SI Flashback: Stanley Cup 1990

The dynastic Oilers won the Stanley Cup again, this time without Wayne Gretzky

By Jay Greenberg

MVP 1a -- Tikkanen Ranford, a former Bruin deemed expendable by Boston president and general manager Harry Sinden, who traded him and Geoff Courtnall for the more experienced Moog in 1988, was a deserving winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the MVP of the playoffs. But a case could also have been made for Tikkanen, who, after effectively shadowing Gretzky and Denis Savard of Chicago in previous rounds, thoroughly spooked Boston's sterling young center, Craig Janney, in the finals. Most of the time, Tikkanen, a Finn, got up close and personal enough with the young Bruin playmaker to fog his visor. Turning whenever Janney turned, constantly shouldering him and sometimes tripping him, Tikkanen ventured away from Janney and into the Oiler offense only on the most obvious Edmonton scoring opportunities. He also amplified Janney's nightmare with a steady stream of trash talk and a maniacal grin ... Tikkanen, a nonstop yakker who was described by Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal as "capable of giving Woody Woodpecker a headache," said that either the offensive or the defensive role was fine with him. Championship teams have interchangeable parts. Tikkanen, a productive scorer and deeply annoying human being, proved to be a unique double-edged sword. "Tik is so smart we can use him in a defensive role and still not give up much offense," Muckler said. "At worst, we're playing four-on-four, and with our speed we'll take our chances that way. At best, the player Tik is checking usually isn't a player who thinks defense first, which means when the puck gets turned over, Tik will get scoring chances. He's the best I've ever seen doing this. He's so obnoxious, too. I love him." Edmonton's rocky road to the Cup As far back as November -- when Sather unloaded sulking center Jimmy Carson, the prime acquisition in the Gretzky trade, for four young players from the Detroit Red Wings -- hockey cognoscenti were whispering that Edmonton might be the team to beat. But the Oilers' regular season (38-28-14, 90 points) didn't scare anybody, particularly first-round opponent Winnipeg, which in Game 5 had Edmonton down 3-1 in games and 3-1 on the scoreboard. The Jets lost in seven games. After sweeping the Kings, who had exhausted themselves against Calgary, for the Smythe Division crown, Edmonton fell behind 2-1 against the hard-forechecking Chicago Blackhawks. But the Oilers were much the better team in the three straight victories that wrapped up the Campbell Conference title. Still, they entered the Stanley Cup finals only a slight favorite against the Bruins. Once more, as the series progressed, the gap between Edmonton and its opponent grew wider, in this case wider than the gap the Oilers consistently found between the legs of Boston goalie Andy Moog. Dynasty in peril The real world, which revolves around money, has twice intruded into what was once a Northlands Camelot. Expect it to do so again. In November 1987, Paul Coffey, a defenseman with unique offensive ability, was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins because Oiler owner Peter Pocklington refused to pay Coffey the $500,000 a year that Coffey felt he was worth. Then in August 1988, the Gretzky deal, from which Pocklington pocketed $15 million, was consummated -- reportedly to offset cash-flow problems in Pocklington's other business holdings. Now, star right wing Jari Kurri wants $1 million a year and may play in Europe next season so he can come back to the NHL in 1991-92 as an unfettered free agent. The Oilers eventually must find worthy successors to their core group -- 29-year-old center Mark Messier, Edmonton's brilliant and brawny captain; 29-year-old winger Anderson; the 30-year-old Kurri; and the 31-year-old Kevin Lowe. Players acquired in the Gretzky and Coffey deals have given Edmonton a good start. And a potential deal involving Fuhr, 27, the star goalie who missed most of the season with an ailing shoulder and appears expendable following the playoff MVP performance by the 23-year-old Ranford, will give Sather an opportunity to cash in another valuable commodity.

A Stanley Cup that had been marked down for easy sale was rescued from the bargain basement last Thursday night by the Edmonton Oilers. This season of parity in the NHL had portended a cheap championship, but in the end a richly deserving team won the Cup.

The strong arms of the Oilers -- those of goalie Bill Ranford and left wing Esa Tikkanen, in particular -- served as grand pedestals for the big silver trophy as it was passed around after Edmonton's 4-1 victory over the Bruins in Game 5 at Boston Garden, which wrapped up the best-of-seven series. A fifth championship in seven years, accomplished just 21 months after the sale/trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings, spoke especially for the pride and skill of the core players who remain from the Gretzky years.

Regaining the Cup after last year's first-round loss to the Great One and the Kings also provided powerful testament to the shrewdness of Oiler president and general manager Glen Sather. Thanks to several spin-offs of the Gretzky deal, Sather acquired fine young players who starred in the playoffs -- and he still has two extra No. 1 draft choices coming to him from Los Angeles ...

Edmonton proved to be faster, deeper, smarter and stronger than Boston, which simply could not get enough quality shots to have any hope of changing the outcome. Even when the Bruins got some good scoring chances in Game 1, they lost 3-2 in the third overtime on Petr Klima's goal at 1:23 a.m. An Oiler defensive unit that lacked an offensive threat and was a bit long in the tooth drew from a deep well of playoff experience and smothered Boston with simple, astute play. And Ranford, who might have suffered a crisis of confidence after allowing seven goals in the first game against Winnipeg, was as intimidating as Grant Fuhr [who was out most of the season with a shoulder injury] had ever been ...

The Oilers broke open Game 2, a 7-2 victory, late in the second period. In Game 3, their only loss, they played catch-up from the start. Neither situation called for a shadow, so coach John Muckler freed Tikkanen to rejoin the offense. He responded with a goal in each game. Craig Janney was so out of it by Game 4 that Muckler didn't bother with the shadow, and Tikkanen scored again. But in Game 5, Tikkanen reattached himself to Janney. He leaped over the boards after face-offs to thwart Boston coach Mike Milbury's home-ice right to the last change and climbed right back under Janney's skin ...

Milbury tried to minimize what was virtually the elimination of Janney's game by playing him on the wing. But Janney's struggles and the loss of Dave Poulin to a sprained knee in Game 2 left Milbury, in effect, without his best two centers. No other Bruin could fill the void. Right wing Cam Neely, a 55-goal scorer, overcarried the puck in trying to do too much. Brian Propp, Dave Christian and Bobby Gould, veterans whose in-season acquisitions at minimal costs preserved Harry Sinden's reputation as a master welder of scrap metal, played like rusted junk. Boston was clearly the best team in the Wales Conference, which tells you something about the weak state of the conference.

The Oilers braced for the Bruins' final burst of home adrenaline in Game 5 and matched it in the opening minutes, in what might have been the most exciting period of the series. When Boston not only failed to get a lead in that period but also did not get a superior chance to score, the series was all but over.

Janney got to the net before Tikkanen could get over the boards on the first shift of the second period, but Ranford stoned what turned out to be the Bruins' last chance to grab a lead. A minute later, Glenn Anderson broke away, put the puck between Bruin defenseman Don Sweeney's legs, went around the flopping Andy Moog and scored. Eight minutes after that, Anderson stripped forward Bob Sweeney and made a spectacular behind-the-back pass to Craig Simpson, who finished off the two-on-one break with ease.

The cream had risen to the top of the Cup after all. It usually does in the NHL. Some years, it just takes a little longer.

They said it ...

Issue date: June 4, 1990