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1989-1990 NHL Playoffs
The 1989-1990 season was the same old story for the detroit red wings. Wayne gretzky and steve yzerman led their potent offense, but their lackluster defense and goaltending would keep them from reaching their true potential. Not that the wings didn't try: they signed maple leafs legend borje salming as a free agent, and Quebecois defenseman Yves Racine had a solid rookie season paying alongside fellow quebecois steve chiasson. And thank goodness that gretzky prevented a lopsided trade for bernie federko in exchange for his linemate paul maclean from happening, as the right winger would once again reach the 40-goals mark playing alongside number 99.
To think he could've been traded for A rotting corpse disguising himself as bernie federko...
But, unfortunately, same old song and dance. And worse, the entire team as awhoke seemed to regress. Salming was a shadow of his former self, and the team was only sabed by its offense, which carried it to the final playoff spot in the norris divisionwith 80 points, barely beating the Minnesota North Stars.
Once again, they faced the chicago blackhawks, and many experts expect roenick and company to rip apart the inexistent defense and goaltending of the wings...however, if there is one thing to remember, is to never count wayne gretzky and steve yzerman out. The two centres would lead their teammates to battle, making the series much tighter than it was supposed to be, even forcing a game 7. Unfortunately, their efforts would be in vain, as chicago has exactly what the red wings lacks: a top goalie, as young ed belfour would have a stellar game 7, only allowing 2 goals as the hawks ravages the wings 5-2 to advance to the second round.
Ed belfour, The blackhawks's rookie goalie sensation.
The gretzky-Yzerman era is becoming extremely disappointing so far, and wayne is making his displeasure with what he has slightly more obvious. Mike illitch has to do something to remedy the situation, and quick...the week after the elimination, Illitch Fires both GM Jim Devellano and Coach Jacques Demers and hire outgoing Washington Capitals GM/Coach Bryan Murray for the same Jobs for next season.
The red wings's future boss.
Speaking of the capitals, they managed to beat both the New Jersey Devils in the first round and the New york rangers in the second to reach the conference finals, where they will face...None other than The Hartford Whalers! That's right, ron francis, Ulf samuelsson and company managed to pull off two huge upsets, beating the Boston bruins in 6 games thank to a kevin dineen OT Goal in game 6 and defeating The Disappointing reigning champions Montreal in 5 games to reach the conference finals! Key to this incredible run is the acquisition of pat verbeek from the devils in exchange for sylvain turgeon, the right winger forming a dynamic duo with ron francis, scoring 41 goals in the season, and the experienced mike liut in goal, who is enjoying the best hockey of his career after his supposed trade to washington was cancelled. All of this, plus the solid defense led by ulf samuelsson and dave babych, would contribute to the whalers beating the heavily-favored capitals in 6 games!
Pat verbeek, Hartford's Ace in the hole.
Meanwhile, out west, a similar cinderella story happened, as the winnipeg jets pulls a stunning sweep if the edmonton oilers with 3 straight OT wins. Dale hawerchuck, Thomas steen, Pat elynuik, Teppo numminen, Freddie olausson, brent ashton, Dave ellett and the red hot bob essensa would then carry their form through the second round, where they faced Jimmy carson los angeles Kings.
Owner bruce mcnall, sensing that he made the right choice in building the team around the big 4 of carson, Bobby Carpenter, Luc robitaille and steve duchesne, would make moves throughout the season to mimick last season's cinderella run, signing Montreal Veteran Larry robinson and acquiring Blues defenseman Brian Benning for a 1991 3rd round pick as well as making a big deadline deal sending longtime king bernie nicholls to the new york rangers in exchange for two young and talented Wingers: tomas sandstrom and Tony Granato.
Granato would fit right into the first line with robitaille and carson, sandstrom would develop a natural chemistry with carpenter and john tonelli on the 2nd line while benning would further solidify a defense already containing steve duchesne, robinson, doug crossman and Tim waters. All of this, Combined with kelly hrudey's goaltending and plenty of secondary scoring from sophomore martin Gelinas, Captain Dave taylor and bottom liners todd elik and bob kudelski, and the kings looks poised to come back to the conference finals. After beating the calgary flames in 6 games, they faced the winnipeg jets. While The kings had quality and depth on offense, the jets had better defense and a hot goalie in bob essensa, and winnipeg would win in 5 games to face the blackhawks.
Ed belfour may have had his breakout year, his lack of experience was cynically taken advantage of by the jets's offense, and they would chop the hawks down in 6 games to take on the hartford whalers!
Virtually nobody expected those two teams to square off in the cup final, yet here they are! They would treat hockey fans to one hell of a competitive, hard-hitting series, where skills and grit collided. Winnipeg would win game 1 in overtime thanks to teppo numinen, but hartford would answer back at the XL center in a 7-2 route. They would win game 3, but winnipeg would shut them out twice at the winnipeg arena to take the lead 3-2 in the series, bob essensa playing out of his mind.
Unfortunately, game 6 was where essensa would cool down, allowing 6 goals in a 6-2 win for hartford, and the whalers, using their superior stamina, would win game 7 4-0 to win their first ever stanley cup on home ice!
Ron francis received the conn smythe as the entire city of hartford played the brass bonanza on every speaker in the city. To this day, the 1989-1990 playoffs is considered one of the most entertaining palyoffs in NHL History.
Ron Francis for president?
