c9777666
Registered User
- Aug 31, 2016
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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
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