Best playoffs in history?

[connellc]

1993 was great with montreals 10 OT wins, NYI Volek goal, Roy vs Wayne, Kerry Fraser's missed call etc. Great hockey

1994 was amazing as well with Vancouver's run, Brodeur vs Hasek (only time), NYR vs NJD was a great series too and Bure tearing it up.

 

[No 19]

1986- Montreal wins Cup, Steve Smith own goal, Vanbiesbrouck carries the Rangers to the Conference finals,Whalers only series win

1993- Montreal wins cup,Toronto's playoff run, alot of Upsets,Montreal's OT wins,Islanders upset Penguins,Marty McSorley illegal stick.

1994- Rangers-Canucks final,Sharks upset the Wings,The Leafs playoff run again,Brodeur's emergence,Rangers-Devils conference finals,the Canucks playoff run,54 years of pain over for the blueshirts

2010- Montreal's Miracle run to the ECF, Flyers upset of the Bruins,Hawks break their drought,Kings & Coyotes return to the playoffs,

 

[FlyerBearsCheesehead]

To repeat what has already been repeated...

'94: Rags win over Canucks, Devils. Devils' rally against the Bruins; Caps actually beat the Pens in the first round. Osgood crying.

'93: Islanders beating the Pens; the Habs' run; Leafs/Kings series; Don Cherry calling Barry Melrose "Billy Ray Cyprus".

'89: A lot of seven game series; Hextall scoring against the Caps and attacking not only Chelios, but Rob Brown; Hawks/Flames war.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

1987

Round 1

Quebec advances over the Whalers in OT

Islanders come back from a 3-1 series hole and defeat the Caps, concluded by Pat Lafontaine in the Easter Epic. (best game I've ever watched).

Round 2

Habs defeat the Nordiques in game 7

Flyers defeat the Isles in game 7, after Isles had won games 5 & 6 (the last stand of the championship Isles)

Red Wings defeat the Leafs in game 7

Round 3

Flyers become the first and only team to ever win 3 games at the Montreal Forum, in defeating the Habs in 6 games. Highlighted by the pre-game brawl in game 6.

Finals

Flyers win games 5 & 6 to force a game 7 ... ultimately won by the Oilers thanks to dominating 2nd & 3rd periods, 3-1.

4 Oilers and 2 Flyers finished with 25+ playoff points.

9 players with 20 or more points.

 

[seventieslord]

another vote for 1993.

 

[agentblack]

lol, yeah 1994 has to be one of, if not the best playoff year ever, i think of the 15 series played, 7 went seven games, hey look at that.
plus all the great runs, storylines, 1940!! and that all time Bure elbow. I wonder if he would have gotten suspended today and for how long?

2006 gets a nod too, the oilers run I feel was a precusor to the parity in the league now, where anyone from 1-8 in both conferences have a chance to go the finals.

 

[vikash1987]

3 storyline-drenched playoff years that immediately come to mind:

1988 - The Capitals erasing their playoff demons at the expense of Ron Hextall; Boston's first playoff series win against Montreal in 40+ years; the Jim Schoenfeld-Don Koharski incident; the "Mickey Mouse" Devils coming within a game of making the Stanley Cup Finals; the power failure at Boston Garden; Gretzky's final spring in Oilers blue

1993 - "May Day!" in Buffalo; the Isles' unthinkable upset against dynasty-oriented Pittsburgh; the epic LA-Toronto series (and ALL its subplots); the Habs' magical string of OT wins,

1994 - Brodeur vs. Hasek in the 3OT game and in Game 7; the Canucks' OT-OT-OT comeback against Calgary; the Sharks shocking Detroit (and nearly shocking Toronto); Messier delivering on his guarantee, and the emotional roller-coaster that was Game 7 vs. the Devils; the end of "The Curse"

 

[Big Phil]

From the Original 6 you'd have to rank 1967 up there. Great series with Chicago and Toronto and a classic final with Montreal too. Sentimentally it did the job.

1950 could be another one too. Great final with tons of overtime and a Game 7 double overtime decision.

1964 had a wonderful Toronto/Montreal series that went 7 games and was won in Montreal thanks to a Keon hat trick. The other series, Chicago vs. Detroit went 7 games as well. Then the final had the "Baun goal" in overtime with a broken foot with the Leafs facing elimination. Underwhelming Game 7, but overall good series.

 

[Mathradio]

Now, would you say that 2011 is a good playoff year?

 

[CHGoalie27]

Without the homer glasses, I think it gets better every year.

 

[Big Phil]

Now, would you say that 2011 is a good playoff year?

Yes it was. Lots of overtime, good storylines in the final, two Game 7 overtimes, Boston and Montreal played each other, and two series that nearly had 3-0 deficits erased. How it holds up to 1994 I'm not sure though. Once it all soaks in then we can examine it but 2011 is certainly the best post lockout

 

[Intact]

Yes it was. Lots of overtime, good storylines in the final, two Game 7 overtimes, Boston and Montreal played each other, and two series that nearly had 3-0 deficits erased. How it holds up to 1994 I'm not sure though. Once it all soaks in then we can examine it but 2011 is certainly the best post lockout

I think it has got to be close with 2009 playoffs IMO, what makes it easily the best.

