1994 Stanley Cup Finals: Rangers' Long-Awaited Glory

On March thirty first, nineteen ninety four, the New York Rangers based off versus the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers are trying to break the longest Stanley Cup drought in the NHL, while the Canucks are trying to win their very first Stanley Cup. Here's how it all happened today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive into sports history. And today's trivia question to watch out for is what is the most watched hockey game in Canada history. Now, before we get to the finals, we have to figure out how each of these teams made it to this point, and we'll start with the Vancouver Canucks as they started their twenty fourth season that year in the Pacific League and finished with a record of forty one wins and forty losses. They were coached by Pat Quinn and led by Paval Brew in goals and points and Jeff Brown in assists, and Kurt McLean was leading the way in the nets as their goalie with twenty three wins, and he would go on to have fifteen wins in the postseason. In the playoffs, they ended up with the seventh seed, but they didn't stop them from taking down number one in their division, the Cavalry Flames in the first round and in the second round, beating them in a seven game series. In the second round, they took on the Dallas Stars and took them down in five games, leading them to the Western Conference Finals versus the Toronto Maple Leafs, beating them in five games, setting up a chance for them to win their very first Stanley Cup. And on the other side who they would face was the New York Rangers. And the Rangers came in to the playoffs with the best record in the league, and one of the main reasons for that was their captain Mark Messier. And though he wasn't their leader in goals or points or assists, he still led the team in grit and he had been a part of the New York Rangers since nineteen ninety one, when they traded for him from the Edmonton Oilers, where he had previously won a Stanley Cup. In his introductory conference with the team, he'd guaranteed he would bring a Stanley Cup to this team, who at the time had the longest drought since their last time of winning a Stanley Cup which was nineteen forty and entering the nineteen ninety three season, it had been fifty four years since they had won. But it wasn't an easy road. They've faced challenges while in the playoffs despite having the best record. They swept the first series versus the New York Islanders and faced Washington and had no problems defeating them in five games. But then it came across the New Jersey Devils, who were a predominant team at the time, and after five games they were down three to two as the Devil's goaltender Martin Brodor, a Hall of Famer one of the best goaltenders ever, was not allowing them to score. But that's when Mark Messier said at that point that they were going to win Game six and come back to the Garden and win Game seven. We have the talent and experience to turn the tide, and that's exactly what we're going to do in Game six, and that is exactly what they did. This guarantee is huge for the New York Rangers. He guaranteed they would win a Stanley Cup, and then he guaranteed they would win this finals to get to the Stanley Cup and everyone loved Mark Messier for this and he delivered as they won those final two games and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. But that doesn't mean it would be easy, as Vancouver wanted to get their first Stanley Cup as well, and coming into Game one, which started on May thirty first, nineteen ninety four, played at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Rangers score came out early with the lead of two to one, but late in the third period, the Canucks came and tied the game two to two with one minute left to play in regulation, and they went into overtime, which was the third straight game for the Rangers to be in overtime, and they surrendered a last minute goal, giving the Vancouver Canucks the win three to two. In the very first game. Game two would come back to New York and they would not relinquish. They came out fighting in that game, winning handedly three to one. In Game three, we go to Vancouver and the Canucks came storming back in front of the home fans, making the first goal, but that would be the last time they would score, and the New York Rangers took off, scoring the next five goals, winning the game five to one with a two to one series lead. Then in Game four, the Vancouver Canucks wanted to come out and they jumped early, scoring the first two goals of the game, but those will again be the last goals they would score, as New York went and scored four straight goals, winning the game four to two. This put Vancouver backs against the Walls, down three to one. New York Ranger fans were so excited it seemed like Mark Messier was living up to his promise they head back to New York. This was the moment they could win their title in front of their home fans, and New York had already set a date for a victory parade. However, the celebration was too early, as the Canucks came out early again scoring three to zero, and despite the previous games, they would not relinquish the lead and they continued to score even though the Rangers tied the game three to three. That would be the last time the Rangers would score, and the Canucks would take the lead and not relinquish it, winning the game six to three. And in Game six, we head back to Vancouver, where the Canucks fired fourteen shots in the first period, taking the lead one to zero, again jumping out to a quick start and they would not rewinklish this lead and the finishing the game four to one, tying the series. Having the New York Rangers with their backs against the walls now as they had lost two straight games when they could have closed out and already won the series. Game seven was the big match. It was back in New York at Madison Square Garden. Both teams this was the final game. They couldn't let anything go. Fans came out and droves and the atmosphere was ecstatic. Everyone was hoping in New York to finally break this droughts and the Rangers actually did something they hadn't done in this series. They jumped out to the lead early, scoring two goals within fifteen minutes. However, the Canucks came back and scored a goal shortly after, making it two to one, but Mark Messier came back during a power play making another goal, tying the game at two to two. Then with five minutes left, then Nathan Lafayette it's a wobbly puck that passes by the Vancouver goalie just behind the post, giving him the lead, which they would hold on for the rest of the game, winning the series on a victory three to two, breaking through fifty four years Stanley Cup drought. Mark Messier had made good on him promise of actually winning this game for the first time, and we see one of the most iconic images with Mark Messier jumping up and down with Tipperer taped falling excitement throughout the stadium and he would go on to earn the nickname Mister June. Now what made this even more bigger than anything else. This series made hockey un national moment. Baseball was not being played at this moment as they were having a strike, and all eyes were on this game, and it showed in the ratings. This was the highest rated game in the United States history, drawing a five point two rating and getting a sixteen point two rating in the New York area. Now I'm not going to go into ratings right now because it is a huge confusing thing, but that's roughly seven million watchers in Canada. Game seven was the most watched Canada broadcast with over ten million views until two thousand and two, with the gold medal game versus Canada and the United States in the two thousand and two Olympics. So not only was it getting huge views in Canada, it got huge views in America and it gave hockey a moment in the nineteen nineties. And it goes to show you that confidence can go a long way in what we do. Mark Messier didn't know the future. He didn't know they would win those games in that playoffs. He didn't know when he got traded to New York that they would actually win to stay in the Cup. He just believed in himself. Sometimes that's all we need to do, is believe in ourselves to have success. And I want to think Greg and Lee Garfield. I wanted to thank Lee Garfield and Greg from Twitter for suggesting this topic. And if you have a great topic that you want us to do on our show, all you got to do is leave us a review wherever you're listening, or send us an email at Daily Sportshistory at gmail dot com and we'd love to hear from you and get that moment in history done for you. And come back Monday for more Daily Sports History and the answer to today's trivia question, what is the most watched hockey game in Canada history? And the answer was the two thousand and two Olympic gold medal match between Canada and the United States.