That's a strange thought but undeniably true.
In some respects, this random flub from Norris-era Randy Carlyle was one of the most important plays in NHL history. It quite directly led to a dynasty.
I always thought Carlyle was sluggish and too casual with that play. It is late in the game, you are about to knock off the two time champs and you've got pressure on a dump in and while it was a bad bounce he just was in a bad position for it, I thought. When you end up lying on your stomach when the tying goal is scored then that is never a good thing.
By the way, a great save in overtime was made by Billy Smith on a 2-on-1. We forget that there were times Billy saved their bacon.
Yeas but if the Isles lose early in 82 they are not there in the finals. Say its Edmonton vs Quebec do the Statsny brothers pull through? Idk.
So if that is the case we are talking about Edmonton, Quebec, Vancouver, Chicago, Rangers, Pittsburgh. I am very cautious about saying the Oilers win, even with those remaining teams. First off, in Game 3 vs. the Kings they blow a 5-0 third period lead. Wet behind the ears or not, that's horrendous. Then, by the grace of God they still manage to play at home in a final rubber match in Game 5, and they lose 7-4 against the Kings in that game. Every single game they lost to the Kings that series was disastrous (the other was 10-8) and the games they won were in overtime and a slim 3-2 win in Game 4. So they were all over the place when the chips were down back then. I think the Oilers became the OILERS after 1982, and then especially 1983 after getting humbled by the Isles. So if they are still the "stay out until 4am" youthful Oilers, then who wins the Cup?
Honestly, the best team left is probably Quebec. They are over .500. They scored a ton of goals that year, they had a lot of depth up front, lots of scorers. But the problem is their defense is bad. Should Mario Marois be your best defenseman? Is there a team that ever won a Cup with a worse top d-man than that? Or is Dan Bouchard a Cup winning goalie? He was 4th in Vezina voting that year. For what it is worth Quebec was 0-3 against the Penguins that year.
Or is it the Rangers? They had the most points with 92 of the remaining ones. I just never liked the Rangers teams of that era, all the way up until the early 1990s. They were always so non-descript. Nothing special about them. Herb Brooks was coaching them at this time, if that helps, which it doesn't hurt. We are talking about Eddie Mio or Steve Weeks as a Cup winning goalie. Hmmm. Mike Rogers as the leading scorer? Honestly, I like my chances with Quebec a lot better. At least you can somewhat envision them winning in an upset riddled year like 1982. Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet winning a Cup with the other Stastny brothers and Dale Hunter? Sure, that isn't unrealistic.
In fact, I like Chicago winning it after Quebec on those non-Oiler remaining teams over the rest of them. At least they had Denis Savard, a Norris winner in Doug Wilson that year and perhaps Tony Esposito has some magic left in net.
Or........................is this the year the Oilers catch a break and get past L.A. and then learn a lot and grow up a lot and start their dynasty a little earlier? That's possible too. So for me it is Quebec, Edmonton or Chicago winning that Cup. I can't see a reason how any of the rest do it.
