What Was Bob Johnson's 7 Point Plan To Beat Edmonton In 1986??

[Supreme King]

In one of the great upsets in NHL history, the Calgary Flames dethroned the 2-time Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers in a 7 game classic series back in 1986. The Flames shocked the entire hockey world with a combination of hard work and dedication to a game plan devised by head coach Bob Johnson. In winning the series 4 games to 3 (winning 3 games in Edmonton) Calgary seemed well prepared to bring down the the Oilers juggernaut.

What exactly did Johnson's 7 point plan consist of and how did the underdog Flames pull off the monumental upset?

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[Ace Rimmer]

Well i'm not sure which of the seven points it was, but Steve Smith banking a goal off Grant Fuhr's backside certainly helped.

 

[Anglesmith]

The 7-point plan was a secret, and the players were forbade to disclose the details. It doesn't appear that the plan has made it into public knowledge since, but if it has, it would probably be in this book.

 

[Guido Sarducci]

I don't remember all 7 points but they were published after the playoffs were over. I can only remember 3 for sure.

1. Win game 1
2. Neil Sheehy was to be on the ice whenever Gretzky was.
3. Tonelli/Risebrough/McDonald were the shut down line.

Also I'm pretty sure it was Joel Ottos' job to play against Messier, but I don't remember for sure. And I think another point was to try and fool Esa Tikanen into taking penalties.

That series was amazing. I think I might have it in storage somewhere on VHS. I would love to see it again.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

I don't remember all 7 points but they were published after the playoffs were over. I can only remember 2 for sure.

1. Win game 1
2. Neil Sheehy was to be on the ice whenever Gretzky was.

Also I'm pretty sure it was Joel Ottos' job to play against Messier, but I don't remember for sure.

Not sure if it was to play against Messier, or take every faceoff. But there was something like that yeah.

 

[tfong]

1-7: put Gretzky on ir

 

[Guido Sarducci]

1-7: put Gretzky on ir

Actually is was pretty much the opposite. The 5 on 5 strategy was to leave him alone when he had the puck but play a tenacious man to man D on the other 4 guys, thus taking away all of his pass options and forcing him to drive to the net himself.

The thought behind that was why go after him if he is just gonna beat you anyways.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

The 7-point plan was a secret, and the players were forbade to disclose the details. It doesn't appear that the plan has made it into public knowledge since, but if it has, it would probably be in this book.

I have the book and the 7 point plan is in there. I'm at work right now so I can't help too much, but I remember 1 part:
Badger Bob wanted to have the oilers tough guys on the ice as much as possible, to keep the skill guys like Kurri off the ice. Guys like Pepper/Reisbrough/Hunter on the ice with Gretzky forced the Oilers to play Semenko on his wing.
Another part was I think winning the first game to take over home advantage.
And of course believing in themselves that they could actually beat the Oilers.

 

[MarkGio]

Meh, I could've drew up a 7 letter plan: Forcheck

I'm so smrt.

 

[MarkGio]

But seriously, this is a prime example of the importance of team work and coaching. Even the '04 run was another example. Maybe the '13 run will top 'em both....?

 

[Skobel24]

I have a 7 point plan for the Flames to succeed this year.

1. Win faceoffs
2. Guys, seriously, win faceoffs
3. Why aren't you listening?
4. GUYS!
5. **** it. Just play hard
6. Avoid injuries, try not to break ankles.
7. Dammit Gio

 

[MarkGio]

I have a 7 point plan for the Flames to succeed this year.

1. Win faceoffs
2. Guys, seriously, win faceoffs
3. Why aren't you listening?
4. GUYS!
5. **** it. Just play hard
6. Avoid injuries, try not to break ankles.
7. Dammit Gio

Well done. A solid plan if I ever saw one

 

[TheDebaser]

I have a 7 point plan for the Flames to succeed this year.

