It featured the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers vs the Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers won Game Seven to snap their record 54-year title drought and collect the long-awaited Stanley Cup. It was the team's fourth championship in its existence.
The trophy is back in Boston where it will stay until at least one team can win four games in a row. The last time this occurred was in 2006 when the Detroit Red Wings beat Montreal 4-1-0 in the Finals to win their third title in a row. The Chicago Blackhawks are now trying to become the first team since the Red Wings to win four in a row. If they do, the Cup will have to go back to Boston for another series.
In 1995, the NHL decided to give the cup back to Boston because none of the previous three winners had been able to defend their title. The Bruins went on to lose all three games they played against the Detroit Red Wings during the playoffs. This time around, the Bruins have a better chance of winning because they are more experienced and have more talent. However, if they do end up losing again, the Canucks would be next in line because they were the last team to defeat Boston in five games.
Overall, this year's cup finals are expected to be one of the most exciting ever because both teams are very competitive and have great players.
On June 14, 1994, the Rangers won their first Stanley Cup in 54 years, defeating the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. It was the first championship for head coach Mike Keenan and player Kevin Hatty.
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in Manhattan's Upper East Side neighborhood. The team plays in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). Founded in 1910 as one of six original NHL teams, the Rangers have most recently been coached by David Quinn since November 2017 when Tom Renney was fired after a 16-26-10 record. The team has played its home games at Madison Square Garden since 1926. The Rangers are the only team to have every game of their playoff run end in a 3-2 victory.
In the final game of the season, the Rangers were tied with the Montreal Canadiens 2-2 after two periods when Kevin Hatty scored the series-winning goal with 1:50 left on the clock. The goal is considered by many to be the fastest overtime winner in NHL history. After the game, Keenan told reporters that he had known all along that his team could score once they got the lead. "I knew we could win it right from the start," he said.
The Maple Leafs and Red Wings then played a best-of-three series to determine who would face the Rangers in the championships, which Toronto won by sweeping Detroit. The 1940 Stanley Cup finals began in New York's Madison Square Garden. The Rangers won the first two games.
This was the first Stanley Cup Finals game held in New York since Game 6 of the 1999 Finals in Buffalo. The Kings won 3-0, with to Jonathan Quick's shutout against the Rangers on 32 shots.
The New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the 2017 playoffs. When was the last time the Rangers were defeated in a playoff series? In 2017, the New York Rangers were defeated in the Conference Semi-Finals by the Ottawa Senators.
The Stanley Cup was won by the champion New York Islanders, who defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 in the final series to win it four games to none. The Isles made their first trip to the finals since moving to Long Island from Boston, while the Canucks had been to the previous three finals winning in 1978 and 1979 against Montreal and Chicago, respectively.
The 1982 playoffs began on May 11 when Vancouver defeated Calgary 4-3 in overtime of game one of their first-round series. The following day, the Islanders took advantage of a 1-0 series lead by beating the Flyers 2-1. In game three at Nassau Coliseum, Vancouver gained a point on Philadelphia with a 5-4 victory that cut the deficit to two games to one. However, the Isles went on to win the next two games to advance to the finals for the second year in a row.
Vancouver's chance to go back to the finals ended after losing games five and six by a combined score of 10-3. The Canucks were eliminated after Philadelphia scored four goals in each period of game seven to defeat Vancouver 6-2 and win the series 4-3. This was the first time in franchise history that the Canucks failed to win a playoff series after leading three games to one.