HF Habs: 24 Together: 25th Year Anniversary of Habs '93 Cup (May 28th on Sportsnet)

[Tighthead]

Poile needed 19 years to reach the SCF once, we can wait that much

Fantastic use of “whatabout” to defend Bergevin. That’s the last card in the deck.

 

[OldCraig71]

I hated the Nords with a passion. Seeing us down 2 and coming back to knock them out was a ride.

And no, that was.no fluke team. It was a good squad that had its best player rise to the occasion.

As the OT wins racked up I kept thinking this just can't keep going our way, it's impossible, but just this one tonight. Lol.

I mean think about it. Get Vegas or the Capitals to play the Sabres or Yotes in a sudden death goal wins basis and I doubt there is any chance they could do it 10 times in a row. Just insane.

The LA games about killed me sleep wise. Lol.

Was so much fun.

It got to the point that I just assumed we would win when the games went to OT. I remember that my old tv died in the finals against the Kings and I frantically went upstairs knocking on my landlords door to see if he could help me out, he gave me what had to be no more than a 10 inch tv that was black and white lol. I remember placing it on the kitchen table and sitting with my face not more than a foot away from the screen, fun times.

 

[Tuggy]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Tighthead]

This team gets underrated. It's legacy is some sort of cinderella team with alot of overtime wins, but the fact is that they finished 6th overall in the league, 2 points away from 4th overall. The team had 102 points in an era of no loser points.

All this despite Patrick Roy not having a good year. If that team could muster a good season without Roy at his best, it shouldn't be a surprise that they can have a great playoff when Roy is at his best.

At that point in his career Roy was a bit inconsistent as a regular season goalie. He was kind of perceived as mercurial - the best when on his game. He was a lightning rod for fans. I posted an article on here months ago and LeClair mentioned how a fan poll in January 1993 had a majority in favour of trading Roy.

What I remember from that playoff is our D being amazing at the first pass, and guys like DiPietro and Ronan elevating their games. One OT goal (Carbo or Savard) was as a result of Ronan diving to negate an icing. Quick pass to the slot and it was over. I believe they swept Buffalo on four 4-3 games.

I was in standing room for all but two home games. Game 1 LA and and Isles game. It was crazy. The energy during the anthem was indescribable.

On the day of the Desjardins hat trick, I actually bumped into McSorley on the street. I like to think I gave him the stink eye. I’ve always thought a D getting a hatty in a 3-2 win has been under appreciated outside of our fan base. Things just went right.

After that game a friend and I waited outside the Forum and cheered the players on as they boarded the bus. Demers was sitting in the front seat and would smile at us and give the thumbs up as the players boarded. The cheers for Roy and Desjardins were wild.

Going to game 5 felt like a coronation. LA was drawing dead. People forget but Gretzky took some heat after the game for going on HNIC and talking retirement (in the third person). Some old school journos thought it was stealing the spotlight.

Better days. It was more fun being a fan at 22 than 47.

Edit: An oral history of the 1992-93 Montreal Canadiens

 

[sheed36]

I forgot about this last night and didn't see it. How was it for anyone who watched it?

 

[Tighthead]

I missed it. Recording it Sunday when it airs again. T sportsnet channels and half the time they are showing the same replays of Sports Central or Jays in 30.

 

[BLONG7]

I forgot about this last night and didn't see it. How was it for anyone who watched it?

Not bad...turning back time.........that run had some luck, and some real magic in it...it seemed destiny took over.

Vegas style destiny this year, also seems to be working...

 

[donghabs98]

I forgot about this last night and didn't see it. How was it for anyone who watched it?

It was good although I wish it was an hour long since I felt like it was kinda rushed. For instance they could have talked a bit more about the regular season where the Habs were at one point in the race for 1st in the league before collapsing down the stretch.

They did a really good job in letting the players involve narrate the special and seeing the joy on Demers in reliving the past was a real heartfelt moment. You'll get your chance to see it again since I'm sure they will re air it.

 

[lo striver]

are they planning a commemorative parade on Jun 10? a parade for 25 years since last parade.

 

[Schwang]

I felt it could’ve been longer. Man, the LA players were really crying about the stick measurement. Even the ref at the time said “Marty, what were u thinking?”

 

[justafan22]

lol I wasn't even born for a while when this happened.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Back when we used to score goals...........ahhh, the good times!!

P Roy with an 894% save let that sink in...
Bellows, Damphousse, Muller, Savard, just to name a few...

Yeah... I hate the "Roy everything on his shoulders" narrative that the media created and that most of the fans ate up.

And Im a huge Roy fan.

He had the most balanced team in the league in front of him scoring at close to 3.5 per.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I'd trade our roster for Vegas's in a heartbeat even if they would have lost in the first round. Our roster now is pure garbage it really is embarassing

IMO, that roster loses a lot of its capacity without Gallant. He made them what they are.

And im still suspicious that they are all on prescription ritalin, concerta or adderall

 

[Laurentide]

I felt it could’ve been longer. Man, the LA players were really crying about the stick measurement. Even the ref at the time said “Marty, what were u thinking?”

