94' Eastern Confrence Finals

[NJD1982]

I was to young to remember but, What happened that year the Devils looked like they had the series then just let it slip away?

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[albathegreat*]

Mark Messier

 

[Hank Chinaski]

Mark Messier

Pretty much.

Another big factor was that the Rangers had basically cruised through the first two rounds, blowing out the Isles and Caps, while the Devils were already in full "playoff mode", having survived two hard-fought series vs. the Sabres and Bruins. I think it took the Rangers until about game 5 to realize they were actually in a series with the Devils.

 

[njdevsfn95]

All that happened was the greatest playoff series I have ever watched.

That's saying a lot since my team lost.

 

[OilerNut*]

Richter played pretty good too.

 

[blamebettman*]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VosGP_A3iSA

 

[NJD1982]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VosGP_A3iSA

That sums up the physicality of the series.

 

[reckoning]

Another big factor was that the Rangers had basically cruised through the first two rounds, blowing out the Isles and Caps, while the Devils were already in full "playoff mode", having survived two hard-fought series vs. the Sabres and Bruins. I think it took the Rangers until about game 5 to realize they were actually in a series with the Devils.

The flipside of that theory is that as the series went on the fatigue from the earlier series started to catch up with Jersey. Their first rounder against Buffalo went 7 games (8 if you consider that Game 6 went to 4OT). Those long series in the early rounds will cost you later on.

 

[Loto68]

The flipside of that theory is that as the series went on the fatigue from the earlier series started to catch up with Jersey. Their first rounder against Buffalo went 7 games (8 if you consider that Game 6 went to 4OT). Those long series in the early rounds will cost you later on.

I think if you look at the last several Stanley Cup champions, I don't think any played more than 10 combined games in the first two rounds.

 

[Loto68]

All that happened was the greatest playoff series I have ever watched.

That's saying a lot since my team lost.

And obviously this might seem like homerism from a Ranger fan, but game 7 was maybe the greatest game ever played (at least the greatest I have ever seen, live or taped).

 

[Wings4Life]

Messier and Co. overcame the trap by the slimmest of margins, something the Red Wings completely failed to do the next season.

 

[blamebettman*]

The flipside of that theory is that as the series went on the fatigue from the earlier series started to catch up with Jersey. Their first rounder against Buffalo went 7 games (8 if you consider that Game 6 went to 4OT). Those long series in the early rounds will cost you later on.

The Devils also played a 6 games series against the Bruins in round 2, they had to come back frome being down 0-2 and two of the games in that series went into OT as well.

By the tame game 7 of the NYR series ended, the Devils had played 20 playoff games, 6 going into OT. 3 double OT, 1 quadruple OT. And 10 one goal games overall.

And they hadn't even reached the finals.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

I think if you look at the last several Stanley Cup champions, I don't think any played more than 10 combined games in the first two rounds.

This is true.

It also seems as though nearly every Cup champ in recent memory (a notable exception would be the 2001 Avs) has been in a dogfight in the Conference Finals, and in many cases has trailed in that series.

 

[Augustus Pablo]

We had that series won, than Kovalev gave the Rangers momentum

 

[yada]

I really wish I had been a hockey fan back then I've seen the games since but nothing can compare to how it mustve felt that year.

 

[njdevsfn95]

I really wish I had been a hockey fan back then I've seen the games since but nothing can compare to how it mustve felt that year.

i (sort of) wish i was older so i could really understand just how hard of a loss it really was, althouh this was my reaction -

that being said, the Devils and Rangers were the best teams in the conference (106pts vs 112pts - absolutely crazy w/o the OT and SO points). they were the two most offensive teams in the conference (306 goals NJD to 299 goals NYR). they were among the best defensive teams in the East as well.

unfortunately the thing about hockey is you rarely have the best teams in the conference (or league) face each other in the conf/Cup finals.

the Devils and Senators did in 2003 and it wasn't a disappointment.

 

[Ranger35]

We had that series won, than Kovalev gave the Rangers momentum

Thanks for the Kovalev mention, he doesn't get enough credit for the amazing game 6 he had because he didn't make the guarantee.

I think Kovalev and Richter were just as big as Messier in that game.

 

[canucksfan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VosGP_A3iSA

What's sad is the way the NHL is going there will never be a series as intense as that one.

 

[yada]

What seed were the devils in 94?

 

[Lundqvist=Vezina]

Too young to remember all of it from the time it was played, but I recently watched it on DVD. I'd say the Devils probably should have won. Great series, the hitting and physical play was unreal.

 

[David Puddy]

What seed were the devils in 94?

The Devils were the 3rd Seed in the two division Eastern Conference that year. The Devils had the second best record in the NHL that season, 6 PTS behind the Rangers. The Devils went 0-6-0 against the Rangers during the regular season in 1993-94.

 

[yada]

Thanks putty

I seemed to get two different stories about the devils, first that they were a great team that year and somehow I got the opinion they were an 8th seed.

I now have a question then, if the devils were so good in 94 what changed with the devils in 95 to make them such a surprise cup winner?

 

[David Puddy]

I seemed to get two different stories about the devils, first that they were a great team that year and somehow I got the opinion they were an 8th seed.

I now have a question then, if the devils were so good in 94 what changed with the devils in 95 to make them such a surprise cup winner?

The Devils got off to a bad start after lockout-shortened season started in January 1995. The Devils were 12-13-6 nearly 2/3 of the way through the season. They finished the regular season 22-18-8, good enough for the 5th seed.

The underdog status was mainly in the Stanley Cup Finals when they were matched against the President's Trophy winning Detroit Red Wings, who went 33-11-4 during the regular season. Furthermore, Detroit had only lost two games in the playoffs before the Finals.

 

[Al Bundy*]

The Devils were the 3rd Seed in the two division Eastern Conference that year. The Devils had the second best record in the NHL that season, 6 PTS behind the Rangers. The Devils went 0-6-0 against the Rangers during the regular season in 1993-94.

Who was the 2nd seed that year and what happened to them?

 

[Master_Of_Districts]

Who was the 2nd seed that year and what happened to them?

Pittsburgh.

They lost in the first round to Washington in 6 games.