1988 Stanley Cup: The Unforgettable 'Lights Out' Game

On May twenty fourth, nineteen eighty eight, was Game four of the Stanley Cup Finals, where the Edmonton Oilers were taking on the Boston Bruins in Boston when something very unusual happened. All the lights in the arena went dark and led to the game that was almost finished being called What was behind this and what happened after? We'll dive into today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive into sports history every day. And today's trivia question to listen out for is who was the mobster who is thought to have a conspiracy to the blackout of the nineteen eighty eight Stanley Cup Finals? So how did we get to the nineteen eighty eight Stanley Cup Finals? On one side, we had the Edmonton Oilers, who had been around since nineteen seventy two and was currently going on a terror for the Stanley Cup, winning three of the last four Stanley Cups. And a big reason for this was they had someone who was making a name for themselves who would later be known as the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, who in nineteen seventy eight made his debut in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers when they transitioned from the World Hockey Association to the NHL and took the team to New Heights and this season he led Edmonton and an assist and points, but they had two people finished ahead of him on the team in credit Simpson and Jarry Curry leading the team with forty three goals, and they finished second in the Smyth Division behind the Cavalry Flames with forty four wins totally ninety nine points. And if you don't know the points system in the NFL, you get two points for a win, one for a tie, and one for an overtime loss. And they used these points for the playoff seeding and they were the favorite all year long, and they came up against the Boston Bruins that year, who were second in the Adams Division, also winning forty four games with ninety four points, led by Ray Burke in points and assist and Cam Neely in goals, and hadn't won a Stanley Cup since Bobby Orr was on the team in nineteen seventy two. So the boat teams made it easily to the playoffs and the Oilers cruise to the finals losing just two games in the process, beating the Winnipeg Jets in five games and sweeping the Calvary Flames to make it to their conference finals, beating the Detroit Red Wings. But the Bruins had them a little bit more of a challenge. They weren't as dominant of a team, and so it took them six games to beat the Buffalo Sabers and five to beat the Montreal Canadians, and they needed seven games to get past the New Jersey Devils to win the Prince of Wales Trophy for their conference and make it to the Stanley Cup Finals. Now, the finals began in May eighteenth in Edmonton, and it started off with Wayne Gretzy with the first goal within ten minutes and that started the Edmonton Oilers on their rise, finishing the game two to one with the first win of the series. The second game was on May twentieth, and they again took it to the Boston Bruins, winning four to two. In Game three, they were showing their dominance, scoring a total of six goals to Boston Bruins only three. Then Game four came, the second game in Boston and Glynn Anderson of the Edmonton Oilers set a record for the quickest goal in the finals game, scoring his first goal in ten seconds. But the Bruins weren't giving up. They were on the ropes. They knew if they lost this game, they would lose the series, so they took the lead. And this is a very unique game. If you ever watched highlights, this is us in the summertime in Boston. There was a fog that came up from the ice where the humidity and the ice were mixing together, creating a fog around the puck, making it hard to follow if you were watching. It made it a unique experience. But with the Bruins leading three to two, the Ouelers quickly scored another point to tie it up, and shortly after they tied it at three to three, the lights went dead at sixteen minutes and thirty seven seconds into the second period, so they had a whole other period left to play and they couldn't get the lights to turn back on. Now it's said that possibly two things may have happened because of this, one being probably unlikely that Whitey Bulger, the gangster of Boston, had orchestrated a way for the lights to cut out to make sure the Boston Bruins had a chance to win the series. Now, this is very unlikely. If Whitey was a fan of the team, he'd rather had the team play because of the rules of the finals. If he knew them, it made it more avitatious for him to cut off the lights of the game. What more likely happened is rats got into the wiring system of the building and had chewed through the wires and they couldn't get it fixed in time for the game that night, so they suspended the game. All these stats counted in the record books, but the game was suspended and would be made up later in the series if needed. So what they do is they just move on to the next game. If they need to add that final game, they would, which would be unusual. If they went to seven games, as Boston was the lower seed, they would have the final game in Boston. But that's not how it actually turned out, because they took the game five in Edmonton and Edmonton continued their dominance, winning six to three, sweeping Boston Bruins, winning their fourth Stanley Cup in five years. But this would be kind of a sad moment for Edmonton as the great one Wayne Gretzky played his last game for Edmonton, as the next year he would go to the Kings after being named MVP and scoring the series winning goal. That was the last memory of him playing in an Edmonton uniform. But this wouldn't be the last championship for Edmonton. Two years later, they would win another Stanley Cup in nineteen ninety, but that would be the last one they have ever won. As for the Boston Bruins, this would begin another long drought for them to win another Stanley Cup. Previously, it was nineteen seventy two when they won their last Stanley Cup with Bobby or In Phil Espinino. It wasn't until twenty ten when they finally won another Stanley Cup. Now, this series will always be murmbered as the lights out Series, and it's important because you always need to be prepared for what might happen. And I think it really changed the way of the series. Now. I think Edmonton would have won no matter what, as they were dominating Boston throughout the series, but it took the sales out of Boston, who were tied at the moment and had a chance to win at their home venue. But as the next game was in Edmonton. They had put all their baskets into defending that last game, and now it all kind of came down. So really, even though you can give your all, they needed to find a way to come back and get it, and they just lost it. And though Edmonton may have just been too strong for them to compete against, but always remember to give your all because you never know and you'll get the chance again, as Boston Bruins waited a long time for their next Danley Cup. And don't wait a long time to share daily sports history with a friend. Wherever you're listening, there's a share button with that little triangle and the little dots. Send that to a friend and say, hey, check this out and we can become sports historians together. Come back tomorrow for more daily sports history. And did you catch the answer to today's trivia question? Who is the mobster who has a conspiracy theory around the Game four Blackout? And the answer is Whitey Bulger.