Yeah, as if having an illegal curve in his stick would do anything to make a talentless hump like McSorley better able to score a goal. I don't even know why he played with a stick. He was only employed to beat people up when they got too close to Wayner. Other than that he provided nothing.

Like I said in another post about so-called "elite" third liners, guys like McSorley don't help you win. They can only be the reason you lose.

 

[Laurentide]

Yeah... I hate the "Roy everything on his shoulders" narrative that the media created and that most of the fans ate up.

And Im a huge Roy fan.

He had the most balanced team in the league in front of him scoring at close to 3.5 per.

The reason why 93 and to an even greater extent 86 are considered "flukes" is less about Roy and more about the match-up's. In both years, the big story wasn't about who the Habs beat but about the teams they didn't have to beat.

Because of the divisional playoff format in place at the time, the Habs in both 86 and 93 were lucky enough to avoid having to play some teams that likely would have beaten them. In 86, the Habs (2nd place, Adams Division) took care of the Bruins (like always) in the best of 5 first round. The match-up Habs fans were dreading was expected in the second round against the first place Nordiques, who had eliminated the Habs the year before. But unexpectedly, the upstart Whalers beat the Nordiques. Even then, it took the Habs 7 games plus overtime to dispatch Hartford. Then in the conference finals, the Habs didn't have to play the Flyers or Capitals, who had 13 and 10 more wins respectively than the 40 win Habs. Instead, we got to play the Patrick Division 4th place team: the Rangers. Then in the finals, thanks to Steve Smith scoring into his own net and eliminating the Oilers, the Habs got to play the Flames, who had amassed 89 points to Montreal's 87. Consequently, the Habs had home ice in all but the final round and they went into the finals well rested, having eliminated the Rangers in 5 games while the Flames played a 7 game bruiser with the Blues and a 7 game series with Edmonton before that. The Habs played 7 against Hartford but had beaten Boston in 3 straight and New York in 5. Then they beat the Flames in 5 and won the Cup playing only 5 games more than the minimum.

Would they have won it had they been forced to play Quebec, Philly, Washington or Edmonton? Probably not. Would they have won in a format like today which re-seeds after each round? Again it's unlikely. They beat the teams in front of them which is all you can do. But the quality of the teams in front of them weren't as good as they might have been.

In 93, they beat Quebec and then avoided a second round match-up with Boston, who were upset by the Sabres. They eliminated Buffalo in four straight and then again avoided playing Lemieux and the Penguins in the conference finals because the Islanders upset Pittsburgh. They took care of the Isles in 5 games and then beat a mediocre Kings team in the finals.

Leafs fans maintain that they would have beaten the Habs but I'm not buying it. If they couldn't beat a team backstopped by a nobody like Kelly Hrudey they sure as hell weren't going to beat a team with Patrick Roy.

 

[gunnerdom]

Who gives a ****!?

Celebrating the past like a bunch of losers.

Yes. Let's never celebrate the past. We must be forever miserable and never enjoy life, including great memories.

And with this, no one will ever celebrate another birthday, Christmas, remembrance day, etc.

Happy birthday? there's no such thing.

 

[Laurentide]

Yes. Let's never celebrate the past. We must be forever miserable and never enjoy life, including great memories.

And with this, no one will ever celebrate another birthday, Christmas, remembrance day, etc.

Happy birthday? there's no such thing.

I agree but I suspect that some Leafs-loving program director at Sportsnet's Toronto headquarters felt that this little documentary would be useful to troll Habs fans with as a painful reminder of just how long it's been since this team was relevant.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

The reason why 93 and to an even greater extent 86 are considered "flukes" is less about Roy and more about the match-up's. In both years, the big story wasn't about who the Habs beat but about the teams they didn't have to beat.

Because of the divisional playoff format in place at the time, the Habs in both 86 and 93 were lucky enough to avoid having to play some teams that likely would have beaten them. In 86, the Habs (2nd place, Adams Division) took care of the Bruins (like always) in the best of 5 first round. The match-up Habs fans were dreading was expected in the second round against the first place Nordiques, who had eliminated the Habs the year before. But unexpectedly, the upstart Whalers beat the Nordiques. Even then, it took the Habs 7 games plus overtime to dispatch Hartford. Then in the conference finals, the Habs didn't have to play the Flyers or Capitals, who had 13 and 10 more wins respectively than the 40 win Habs. Instead, we got to play the Patrick Division 4th place team: the Rangers. Then in the finals, thanks to Steve Smith scoring into his own net and eliminating the Oilers, the Habs got to play the Flames, who had amassed 89 points to Montreal's 87. Consequently, the Habs had home ice in all but the final round and they went into the finals well rested, having eliminated the Rangers in 5 games while the Flames played a 7 game bruiser with the Blues and a 7 game series with Edmonton before that. The Habs played 7 against Hartford but had beaten Boston in 3 straight and New York in 5. Then they beat the Flames in 5 and won the Cup playing only 5 games more than the minimum.

Would they have won it had they been forced to play Quebec, Philly, Washington or Edmonton? Probably not. Would they have won in a format like today which re-seeds after each round? Again it's unlikely. They beat the teams in front of them which is all you can do. But the quality of the teams in front of them weren't as good as they might have been.

