Looking back, how good was Edmonton's 1990 Stanley Cup team?

c9777666

Registered User
Aug 31, 2016
19,892
5,875
It was a lot of the veterans from the 80s (Messier, Lowe, Kurri), but it wasn't basically a team of nothing but old guys (Ranford was 23, and old Lowe/Kurri were over 30, Simpson/Murphy/Graves gave EDM some young legs behind the proven playoff warriors).

A regular season record of 38-28-14 didn't exactly scream WATCH OUT FOR EDMONTON and Ranford's lack of playoff experience was hard to ignore, but their Cup experience and veterans could not be discounted.

Which me wonder how the heck they even fell behind 3-1 to Winnipeg in the first place? Like, through 4 games they seemed like an aging team near the end of their ropes (the one game they won went to OT) and even game 5 they fell behind by 2 goals.

And then as if flipping a switch, the veterans drank from the fountain of youth and suddenly a seemingly aging team became an experienced team that had knew how to win.

They did dodge a bullet by getting to play the Kings instead of Calgary, but Chicago/Boston weren't exactly weak teams. (Heck, CHI led 2-1 before Messier changed the series).

And they admittedly caught a break with Glen Wesley missing an open net in game 1 of the marathon game (plus, in a 3OT game, you might have expected the less proven Ranford to falter- not to mention they had blown a 2-0 3rd period lead).

Still, this was the Edmonton Oilers, who had an impossible to ignore playoff mystique/aura:

Basically from 1982-1990, it took 2 miracle Kings comeback (1 in a game, 1 in a series) and an all-time freak play (the Steve Smith own goal) to keep the Oilers out of the Cup Finals.

How good was the last of their 5 Cups? Tough to compare them to the other 4 winners, but in general, how good was this last hurrah of a dynasty?
 

The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
19,087
15,521
Tokyo, Japan
Man, that 1990 team was fun. Watching the Oilers lift the Cup in May 1990 at Boston Gaahden is the most recent 100% joyous moment hockey has given me. It brings a tear to my eye... even now... (sob!):
5thCup.0.0.jpg


So, the Oilers' 1989-90 season basically went like this (4 stages):

Stage 1 - DOWN (6-9-5 in first 20 games)
Grant Fuhr couldn't play after he removed himself from the team due to drug abuse issues. Jimmy Carson scored the Oilers' first goal of the season and then quit the team 4 games in. This left them one 19-year-old rookie (Gelinas) as the compensation for Gretzky. Insult was added to injury in game 5 at Northlands, when Gretzky scored with 1 minute left to tie the game (and break Howe's all-time scoring record), and then scored in overtime to win the game. In three consecutive games in November (vs. Pittsburgh, Calgary, and Boston), the Oilers lost all three and were outscored 14-4. Early November was not only the low-point of this season, but possible of the entire Oilers' franchise to this point.

However, on November 2nd, Carson was traded for Petr Klima, Joe Murphy, and Adam Graves.

Stage 2 - UP
With the Flames being far less impressive than the year prior, with L.A. stuck in 2nd gear, and with the sudden injection of new, young players from the Carson trade, the Oilers suddenly went on a 15-2-2 run to the end of December, which not only pushed them towards 1st in the Smythe, but they were briefly toying with 1st overall in the League.

Stage 3 - DOWN
After that nice run (above) to mid-season, the Oilers then went a middling .500 the rest of the year. They lost one game at the Saddledome, 10-4. (However, late in the season, they re-acquired Reijo Ruotsalainen for Jeff Sharples -- a throw-in from the Carson trade. This now meant that in exchange for soon-to-be-washed-up Jimmy Carson, the Oilers got Petr Klima, Joe Murphy, Adam Graves, and Ruotsalainen. This is why Glen Sather was great.)

The playoffs started, with Edmonton (2nd) vs. Winnipeg (3rd). But Bill Ranford had never appeared in the playoffs and looked shaky as hell in game one, letting in 6 of 30 shots. A late third-period goal by Hawerchuk in game three and an overtime goal by Dave Ellett in game four put Edmonton down 3 games to 1. It appeared to be another first-round exit.

Stage 4 - UP
In my opinion, two of the greatest games in Oilers' history are games five and six of this series. In game five in Edmonton, Tikkanen and Messier just willed them to victory in a gritty fight to stave off elimination, and in game six in Winnipeg the Oilers fought the 'white-out' to extend the series to seven games. Jari Kurri scored on a spectacular shot late in the third to send it to game seven. In game seven, the Jets folded completely.