1. Win faceoffs
2. Guys, seriously, win faceoffs
3. Why aren't you listening?
4. GUYS!
5. **** it. Just play hard
6. Avoid injuries, try not to break ankles.
7. Dammit Gio

The plan's ruined, trade everyone.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

This is most of what was written in the book:

The plan actually came into effect during the last 2 games of the season, both against the Oilers. First game was a 4-4 tie, second was a 9-3 win for the Flames (5 PP goals), which gave the team the confidence to beat the Oilers going into the Playoff’s.
1) We wanted to leave their tough guys on the ice. We didn’t want to get involved with heir tough guys. We wanted to keep them on the ice because if they were playing then we didn’t have to be concerned with stopping Gretzky, Messier & Kurri
2) We had to key on Gretzky. When he was on the ice we wanted Sheehy on D against him, and either Carey Wilson or Doug Risebrough at centre. Sheey was able to get under Gretzkys skin, always yapping at him & hitting him. Gretzky called him a goon and said he shouldn’t even be on the ice. He had the Oilers worried more about Sheey and less about the game.
3) Neutralise Paul Coffey by having the RWer go after him. Bump him every chance, interfere with him, hold him up from getting back into play quickly. When we counter we will face only 1 dman instead of 2
4) Close the gap between our forwards & dmen to take away their crisscross patterns. On the counter attack move the puck straight ahead to the man in front with no cross ice passes. Ended up with more odd man rushes than they did. Very effective.
5) Messier/Anderson /Gretzky always went up the left side. Key on that area and don’t give them the blueline.
6) Colin Patterson’s job was to delay and demoralise Kurri to stop him from getting the clear passes from Gretzky.
7) We had to get ahead of Edmonton early to shut down their offence.

 

[Supreme King]

This is most of what was written in the book:

The plan actually came into effect during the last 2 games of the season, both against the Oilers. First game was a 4-4 tie, second was a 9-3 win for the Flames (5 PP goals), which gave the team the confidence to beat the Oilers going into the Playoff’s.
1) We wanted to leave their tough guys on the ice. We didn’t want to get involved with heir tough guys. We wanted to keep them on the ice because if they were playing then we didn’t have to be concerned with stopping Gretzky, Messier & Kurri
2) We had to key on Gretzky. When he was on the ice we wanted Sheehy on D against him, and either Carey Wilson or Doug Risebrough at centre. Sheey was able to get under Gretzkys skin, always yapping at him & hitting him. Gretzky called him a goon and said he shouldn’t even be on the ice. He had the Oilers worried more about Sheey and less about the game.
3) Neutralise Paul Coffey by having the RWer go after him. Bump him every chance, interfere with him, hold him up from getting back into play quickly. When we counter we will face only 1 dman instead of 2
4) Close the gap between our forwards & dmen to take away their crisscross patterns. On the counter attack move the puck straight ahead to the man in front with no cross ice passes. Ended up with more odd man rushes than they did. Very effective.
5) Messier/Anderson /Gretzky always went up the left side. Key on that area and don’t give them the blueline.
6) Colin Patterson’s job was to delay and demoralise Kurri to stop him from getting the clear passes from Gretzky.
7) We had to get ahead of Edmonton early to shut down their offence.

Very interesting stuff. The Flames put a demonstration of hard work, dedication and team work. They really shut down the Oilers that series.

 

[Rayban*]

1.Score
2.More
3.Goals
4.Than
5.The
6.Other
7.Team

 

[Jumptheshark]

Well i'm not sure which of the seven points it was, but Steve Smith banking a goal off Grant Fuhr's backside certainly helped.

I think that was point 7

 

[Rangediddy]

I wonder if any coaches put together plans like this before each game, or if they just have a season long plan that loosely applies to all teams.

I remember in my high school volleyball city championship, we were far and away underdog to the top place team that went undefeated all year. Our coaches put together a plan like this to neutralize their attack system which worked very well and we ended up winning the championship.

 

[MarkGio]

I wonder if any coaches put together plans like this before each game, or if they just have a season long plan that loosely applies to all teams.

I remember in my high school volleyball city championship, we were far and away underdog to the top place team that went undefeated all year. Our coaches put together a plan like this to neutralize their attack system which worked very well and we ended up winning the championship.

The good ones do. I remember when Anaheim had Koivu on the ice every time Monahan was on. It was an early season game and the match up was really before Monahan was given the nod to stay up with the Flames. Seems silly, but it happens a lot.

 

[TylerSVT*]

8 Step plan to beat Oilers in 2013:

Make sure Lowe never gets fired.

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

8 Step plan to beat Oilers in 2013:

Make sure Lowe never gets fired.

Lowe has a 6 step plan to ensure this:
1 - 1984
2 - 1985
3 - 1987
4 - 1988
5 - 1990
6 - 1994