Play it Again, Stan
Marian Hossa story line aside, the most compelling angle for those interested in the Stanley Cup Final has to be the repetition of the two combatants. The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings, once again for the second time. Curiosity is high not for the high-end talent and questionable goaltending both bring to the table. No, I’m much more in love with the idea that two evenly matched clubs are playing for the Holy Grail of hockey for the second time in as many years. Forget about Alex Ovechkin versus Sidney Crosby — this is the series that the National Hockey League really wants.
This will be the 10th time the same two clubs will meet in the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive years. A pretty remarkable rarity, when you consider they’ve been celebrating the cup every spring since the 1927 season. Let’s look at the past match-ups and see who did what:
- 1932-33: The Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers met in back-to-back championships. The Leafs swept the Blueshirts in four the first year; New York got even the next spring.
- 1948-49: Maple Leafs again, this time taking both halves of a Stanley Cup doubleheader against Detroit in a total of eight games.
- 1954-55: Detroit gets it done twice against Montreal, beating the Canadiens both times in seven game marathons.
- 1957-58: Montreal takes the cup both years over the Boston Bruins.
- 1959-60: Montreal continues to dominate, beating the Maple Leafs two springs in a row.
- 1963-64: The Maple Leafs regroup in time to beat the Red Wings not once, but twice.
- 1968-69: The Canadiens are back to the twin killing, this time over the St. Louis Blues.
- 1977-78: Montreal (again!), pounding the Bruins in succession.
- 1983-84: The New York Islanders dynasty comes to a crashing halt, after the Edmonton Oilers take the rematch in five games.
There you have it. Seven prior occasions where the defending champion successfully defended its championship. So there’s a seventy-eight per cent chance we’ll see Nik Lidstrom receive the Stanley Cup from Gary Bettman at centre ice again. Can’t speak for Crosby & Co., but it will probably not be a good feeling having to witness that exchange for the second time in a row. Forget about shoving it up Hossa’s ass, there’s your Blue Plate Motivation Special right there, kids.