With Calgary eliminated by the Kings, the Oilers now faced L.A. (again) to get out of the division. But this year, L.A. was weakened and the Oilers were peaking. It was an embarrassment for the Kings, who were outscored 13-1 in the first two games in Edmonton. Sweep for Edmonton.

In round three, they faced the Mike Keenan Blackhawks, who were on the rise but hadn't quite peaked yet. The Hawks had Edmonton down 2 games to 1, at the Stadium, but as we know Mark Messier turned that around with one of his great performances in game four. He scored two goals and two assists, nearly took off Dirk Graham's head, and had a bunch of penalties. Vintage Moose! After that, the Hawks folded. (I recall Blackhawks' famed broadcaster Pat Foley interviewing Messier after the clinching game at the Stadium and he seemed to be almost in awe of him. Messier as more than just all-star player but as 'legend' sort of begins here.)

And then Boston in the Finals. The Bruins may have been the better team all season, but not in this series. The back-breaker, of course, was game one, which Petr Klima ended in the sixth period of the game. (Glen Sather, watching from the press box, said he could see Bruins' players looking exhausted and sitting down on the floor of the team-bench, or hanging their heads looking defeated, while the Oilers refused to look tired. So, he said he knew his team would win.) Boston re-grouped and showed up for game two... but their goaltenders didn't. 24 minutes into the game, the Oilers had four shots on goals -- and scored three times!! (Andy Moog was pulled with a tidy .250 for his night's work.) Then, Lemelin came in... I think he let in the first shot he faced... and eventually let in 4 of 18. The Oilers destroyed Boston 7-2, with Jari Kurri scoring 3 goals and 2 assists on his 30th birthday. Boston cracked down defensively to win game three at Northlands, but then the Messier-Simpson-Anderson line exploded in game four (combining for 11 points) and this series was effectively over. The Oilers built a 4-0 lead in Boston in game five and cruised to the win -- their first-ever Cup celebration on the road.

Ah, memories...!
 

Oheao

Registered User
Apr 17, 2014
662
348
London
Oh, I didn't realize Edmonton's first 4 cups were all at home. It's like a reverse Pittsburgh, whereas Edmonton likes to see their fans celebrate I guess Pittsburgh likes to crush their opponent's fans because all 5 of their cups were won on the road.
 

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,141
Oh, I didn't realize Edmonton's first 4 cups were all at home. It's like a reverse Pittsburgh, whereas Edmonton likes to see their fans celebrate I guess Pittsburgh likes to crush their opponent's fans because all 5 of their cups were won on the road.

Wanna hear something crazy? Pittsburgh in every sport wins on the road. The last time the people of Pittsburgh saw one of their sports franchises win at home was 1960 when the miracle Pirates beat the Yankees. Since then the Pirates won in 1971 and 1979, both on the road. The Steelers and their 6 Super Bowls have all been away from home obviously, and all 5 wins by the Penguins were on the road. Only in 2016 though did they actually have the opportunity to do it at home (losing in Game 5 to San Jose). The rest they either won before they would have played another home game or they won as a last resort on the road (2009).
 

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,141
Okay, but back to Edmonton in 1990. Yeah, a good team. Heck, they had the Hart winner in his best season ever. They were missing the firepower of Gretzky and Coffey so I think they had a more reserved team than before. Relied a bit more on leadership and the experience of all the ones left. Going into the playoffs I don't know about the rest of you but this looked like Calgary's Cup to lose again. I think there are only a couple of other teams in NHL history who had at least 9 players on their team with at least 50+ points and those are the 1977 and 1975 Habs. I think the 1971 Bruins as well. Anyway, it isn't much competition in that field. So that's some serious offensive balance. So Edmonton was not considered the favourite by any means, not even close.

I think that 1990 team was still good. Not "all-time" great or anything, but still nothing to sneeze at.
 

The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
19,087
15,521
Tokyo, Japan
Wanna hear something crazy? Pittsburgh in every sport wins on the road. The last time the people of Pittsburgh saw one of their sports franchises win at home was 1960 when the miracle Pirates beat the Yankees. Since then the Pirates won in 1971 and 1979, both on the road. The Steelers and their 6 Super Bowls have all been away from home obviously, and all 5 wins by the Penguins were on the road. Only in 2016 though did they actually have the opportunity to do it at home (losing in Game 5 to San Jose). The rest they either won before they would have played another home game or they won as a last resort on the road (2009).
Man, that is crazy.

