31 years ago, the Flames won the Stanley Cup
By Ryan Pike
3 years agoWay, way back in the 1980s, the Calgary Flames did something every hockey team dreams of doing. On this day in 1989, in the fabled Montreal Forum, they won their first (and to date, only) Stanley Cup championship.
The Flames beat Montreal by a 4-2 score in Game 6 of the 1989 Stanley Cup Final to capture the championship.
Game 6 in the Forum was a nearly perfect road game for the Flames. Colin Patterson gave them a second period lead. After Claude Lemieux scored to tie the game early in the second period, Lanny McDonald scored quickly afterward to give the Flames a lead – a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Doug Gilmour added a pair – one on the power play and one into an empty net – to counter a third period goal by Rick Green. Mike Vernon made 20 saves for the win. Al MacInnis, leading scorer in the league during the post-season, was voted the winner of the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP.
It was the last-ever NHL game for both McDonald (who retired) and Hakan Loob (who returned to Sweden). It was the first and only time a visiting team had ever won a Stanley Cup in the Montreal Forum. Previous Cup wins against Montreal teams dating back to the challenge days were either on the road or in the old Victoria Arena in Montreal.
It was also the last Flames playoff series win until the first round of 2004, leading to some whispers of a Curse.
Here are the names that were immortalized on the Stanley Cup as part of Calgary’s engraving:
- Players: Jiri Hrdina, Joe Nieuwendyk, Joel Otto, Doug Gilmour, Joe Mullen, Lanny McDonald, Gary Roberts, Colin Patterson, Hakan Loob, Theoren Fleury, Tim Hunter, Mark Hunter, Jim Peplinski, Brian MacLellan, Al MacInnis, Brad McCrimmon, Dana Murzyn, Ric Nattress, Gary Suter, Jamie Macoun, Rob Ramage, Mike Vernon and Rick Wamsley
- Non-Players: Norman Green, Harley Hotchkiss, Norman Kwong, Sonia Scurfield, Byron Seaman, Daryl Seaman, Cliff Fletcher, Al MacNeil, Al Coates, Terry Crisp, Doug Risebrough, Tom Watt, Glenn Hall, Jim Murray, Al Murray and Bob Stewart
For those who like to track these things, the engraving includes nine inductees of the Hockey Hall of Fame (Glenn Hall, Cliff Fletcher, Harley Hotchkiss, Daryl Seaman, Al MacInnis, Joey Mullen, Lanny McDonald, Doug Gilmour and Joe Nieuwendyk), plus equipment manager Jim “Bearcat” Murray, a Hall of Fame honoree. When you consider that Gary Roberts, Mike Vernon, Hakan Loob, Gary Suter and Theo Fleury all have impressive Hall of Fame cases, too, you get a sense of how damn stacked this team was.
Sonia Scurfield was the first Canadian woman to have her name engraved on the Cup.
So as you enjoy your Monday, be sure to hoist your beverage of choice to the 1989 Flames, the best edition of the team there has ever been.
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