | Montreal: Yvan Cournoyer[1] New York: Dave Maloney | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | May 13 – May 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Bob Gainey (Canadiens) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Jacques Lemaire (1:02, second, G5) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Networks | CBC (Canada-English), NHL Network (United States) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Dan Kelly, Danny Gallivan, Gary Dornhoefer (in Montreal), Bobby Orr (in New York) Dick Irvin Jr. (CBC and NHL Network) | |||||||||||||||||||||
This was the last Stanley Cup Final until 2013 where both teams were from the Original Six, and the first of six consecutive Finals involving a team from the New York metropolitan area. The next five Finals would be contested by the Rangers' crosstown rivals the New York Islanders, who would win the first four of those series to forge a dynasty matching that of the Canadiens. By defeating the Rangers, the Canadiens completed the rare accomplishment of winning four consecutive titles in a North American league competition consisting of at least sixteen teams, and remain the only team based outside the New York metropolitan area to do so. Prior to the Canadiens' dynasty, the feat had been achieved only twice before, both times by the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball. The aforementioned Islanders are the only team to accomplish it since.
Paths to the Finals
Montreal defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 and the Boston Bruins 4–3 (highlighted by the "too many men on the ice" game seven overtime win) to advance to the Final.
New York defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2–0, the Philadelphia Flyers 4–1 and the New York Islanders 4–2 to make it to the finals.
Game summaries
The Canadiens won the Cup in five games, winning it on home ice for the first time since 1968.[3] After the game Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer and Ken Dryden retired, while head coach Scotty Bowman would leave the Canadiens to join the Buffalo Sabres, which would mark the end of the Canadiens' dynasty.
This Final marked the second time in four years that Bowman and Fred Shero coached against each other. In 1976, they coached against each other, though Shero was with the Philadelphia Flyers.
| May 13 | New York Rangers | 4–1 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Steve Vickers (5) - pp - 6:28 Ron Greschner (7) - 14:27 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Phil Esposito (7) - pp - 9:30 Dave Maloney (3) - sh - 12:32 |
Second period | 7:07 - Guy Lafleur (9) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| John Davidson 31 saves / 32 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 9 saves / 13 shots, Michel Larocque 9 saves / 9 shots | ||||||
| May 15 | New York Rangers | 2–6 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Anders Hedberg (4) - 1:02 Ron Duguay (4) - 6:21 |
First period | 8:34 - Yvon Lambert (4) 12:24 - Guy Lafleur (10) 16:27 - Bob Gainey (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 6:51 - Steve Shutt (3) 17:35 - pp - Jacques Lemaire (8) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 4:38 - Mark Napier (3) | ||||||
| John Davidson 27 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 23 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| May 17 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–1 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| Steve Shutt (4) - pp - 7:27 Doug Risebrough (1) - 15:44 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mario Tremblay (3) - 14:48 Jacques Lemaire (9) - 17:10 |
Third period | 6:06 - Ron Duguay (5) | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 19 saves / 20 shots | Goalie stats | John Davidson 19 saves / 23 shots | ||||||
| May 19 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–3 | OT | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | ||
| Rejean Houle (1) - 2:39 | First period | 1:19 - Pat Hickey (1) 17:03 - Don Murdoch (7) | ||||||
| Yvon Lambert (5) - 18:05 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bob Gainey (5) - 6:27 | Third period | 4:26 - Phil Esposito (8) | ||||||
| Serge Savard (2) - 7:25 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 18 saves / 21 shots | Goalie stats | John Davidson 38 saves / 42 shots | ||||||