Season-ticket holders must be pissed....
 

The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
19,087
15,521
Tokyo, Japan
Oilers' goals vs. Winnipeg:


Oilers' goals vs. Los Angeles (a lot of Craig Simpson in this series, and Kelly Hrudey's goaltending in Edmonton... Yikes!):
 

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
40,261
16,507
Mulberry Street
It was great to see them win one after Gretzky left.

Pretty much where Messier's reputation as a great leader started too. Or at least gained traction.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NyQuil

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,141
Man, that is crazy.

Season-ticket holders must be pissed....

I am sure the fans would want to see it, but they'll still take the Cups on the road I am sure. You'd be surprised how often this happens to franchises or cities. Chicago winning the Cup in 2015 at home was the first time this happened for the Hawks since 1938. The Habs had a lot of Cups won on the road. Starting with the one in 1966, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978. I don't know why, it just worked out that way. 1968 and 1979 were at home. Even 1986 was on the road with 1993 at home. So yeah, lots of them not at home. If it counts the Flames won in Montreal in 1989 in sort of a reverse fashion here.

But more from the Oilers. I think Messier is the Smythe favourite going into the Cup final. But then Ranford sort of took over that series and Messier had a good (5 assists in 5 games) but not elite Cup final. Same might have happened to him in 1994. You could argue he might have been a co-front runner with Leetch entering the final but then Leetch exploded. In a way, the 1990 Cup win reminds me a bit of when the 49ers won the Super Bowl without Montana. Yes they won, but they won 4 with Joe as QB. Same with Gretzky. They win 4 with him but one without him. It sort of just shows you how much they missed their old star and how important he was.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Anton13 and Voight

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
53,211
82,939
Vancouver, BC
That was an excellent team still, and Messier was obviously in peak form, but like the 2012 Kings it was also a case of everything coming together perfectly at the right time - a horde of players played the best hockey of their careers, some old guys looking like they were in huge decline found their legs again, and some young players generally thought to be busts had huge breakouts.

- for Craig Simpson, Esa Tikkanen, Bill Ranford, and Steve Smith this was the absolute zenith of their careers. None would ever really reach these levels again. And Mark Lamb, who somehow scored 17 points.
- Glenn Anderson and Charlie Huddy had both been in steep decline (and would resume that steep decline post-1990) but turned the clock back 5 years for monster playoffs.
- the Gelinas/Murphy/Graves line came out of absolutely nowhere. Joe Murphy was a Yakupov/Stefan case until throwing up 14 ES points in 1990.

Plus they had basically no injuries for that entire playoffs. Randy Gregg and Kevin Lowe missed two games, and that appears to be it in a 22-game run.
 

GMR

Registered User
Jul 27, 2013
6,002
4,966
Parts Unknown
They got hot at the right time. Right amount of chemistry, leadership, and young blood in the lineup. Plus a goalie who was strong in the playoffs.

My question will always be, what the hell happened to Boston in the Finals? They looked great going into the SCF and then crapped themselves. They were badly outscored in the Finals.
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
53,211
82,939
Vancouver, BC
They got hot at the right time. Right amount of chemistry, leadership, and young blood in the lineup. Plus a goalie who was strong in the playoffs.

My question will always be, what the hell happened to Boston in the Finals? They looked great going into the SCF and then crapped themselves. They were badly outscored in the Finals.

Craig Janney came into the series with the flu and a 100 degree fever, and in the marathon OT Game 1 ended up getting severely dehydrated and had to be hospitalized.

Janney played the remaining games, but was clearly not well and totally ineffective - didn't score a single point in 5 games, and neither did Cam Neely with his playmaking center basically useless.

Janney and Neely scored a combined 46 points in 30 games in the first 3 rounds, and went 0-4-4 in 10 games in the Finals between them. When your top line (with Brian Propp) doesn't score a single goal in a playoff series, you're toast. If they could have found a goal in the opener or could have had a big night in games 4 or 5, maybe it's a different series.

Tikkanen was also a monster in the matchup against that line and deserves credit as well.
 

