1996 Colorado/Chicago Playoff Series

[c9777666]

3:49



I've gone on the record as saying that this is one of the overlooked great playoff series of the 90s and am surprised we don't hear about this one more.

We hear so much about the '96 West Finals with Detroit, but only 1 of those games was decided by 1 goal (game 1 OT) whereas this series had 4.

The 1995-96 Chicago Blackhawks were the last Cup threat the franchise had until Toews and Kane came on the scene.

That was the Blackhawks' last kick at the Cup with the Belfour/Chelios/Roenick core (and they also had Bernie Nicholls/Gary Suter/Joe Murphy, plus 30-goal rookie Eric Daze, the last rookie to do so for a decade), and after a stretch where they flirted with the conference Finals regularly since 1982, this was their last best chance as a Cup threat.

And of course there was that ridiculously stacked Avs lineup (Sakic/Forsberg/Kamensky/Claude Lemieux/Scott Young/Ozolinsh/Deadmarsh) that added Patrick Roy.

4 of the 6 games went into overtime (among them, double and triple OT) with the heroes ranging from Super Joe and Roenick to Ozolinsh and Sergei Krivokrasov!) Roy vs. Belfour traded saves. Roenick's trash talk and the 'Cup Rings plugging up my ears' soundbite.

You had a real flashpoint- Roenick pulled down on an OT breakaway in game 4 with CHI up 2-1 and that led to a famous war of words:



What if they call that overtime penalty shot when Roenick seemed to get tripped up. And remember, even with that, this game still went to triple OT.

Even with Roy, Colorado was a very young team perilously close to falling behind 3-1 against a veteran Chicago team. And given that most of that roster fell into an inescapable 3-1 hole the year before when in Quebec against a similarly veteran playoff experienced team in the Rangers......

Maybe we get CHI/DET again? Does Colorado ever realize their potential if they don't win the '96 Cup? What of Detroit? Heck, what of Florida?

We hear so much about Yzerman's game 7 OT goal against St. Louis even though I think it wasn't even the best West Semifinal in '96

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[sr edler]

Colorado had some issues already in the first round against VAN. Tied at 2 games each and game 5 in Denver went to OT. VAN had quite an efficient PP going on (with Tikkanen, Mogilny, Linden, Näslund, Lumme) and scored 4 or more goals on Roy in 3 out of 6 games.

 

[tony d]

Was a good series for sure, should be known for more than Roy's famous quote about his cup rings being in his ears.

 

[GMR]

There were some great series in the West that year. St. Louis and Toronto had many OT games. St. Louis vs. Detroit was a series with lots of swings.

I agree this series between Chicago and Colorado was overlooked. If Chicago wins, they're unlikely to get past Detroit. They were swept by the Wings the prior season, albeit that series was closer than the outcome looked. Colorado likely wins the Cup in 1997 with a less hungry Detroit team. No Fight Night at the Joe either as Lemieux never runs Draper into the boards. You could say the same, of course, if St. Louis beat Detroit in 1996.

 

[Doctor No]

Agreed - great series. My first year in Boulder so was still a Canucks fan but was enjoying the Avalanche's run.

Who knows how much the Lyonnaise potatoes from Morton's played into the series outcome?

(For those who need the reference: HAWKS' LESSON IN DENVER NOT JUST SMALL POTATOES )

 

[The Pale King]

Belfour missing that Game 2 is one of the bigger "what-ifs" of the decade if you ask me. Great playoffs on the western side of the bracket with an anti-climatic cup final (the second of four straight).

 

[Big Phil]

I loved this series. Yeah I think it gets overlooked a lot. For starters 1996 had some other storylines that postseason (Col/Det, Pens/Caps 4 OT game) but this was dangerously close to a win for Chicago. Triple overtime in Game 4 and I totally forgot about that Roenick trip in overtime. Yeah, I don't know how that isn't a penalty shot, or was it even a penalty? They were pretty loose with penalty shots back then, you basically had to be on a clear breakaway and be tripped from behind. Maybe the refs feel Roenick wasn't in the clear completely? I don't even see a penalty on the stats from that game either.

It just goes to show you how big in the clutch Sakic was that spring. This was sort of his coming out as a playoff performer. He had that Game 4 overtime winner and without it that series could have been 3-1 Hawks. This was still back when Belfour was thought to have too much of a temper to win a Cup.

 

[The Panther]

Holy cow, Sakic was Mr. Clutch in the playoffs (and '02 Olympics)! If I could have any one guy in overtime to help my side win a playoff game, it's gonna be him over The Rocket and Gretzky.

 

[solidmotion]

30-goal rookie Eric Daze, the last rookie to do so for a decade

at first i thought you meant the last rookie to score 30 for the blackhawks... but no, he was the last rookie in the entire NHL to score 30 until after the lockout... insane... the dead puck era was so horrible lol