| May 21 | New York Rangers | 1–4 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Carol Vadnais (2) - 16:52 | First period | 10:36 - Rick Chartraw (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 1:02 - pp - Jacques Lemaire (10) 11:01 - Bob Gainey (6) 18:49 - Jacques Lemaire (11) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| John Davidson 27 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 14 saves / 15 shots | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–1 | |
Montreal Canadiens 1979 Stanley Cup champions
Players
- 10 Guy Lafleur
- 11 Yvon Lambert
- 12 Yvan Cournoyer (Captain)
- 14 Mario Tremblay
- 15 Rejean Houle
- 20 Cam Connor
- 22 Steve Shutt
- 23 Bob Gainey
- 30 Pat Hughes
- 31 Mark Napier
- 3 Brian Engblom
- 5 Guy Lapointe
- 17 Rod Langway
- 18 Serge Savard†
- 19 Larry Robinson
- 24 Gilles Lupien
- 27 Rick Chartraw
- 29 Ken Dryden
- 1 Michel Bunny Larocque
- 33 Richard Sevigny(spare dressed in finals)††
Coaching and administrative staff
- Jacques Courtois (President), Sam Pollock (Director)
- Irving Grundman (Vice President/General Manager), Jean Beliveau (Vice President - Director of Cooperate Affairs)
- William Scotty Bowman (Head Coach), Claude Ruel (Director of Player Development)
- Al MacNeil (Director of Player Personnel), Morgan McCammon (Director)
- Ron Caron (Asst. General Manager/Director of Communication), Eddy Palchak (Trainer)
- Pierre Meilleur (Asst. Trainer)
Stanley Cup engraving
- †Yvan Cournoyer played only 18 regular season games. He missed the rest of the season due to a back injury. His name was still put on the cup, even though he did not qualify. Serge Savard served as interim captain while Cournoyer was injured.
- ††Richard Sevigny's name was engraved on the Stanley Cup, before he played his first NHL game. He was dressed in the finals when Michel Larocque was injured in pre-game warm-up for game two. Sevigny joined Montreal full-time, the next season after Ken Dryden retired.
- #26 Dan Newman played 16 regular season games, but did not qualify to be on the cup. He was dressed for one game in the quarterfinals, but did not play
- Floyd Curry changed roles from Assistant Manager to Director of Scouting. Name was left off the Stanley Cup.
- American Rod Langway was born in Taiwan. This makes Langway first and only player to win the Stanley Cup born in Taiwan (Republic of China).
Members of Montreal Canadiens 1976 to 1979 dynasty
- Players: Rick Chartraw, Yvan Cournoyer, Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey, Doug Jarvis, Guy Lafleur, Yvon Lambert, Guy Lapointe, Michel Larocque, Jacques Lemaire, Doug Risebrough, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Steve Shutt, Mario Tremblay
- Non players: Jacques Courtois, Sam Pollock, Jean Beliveau, Scotty Bowman, Claude Ruel, Eddie Palchak, Pierre Meilleur, Ron Caron, Floyd Curry
Broadcasting
The Stanley Cup Finals were produced by CBC, who carried the game in Canada and were shown in the United States on the NHL's syndicated package. Dan Kelly called the play-by-play for Games 1, 3, 4, and 5 entirely. Danny Gallivan and Dan Kelly split play-by-play for Game 2 only. Gary Dornhoefer served as color commentator for Games 1 and 5, Gerry Pinder served as color commentator for Game 2 only, Bobby Orr served as color commentator from Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, Dick Irvin, Jr. served as color commentator for the entire Finals. Dick Irvin, Jr. served as studio host in Montreal and Dave Hodge in New York and Howie Meeker served as studio analyst. ABC was contracted to televise game seven.[4][5] Since the Finals ended in five games, the contract was void.[6]
See also
References
- Due to injury, Cournoyer didn't play in any playoff games. Serge Savard served as acting captain.
- "Canadiens do it again". St Petersburg Times (Page 21). May 22, 1979. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- Jenish, D'Arcy (2009). The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory. Doubleday. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0.
- Associated Press (May 13, 1979). "NHL, ABC-TV Agree". Reading Eagle. p. 89.
- "May 26 Selected For a 7th Game". New York Times. May 13, 1979. p. S4.
- Ramsay, Donald (May 22, 1979). "Montreal win kills ABC TV deal but Ziegler feels pact is on way". The Globe and Mail. p. P35.
- Bibliography
- Total Stanley Cup. NHL. 2000.
- Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.
| Preceded by Montreal Canadiens 1978 |
Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup Champions 1979 |
Succeeded by New York Islanders 1980 |
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