1989-1990: Hartford Whalers over Winnipeg Jets 4-3
1989-1990 season
The 1989-1990 season was the same old story for the detroit red wings. Wayne gretzky and steve yzerman led their potent offense, but their lackluster defense and goaltending would keep them from reaching their true potential. Not that the wings didn't try: they signed maple leafs legend borje salming as a free agent, and Quebecois defenseman Yves Racine had a solid rookie season paying alongside fellow quebecois steve chiasson. And thank goodness that gretzky prevented a lopsided trade for bernie federko in exchange for his linemate paul maclean from happening, as the right winger would once again reach the 40-goals mark playing alongside number 99.
To think he could've been traded for A rotting corpse disguising himself as bernie federko...
But, unfortunately, same old song and dance. And worse, the entire team as awhoke seemed to regress. Salming was a shadow of his former self, and the team was only sabed by its offense, which carried it to the final playoff spot in the norris divisionwith 80 points, barely beating the Minnesota North Stars.
Once again, they faced the chicago blackhawks, and many experts expect roenick and company to rip apart the inexistent defense and goaltending of the wings...however, if there is one thing to remember, is to never count wayne gretzky and steve yzerman out. The two centres would lead their teammates to battle, making the series much tighter than it was supposed to be, even forcing a game 7. Unfortunately, their efforts would be in vain, as chicago has exactly what the red wings lacks: a top goalie, as young ed belfour would have a stellar game 7, only allowing 2 goals as the hawks ravages the wings 5-2 to advance to the second round.
Ed belfour, The blackhawks's rookie goalie sensation.
The gretzky-Yzerman era is becoming extremely disappointing so far, and wayne is making his displeasure with what he has slightly more obvious. Mike illitch has to do something to remedy the situation, and quick...the week after the elimination, Illitch Fires both GM Jim Devellano and Coach Jacques Demers and hire outgoing Washington Capitals GM/Coach Bryan Murray for the same Jobs for next season.
The red wings's future boss.
Speaking of the capitals, they managed to beat both the New Jersey Devils in the first round and the New york rangers in the second to reach the conference finals, where they will face...None other than The Hartford Whalers! That's right, ron francis, Ulf samuelsson and company managed to pull off two huge upsets, beating the Boston bruins in 6 games thank to a kevin dineen OT Goal in game 6 and defeating The Disappointing reigning champions Montreal in 5 games to reach the conference finals! Key to this incredible run is the acquisition of pat verbeek from the devils in exchange for sylvain turgeon, the right winger forming a dynamic duo with ron francis, scoring 41 goals in the season, and the experienced mike liut in goal, who is enjoying the best hockey of his career after his supposed trade to washington was cancelled. All of this, plus the solid defense led by ulf samuelsson and dave babych, would contribute to the whalers beating the heavily-favored capitals in 6 games!
Pat verbeek, Hartford's Ace in the hole.
Meanwhile, out west, a similar cinderella story happened, as the winnipeg jets pulls a stunning sweep if the edmonton oilers with 3 straight OT wins. Dale hawerchuck, Thomas steen, Pat elynuik, Teppo numminen, Freddie olausson, brent ashton, Dave ellett and the red hot bob essensa would then carry their form through the second round, where they faced Jimmy carson los angeles Kings.
Owner bruce mcnall, sensing that he made the right choice in building the team around the big 4 of carson, Bobby Carpenter, Luc robitaille and steve duchesne, would make moves throughout the season to mimick last season's cinderella run, signing Montreal Veteran Larry robinson and acquiring Blues defenseman Brian Benning for a 1991 3rd round pick as well as making a big deadline deal sending longtime king bernie nicholls to the new york rangers in exchange for two young and talented Wingers: tomas sandstrom and Tony Granato.
Granato would fit right into the first line with robitaille and carson, sandstrom would develop a natural chemistry with carpenter and john tonelli on the 2nd line while benning would further solidify a defense already containing steve duchesne, robinson, doug crossman and Tim waters. All of this, Combined with kelly hrudey's goaltending and plenty of secondary scoring from sophomore martin Gelinas, Captain Dave taylor and bottom liners todd elik and bob kudelski, and the kings looks poised to come back to the conference finals. After beating the calgary flames in 6 games, they faced the winnipeg jets. While The kings had quality and depth on offense, the jets had better defense and a hot goalie in bob essensa, and winnipeg would win in 5 games to face the blackhawks.
Ed belfour may have had his breakout year, his lack of experience was cynically taken advantage of by the jets's offense, and they would chop the hawks down in 6 games to take on the hartford whalers!
Virtually nobody expected those two teams to square off in the cup final, yet here they are! They would treat hockey fans to one hell of a competitive, hard-hitting series, where skills and grit collided. Winnipeg would win game 1 in overtime thanks to teppo numinen, but hartford would answer back at the XL center in a 7-2 route. They would win game 3, but winnipeg would shut them out twice at the winnipeg arena to take the lead 3-2 in the series, bob essensa playing out of his mind.
Unfortunately, game 6 was where essensa would cool down, allowing 6 goals in a 6-2 win for hartford, and the whalers, using their superior stamina, would win game 7 4-0 to win their first ever stanley cup on home ice!
Ron francis received the conn smythe as the entire city of hartford played the brass bonanza on every speaker in the city. To this day, the 1989-1990 playoffs is considered one of the most entertaining palyoffs in NHL History.
Ron Francis for president?
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