JianYang

Registered User
Sep 29, 2017
17,685
15,971
That roster slowly eroded from the late 80s, but they remained pretty competitive right through to 1992. They made the conference final without Gretzky amd messier. It makes you appreciate the supporting cast they had during those years.

The bubble burst sometime around the 92-93 season. That was also the time they traded damphousse for corson. Corson was a really solid player but I just don't get that one.

It also didn't take long after for the attendance to plummet too. Edmonton coliseum looked very depressing in the mid 90s...tons of empty seats until the Ryan Smyth, Jason arnott group started making a name for themselves.
 

Kyle McMahon

Registered User
May 10, 2006
13,301
4,351
Hard to believe that even after trading Gretzky, that team still came out of the Smythe Division three of the next four years. That 1992 team is unrecognizable from the 1990 team though. Every Hall of Famer was gone, and somehow they still managed to win two playoff rounds.

I guess that 1990 team looks weaker than the rest of the dynasty teams for obvious reasons. They went 15-3 the rest of the way after going down 3-1 to Winnipeg though. That's as dominant a stretch as any other Cup winner in the four round era, first week of the playoffs excluded.
 

The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
19,087
15,521
Tokyo, Japan
Over 80-game samples (i.e, regular season), the Oilers were basically a .500 team from the moment Gretzky left:

1988-89
.525 (.483 in last 3/4 of season)
1989-90
.563
1990-91
.500
1991-92
.513
Then, missed playoffs for 4 seasons

However, in smaller, 7-game series that "veteran savvy" they had served them well.

It's pretty amazing that they came out of the Smythe division in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, and 1992. That's seven times in nine years.

(I would love to see a re-play of game 7 of the L.A./Edmonton series without God-awful refereeing.)
 

Oheao

Registered User
Apr 17, 2014
662
348
London
Over 80-game samples (i.e, regular season), the Oilers were basically a .500 team from the moment Gretzky left:

1988-89
.525 (.483 in last 3/4 of season)
1989-90
.563
1990-91
.500
1991-92
.513
Then, missed playoffs for 4 seasons

However, in smaller, 7-game series that "veteran savvy" they had served them well.

It's pretty amazing that they came out of the Smythe division in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, and 1992. That's seven times in nine years.

(I would love to see a re-play of game 7 of the L.A./Edmonton series without God-awful refereeing.)
1992 is the craziest, they lost almost all of their top players and yet still somehow made it to the third round.
 

Kyle McMahon

Registered User
May 10, 2006
13,301
4,351
Over 80-game samples (i.e, regular season), the Oilers were basically a .500 team from the moment Gretzky left:

1988-89
.525 (.483 in last 3/4 of season)
1989-90
.563
1990-91
.500
1991-92
.513
Then, missed playoffs for 4 seasons

However, in smaller, 7-game series that "veteran savvy" they had served them well.

It's pretty amazing that they came out of the Smythe division in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, and 1992. That's seven times in nine years.

(I would love to see a re-play of game 7 of the L.A./Edmonton series without God-awful refereeing.)

Actually 8 times in 10 years. (Not that your statement is factually wrong)

It never really dawned on me until now that Edmonton never lost a Smythe Division playoff series in less than the maximum number of games. 17 series won, with two Game-7 losses and a Game-5 loss to LA in 1982.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bear of Bad News

Oheao

Registered User
Apr 17, 2014
662
348
London
Actually 8 times in 10 years. (Not that your statement is factually wrong)

It never really dawned on me until now that Edmonton never lost a Smythe Division playoff series in less than the maximum number of games. 17 series won, with two Game-7 losses and a Game-5 loss to LA in 1982.
That loss to LA was interesting too. A lot of people mention how bad Edmonton's defense was but how good their offense was. Ironically, their two wins that series were the more defensive games, with 2 3-2 wins. It was when things opened up that they struggled, losing 10-8, 6-5 and 7-4.
 

Kyle McMahon

Registered User
May 10, 2006
13,301
4,351
That loss to LA was interesting too. A lot of people mention how bad Edmonton's defense was but how good their offense was. Ironically, their two wins that series were the more defensive games, with 2 3-2 wins. It was when things opened up that they struggled, losing 10-8, 6-5 and 7-4.

Five games of hockey, and a goal every six minutes or so for the duration. Just nuts. Won't find too many playoff series crazier than this one. The Oilers had a 3-goal lead in that 10-8 game as well, which is of course small potatoes compared to the 5-goal lead they blew a few nights later.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->