94' Eastern Confrence Finals

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

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

What about Doug Lidster stepping in for Jeff Beukeboom?

I was at Game Six. What an amazing game.

 

[yada]

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.

its funny the way that cup win is talked about, its as though the devils were a worse team then the 8th seed oilers that made the cup finals 2 years ago. its almost as if the oilers would have won the cup it wouldnt have been as big of an upset as the devils winning that first cup :

 

[jg39]

Watching the videos of the 1994 NY Rangers brings a tear to my eye. My earliest hockey memories are of watching the AMAZING NJ v. NYR series, and the final against Vancouver. Before i started following Tampa in the late 90's, the Rangers were my team, and I still root for them whenever they play anyone but the Lightning. It was an absolutely amazing series, and there will always be a place in my hockey heart for Mike Richter, Mark Messier, Esa Tikkanen, Stephane Matteau, and Jeff Beukeboom. Even though I dont remember it nearly as vividly as I do TB's Cup, it will always be a great hockey memory. Being able to watch both Cup wins with my Dad is one of the happiest memories I can think of, and it really makes you miss pre-lockout hockey.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

its funny the way that cup win is talked about, its as though the devils were a worse team then the 8th seed oilers that made the cup finals 2 years ago. its almost as if the oilers would have won the cup it wouldnt have been as big of an upset as the devils winning that first cup :

Look who the Devils were playing...

Sergei Fedorov
Dino Ciccarelli
Steve Yzerman
Vyacheslav Kozlov
Keith Primeau (young)
Darren McCarty (young)
Kris Draper (young)

Nicklas Lidstrom
Viacheslav Fetisov
Vladimir Konstantinov
Paul Coffey
Mark Howe

they had a super team

 

[yada]

Look who the Devils were playing...

Sergei Fedorov
Dino Ciccarelli
Steve Yzerman
Vyacheslav Kozlov
Keith Primeau (young)
Darren McCarty (young)
Kris Draper (young)

Nicklas Lidstrom
Viacheslav Fetisov
Vladimir Konstantinov
Paul Coffey
Mark Howe

they had a super team

thats true but the devils seem to get no credit for being a good team.

 

[9302njd]

Remember watching every minute of this series and it ultimately made me a Devils STH many years later. The thing that bothers me is that everyone focuses onn two obvious moments (Messier's 3rd period in game 6 and the Matteau goal) but this entire series was incredible. What was amazing was that the intensitiy of this series ultimately made 2 Stanley Cup champs (Rangers in 94, Devils in 95).

This series convinced me that hockey was an amazing sport even thought i never played it.

 

[Augustus Pablo]

thats true but the devils seem to get no credit for being a good team.

They get credit, but you have to look at the circumstances of the season, as has been pointed out already.

 

[Big Phil]

The '95 Devils were only 4 games about .500. Yes it was a shortened season but they still were not among the elite. Reminds me a lot of the Giants winning the Super Bowl this year. I mean I had the Giants pegged to lose to the Bucs in the wild card game but they didnt. The Devils I thought would lose for sure to the Bruins in '95. But they won so............

 

[Augustus Pablo]

The '95 Devils were only 4 games about .500. Yes it was a shortened season but they still were not among the elite. Reminds me a lot of the Giants winning the Super Bowl this year. I mean I had the Giants pegged to lose to the Bucs in the wild card game but they didnt. The Devils I thought would lose for sure to the Bruins in '95. But they won so............

That's actually a very good comparison.

 

[Risiko]

So many great playoff series in '94. I don't think we'll ever see anything like it again.