1991 Stanley Cup Finals
1991 Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Location(s) | Midwest Sports Channel (3–4, 6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | (CBC) Bob Cole, Harry Neale, and Dick Irvin Jr. (SRC) Claude Quenneville and Gilles Tremblay (SportsChannel America) Jiggs McDonald and Bill Clement (KBL/KDKA) Mike Lange and Paul Steigerwald (KMSP/MSC) Doug McLeod and Lou Nanne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1991 Stanley Cup Finals was the
This was also the first final since 1982 not to feature either of the two Alberta-based teams, the Calgary Flames or the Edmonton Oilers, and the first since 1981 not contested by a team from Western Canada, or Canada overall.
The Finals and the NHL season ended on May 25, marking the last time to date that the Stanley Cup playoffs ended before the month of June.
Paths to the Finals
Minnesota defeated the first-place overall
Pittsburgh defeated the New Jersey Devils 4–3, the Washington Capitals 4–1 and the Boston Bruins 4–2.
Game summaries
Pittsburgh centre Mario Lemieux, despite missing a game due to a back injury, recorded 12 points in 5 games to lead all scorers and won the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Lemieux scored one of the most famous goals in NHL history during the second period of game two. Receiving the puck in the Penguins' end of the ice, Lemieux skated solo into the North Stars' zone facing two defensemen (Shawn Chambers and Neil Wilkinson) as well as goaltender Jon Casey. Lemieux skirted the puck through the legs of Chambers, skated around him, baited goaltender Casey to commit left (Lemieux's right), then switched the puck to his backhand side and slid the puck into the net (before crashing into the net himself). A brief video of the goal has since been featured on Stanley Cup promotional advertisements by the NHL.
Schedule and results
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Minnesota North Stars | |||||
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Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
May 15 | Minnesota | 5 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |
May 17 | Minnesota | 1 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |
May 19 | Pittsburgh | 1 | Minnesota | 3 | |
May 21 | Pittsburgh | 5 | Minnesota | 3 | |
May 23 | Minnesota | 4 | Pittsburgh | 6 | |
May 25 | Pittsburgh | 8 | Minnesota | 0 | |
Pittsburgh wins series 4–2 | |||||
Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh) wins Conn Smythe Trophy |
Team rosters
Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.
Minnesota North Stars
Note: Neal Broten served as the North Stars acting team captain during the 1991 Stanley Cup playoffs. Curt Giles, who was injured late in the season and played in only 10 playoff games, missing the entire finals, is listed as the official team captain.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Stanley Cup engraving
The 1991 Stanley Cup was presented to Penguins captain Mario Lemieux by
The following Penguins players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins
Players
- 9 Ron Francis
- 10 Barry Pederson
- 15 Randy Gilhen
- 19 Bryan Trottier (A)
- 38 Jiri Hrdina
- 66 Mario Lemieux (Captain)
- 7 Joe Mullen
- 8 Mark Recchi
- 12 Bob Errey (A)
- 16 Jay Caufield
- 24 Troy Loney
- 25 Kevin Stevens
- 29 Phil Bourque
- 34 Scott Young (also played center)
- 68 Jaromir Jagr
- 2 Jim Paek
- 3 Grant Jennings
- 5 Ulf Samuelsson
- 22 Paul Stanton
- 23 Randy Hillier(A)
- 28 Gordie Roberts
- 32 Peter Taglianetti
- 55 Larry Murphy
- 77 Paul Coffey (A)
Coaching and administrative staff
- Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. (Chairman/Owner)
- Marie Denise DeBartolo York(President/Owner)
- Paul Martha (Vice President-General Council), Craig Patrick (Vice President/General Manager)
- William Scotty Bowman (Director of Player Development-Recruitment), Bob Johnson (Head Coach)
- Rick Kehoe (Asst. Coach), Rick Paterson (Asst. Coach), Barry Smith (Asst. Coach)
- Gilles Meloche (Goaltending Coach/Scout)
- Steve Latin (Equipment Manager), Charles "Skip" Thayer (Trainer)
- John Welday (Strength-Conditioning Coach), Greg Malone (Head Scout)
Stanley Cup engraving
- Jay Caufield played only 23 games. His name was engraved on the Stanley Cup because he spent the whole season with Pittsburgh.
- Barry Pederson (C) did not play a single game in the 1991 playoffs, but he qualified to get his name on the Stanley Cup and get a Stanley Cup ring because he played 46 games during the season.
- Pierre McGuire, Les Binkley, John Gill, Charlie Hodge, Ralph Cox were with the team as scouts in 1990–91, but names were not included on the Stanley Cup that year. All five of these scouts were awarded Stanley Cup rings.
- Randy Gilhen was the first German-born player to win the Stanley Cup, but grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Jim Paek was the first Korean-born hockey player to both play in the NHL, and have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
Included on the team picture, but left off the Stanley Cup
- #5 Gord Dineen (D - 9 games played), #20 Jamie Leach (RW - 7 games played), #18 Ken Priestlay (2 games played), did not qualify to be included on the Stanley Cup for playing rest of the season in minors.
- #27 Gilbert Delorme (D) missed the whole season due to a car accident in the offseason.
- #30 Bruce Racine was called up from the minors to serve as back-up to Frank Pietrangelo. He was dressed for the last two games of round one, and first two games of round two. Both Wendell Young (who missed first three rounds due to injury), and Tom Barrasso (missed four games due to injury) were unable to play. Racine name was left off the Stanley Cup, because he had not played in the NHL - in fact, Racine has never played for Pittsburgh. His only NHL experience came in 1995-96 for the St. Louis Blues.
- Pittsburgh filled the last spot on the bottom ring. The larger rings were filled a year early then planned. See 1965 Stanley Cup Finals and 1992 Stanley Cup Finals
Broadcasting
In Canada, the series was televised in English on the CBC and in French on SRC.
In the United States, the series aired nationally on
See also
- 1990–91 NHL season
- List of Stanley Cup champions
- 1990–91 Minnesota North Stars season
- 1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins season
References
- ^ Giles did not play in any games in the finals. Neal Broten served as acting captain
- Total Stanley Cup. NHL. 2000.
- Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont: Fenn Pub. pp. 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.