In 93, they beat Quebec and then avoided a second round match-up with Boston, who were upset by the Sabres. They eliminated Buffalo in four straight and then again avoided playing Lemieux and the Penguins in the conference finals because the Islanders upset Pittsburgh. They took care of the Isles in 5 games and then beat a mediocre Kings team in the finals.

Leafs fans maintain that they would have beaten the Habs but I'm not buying it. If they couldn't beat a team backstopped by a nobody like Kelly Hrudey they sure as hell weren't going to beat a team with Patrick Roy.

They could've beat both Boston and Toronto in 93. Quebec was a bigger threat imo.

It's solely the Pens I was afraid of. I was a big fan of Turgeon, but not for a second I thought the Isles could win against the reigning champs. I thought the Habs would lose against the Pens in the CF. I was more excited when the Isles won in the 2nd round than when the Habs eliminated the Sabres. At that point I thought no team could stop the Habs.

 

[donghabs98]

I agree but I suspect that some Leafs-loving program director at Sportsnet's Toronto headquarters felt that this little documentary would be useful to troll Habs fans with as a painful reminder of just how long it's been since this team was relevant.

To be fair though it's also a negative look at Canadian teams in general. In 25 years out of 6-7 teams only 5 teams have made it to the finals. That makes the 93 Habs even more memorable in addition to how fortunate they were that the stars aligned perfectly for them that year.

 

[SquiddFX]

I forgot about this last night and didn't see it. How was it for anyone who watched it?

It was great to re-watch the moments and hear the players involved talk about it. As others have noted, they could have made it longer than 30 mins and gone a little more in depth.

For me, I was 1 at the time so I have no idea what went on so it was a nice documentary to watch. I really liked the Finals talk when they talked about "The Call". McSorely maintains that we had measured their sticks before the game. But Damphousse even mentions that he himself used sticks with illegal curves but would change to a legal curve in the 3rd period.

 

[CHwest]

The reason why 93 and to an even greater extent 86 are considered "flukes" is less about Roy and more about the match-up's. In both years, the big story wasn't about who the Habs beat but about the teams they didn't have to beat.

Because of the divisional playoff format in place at the time, the Habs in both 86 and 93 were lucky enough to avoid having to play some teams that likely would have beaten them. In 86, the Habs (2nd place, Adams Division) took care of the Bruins (like always) in the best of 5 first round. The match-up Habs fans were dreading was expected in the second round against the first place Nordiques, who had eliminated the Habs the year before. But unexpectedly, the upstart Whalers beat the Nordiques. Even then, it took the Habs 7 games plus overtime to dispatch Hartford. Then in the conference finals, the Habs didn't have to play the Flyers or Capitals, who had 13 and 10 more wins respectively than the 40 win Habs. Instead, we got to play the Patrick Division 4th place team: the Rangers. Then in the finals, thanks to Steve Smith scoring into his own net and eliminating the Oilers, the Habs got to play the Flames, who had amassed 89 points to Montreal's 87. Consequently, the Habs had home ice in all but the final round and they went into the finals well rested, having eliminated the Rangers in 5 games while the Flames played a 7 game bruiser with the Blues and a 7 game series with Edmonton before that. The Habs played 7 against Hartford but had beaten Boston in 3 straight and New York in 5. Then they beat the Flames in 5 and won the Cup playing only 5 games more than the minimum.

Would they have won it had they been forced to play Quebec, Philly, Washington or Edmonton? Probably not. Would they have won in a format like today which re-seeds after each round? Again it's unlikely. They beat the teams in front of them which is all you can do. But the quality of the teams in front of them weren't as good as they might have been.

In 93, they beat Quebec and then avoided a second round match-up with Boston, who were upset by the Sabres. They eliminated Buffalo in four straight and then again avoided playing Lemieux and the Penguins in the conference finals because the Islanders upset Pittsburgh. They took care of the Isles in 5 games and then beat a mediocre Kings team in the finals.

Leafs fans maintain that they would have beaten the Habs but I'm not buying it. If they couldn't beat a team backstopped by a nobody like Kelly Hrudey they sure as hell weren't going to beat a team with Patrick Roy.

Serious question, as I am having some memory issues. Did you remember all this or did you look some of it up?

 

[lo striver]

I remember at the time I didn't think Habs could beat Leafs, but we were there waiting for them and they did not show up.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

IMO, that roster loses a lot of its capacity without Gallant. He made them what they are.

And im still suspicious that they are all on prescription ritalin, concerta or adderall

Maybe habs can hire a new pharmacist

 

[Tuggy]

Just finished watching it. It's only 30 minutes so doesn't take up much of your time.

Melrose still quite bitter about Demers calling for the stick check. But like Leeman said, don't like then don't get caught using an illegal stick.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I agree but I suspect that some Leafs-loving program director at Sportsnet's Toronto headquarters felt that this little documentary would be useful to troll Habs fans with as a painful reminder of just how long it's been since this team was relevant.

It's still half the years since their last cup which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.

My own father was still a teenager when they won their last cup.

I was a teenager when the habs won their last cup...