7 7 6 2 Start date May 10, 1984 | 7 5 | |
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Similar 1985 Stanley Cup Finals, 1981 Stanley Cup Finals, 1982 Stanley Cup Finals, 1990 Stanley Cup Finals, 1980 Stanley Cup Finals | ||
The 1984 Stanley Cup Final was held between the Edmonton Oilers and the then-defending champion New York Islanders. The Islanders had swept the Oilers in four straight games to win the 1983 Cup. In 1984, the Islanders were seeking their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup championship, but the upstart Oilers would win the best-of-seven series four games to one to win their first Stanley Cup, becoming the third post-1967 expansion team and first former World Hockey Association team to win the Cup, and also the first team based west of Chicago to win the Cup since the WCHL's Victoria Cougars became the last non-NHL team to win it in 1925. It was also the fifth straight Finals of teams that joined the NHL in 1967 or later and a rematch of the 1983 Finals—a Stanley Cup Finals rematch would not happen again until the 2009 Finals. As of 2015, the Islanders' four consecutive Cup wins (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983) and their appearance in the 1984 Cup Finals is an NHL record of 19 consecutive playoff series wins that currently stands unbroken. This would be the second of eight consecutive Finals contested by a team from Alberta (the Oilers appeared in six, the Calgary Flames in two), and the first of five consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice (the Oilers won four times, the Montreal Canadiens one).
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The Oilers became the fastest-ever Canadian-based expansion team to win a major sports title by winning a title in only their fifth NHL season. The feat would be eclipsed in 2016 by the Ottawa Redblacks, who won the Grey Cup in their third CFL season.
Paths to the Final
Edmonton defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3–0, the Calgary Flames 4–3 and the Minnesota North Stars 4–0 to reach the Finals.
New York defeated the New York Rangers 3-2, the Washington Capitals 4–1, and the Montreal Canadiens 4–2 to reach the Finals.
The series
NOTE: The 1984 Stanley Cup Finals were played in a 2–3–2 format, which the NBA Finals (1985–2013) and World Series (always) use, instead of the usual 2–2–1–1–1; however, the NHL would only use the format again the following season before going back to the 2–2–1–1–1 format for the 1986 Stanley Cup Finals.
Grant Fuhr shut out the Islanders in the first game, on Long Island (his first Finals game), with Kevin McClelland scoring the game's only goal, but the Islanders won game two 6–1. The series then shifted to Edmonton for three games. In game three, the Islanders had a 2–1 lead in the second period, but Mark Messier scored on an individual effort to tie the game. That changed the momentum in favor of the Oilers, and they proceeded to beat the Islanders 7–2. But the Oilers lost Fuhr for games four and five after the Islanders' Pat LaFontaine crashed into Fuhr on the forecheck during Game 3, and Fuhr was slow to get up. Andy Moog started Games 4 and 5. The Oilers won game four by the same score, with Wayne Gretzky scoring his first goal of the Finals (he scored the first and last goal of the game). The Oilers then won game five by the score of 5–2 thanks to Gretzky's two first-period goals, and two Duane Sutter penalties. They became the first former WHA team, and the first team from Edmonton, to win the Stanley Cup.
New York Islanders vs. Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton wins the series 4–1.
Mark Messier won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Stanley Cup engraving
Each team was required to play 20 players out of a 24 man roster. The Oilers engraved 21 players' names on the Cup, leaving off 4 players who were dressed in the playoffs.
(All four players left off the Stanley Cup were awarded a Stanley Cup ring, and included on the team picture.)
On the new ring, EDMONTON was misspelled DDMONTON. An "E" was stamped twice over the first "D" to correct the mistake.