 

[tony d]

Easily 1994. The run by the Canucks, the epic Rangers-Devils series, the Rangers winning the Cup, just a great playoff year all around.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Some of my favourites were the:

Isles dynasty years.. god what a hockey team. The way they dismantled the Oilers in 83 was so impressive.

'87 playoffs, particularly because of the finals where the Flyers stood up to the prime Oilers dynasty and just about got the job done. Real contrast in the two hockey teams in that one.

'93 playoffs, because I am a Leaf fan and I doubt I will ever see a player play like Doug Gilmour played that year again in my lifetime. He was possessed. The Isles upsetting the Pens possible dynasty with a impossibly inferior lineup, Gilmour and Gretzky facing off in the final four. Kerry Fraser possibly robbing us of a Leafs-Habs finals. The Habs incredibly lucky OT streak backstopped by Roy playing out of his mind.

'97 '98 - Back to back by the wings, no one has done it besides them in 20 years now. Winning for Konstantinov was a great sideline.

'01 Sakic handing the cup immediately to Bourque tells you a lot about him in my opinion. Not only that, any time the dead puck era Devils lose is good, and particularly when we'd be using the word dynasty in the same sentence as Devils if they had won. Whew! Thanks Joe! A lot of big time teams still around their best years here.. Dallas, Detroit, Colorado, New Jersey.. any of them could have won.

08 09 was great seeing two teams play one another back to back

2011 was great because the whining, diving, choking Canucks did not win. And I say this as a proud Canadian so please don't torch my car or smash any windows.

 

[Mad Max]

Overall, 2003:


-2 upsets in round 1, including the Wild coming back from a 3-1 deficit
-2 more upsets in round 2, including another 3-1 comeback from the Wild
-2 upsets in the CF, Giguere giving up only 1 goal in 4 games and the Devils winning game 7 on the road
-A long Finals with the Ducks coming up just short


Giguere was playing out of his mind.

 

[Sorge Georos]

Overall, 2003:


-2 upsets in round 1, including the Wild coming back from a 3-1 deficit
-2 more upsets in round 2, including another 3-1 comeback from the Wild
-2 upsets in the CF, Giguere giving up only 1 goal in 4 games and the Devils winning game 7 on the road
-A long Finals with the Ducks coming up just short


Giguere was playing out of his mind.

This was a great playoff. I'm surprised no one else mentioned it.

Giguere was out of his mind, the underdog Wild team comeback, the Ottawa/NJ series was a great one, great Cup final.

I especially remember that Ducks vs. Wild game (?) that went into 4th OT.

 

[Mad Max]

I especially remember that Ducks vs. Wild game (?) that went into 4th OT.

Game 1 went to only 1 OT. Game 1 between Anaheim and Dallas went to 5 OT.

 

[Oowatanite]

1987 and 1994

 

[nutbar]

I remember during the 1994 playoffs, Sports Illustrated came out with a cover headline that said "NHL: Hot...NBA: Not".

Then the NHL became almost unwatchable for most of the next decade.

 

[Sadekuuro]

Game 1 went to only 1 OT. Game 1 between Anaheim and Dallas went to 5 OT.

Two, if memory serves. Petr Sykora, right? That was a great game, in contrast to the rest of that unwatchable series.

 

[canucks4ever]

1972 imo, a defensemen scoring 24 points before the run n gun era, unheard of.

 

[Rick in MB]

1988 - The Capitals erasing their playoff demons at the expense of Ron Hextall; Boston's first playoff series win against Montreal in 40+ years; the Jim Schoenfeld-Don Koharski incident; the "Mickey Mouse" Devils coming within a game of making the Stanley Cup Finals; the power failure at Boston Garden; Gretzky's final spring in Oilers blue

^This^

Have another doughnut you fat pig!!!

best line ever

 

[Jinsell]

1987 and especially 1994 are generally considered the best and for good reasons.

1991 was also pretty epic in my opinion. Minnesota's underdog run was just so damn impressive as they went through the top two teams in the league in Chicago and St. Louis before dispatching the defending Stanley Cup Champions in Edmonton only to lose to a stacked Pittsburgh team. That's one hell of a tough road to the finals and I really felt for the North Stars when they came up short. That being said, I was happy for Lemieux and Pittsburgh.

 

[tjcurrie]

1994. Messier's promise, NYR vs. NJ, MATTEAU!! McLean's legendary save, Bure's legendary goal, best finals in history, Bure penalty shot on Richter, McLean in game 1 of the finals making 51 saves, and ending in the Cup coming back to New York after 54 years.

I thought 94 was pretty good too. Sharks upsetting the Wings, my Stars playing their first playoff in Dallas sweeping the Blues then losing to the Canucks in rnd 2, memorable game 7s, Matteau !!!, and of course New York winning it. I would rank 1994 up there with the best of em.

 

[tjcurrie]

1987 and especially 1994 are generally considered the best and for good reasons.

1991 was also pretty epic in my opinion. Minnesota's underdog run was just so damn impressive as they went through the top two teams in the league in Chicago and St. Louis before dispatching the defending Stanley Cup Champions in Edmonton only to lose to a stacked Pittsburgh team. That's one hell of a tough road to the finals and I really felt for the North Stars when they came up short. That being said, I was happy for Lemieux and Pittsburgh.

Nice. 1991 was awesome for this guy. Happiest 12 year old on the planet, until game 6 of the SCF