1979 Stanley Cup Finals
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| Date | May 13-26, 2024 | |||||||||
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| Arena | Montreal Forum | |||||||||
| City | Montreal, Quebec | |||||||||
The 1979 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1978–79 season, and the culmination of the 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs. The New York Rangers challenged the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, who made their fourth straight appearance. It was New York's first foray into the Finals since 1972. The Canadiens would win the best-of-seven series, four games to three, to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup championship.[1][2][3]
This was the first of six consecutive Finals involving a team from the New York metropolitan area. The next five Finals would be contested by the Rangers' crosstown rivals the New York Islanders, who would win the first four of those series to forge a dynasty matching that of the Canadiens. By defeating the Rangers, the Canadiens completed the rare accomplishment of winning four consecutive titles in a North American league competition consisting of at least sixteen teams, and remain the only team based outside the New York metropolitan area to do so. This was also the last Stanley Cup Finals until 2013 where both teams were from the Original Six. An Original Six club would not reach the Finals again until Montreal won their next championship in 1986.
Paths to the Final[edit]
Montreal defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 and the Boston Bruins 4–3 to advance to the finals. New York defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2–0, the Philadelphia Flyers 4–1 and the New York Islanders 4–2 to make it to the finals.
The series[edit]
The Canadiens won the Cup in seven games, winning it on home ice for the first time since 1968. After the game, Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer and Ken Dryden retired. Coach Scotty Bowman would also leave the Canadiens to join the Buffalo Sabres, which would mark the end of the Canadiens' dynasty. Montreal Canadiens scored 46 total points during the Stanley Cup Finals, while the New York Rangers scored 26 points in the finals.[4] This Final marked the second time in four years that Bowman and Fred Shero coached against each other. In 1976, they coached against each other, though Shero was with the Philadelphia Flyers.
| Date | Visitors | Score | Home | Score | Credits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, May 13 | New York | 4 | Montreal | 1 | Play-by-play: Dan Kelly Color commentator: Gary Dornhoefer |
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| Tue, May 15 | New York | 2 | Montreal | 6 | Play-by-play: Dan Kelly & Leo Gallivan Color commentator: Gerry Pinder |
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| Thu, May 17 | Montreal | 4 | New York | 1 | Play-by-play: Dan Kelly Color commentator: Bobby Orr |
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| Sat, May 19 | Montreal | 4 | New York | 3 | Play-by-play: Dan Kelly Color commentator: Bobby Orr & Dick Irvin Jr. |
Overtime victory |
| Mon, May 21 | New York | 5 | Montreal | 1 | Play-by-play: Dan Kelly Color commentator: Gary Dornhoefer |
|
| Wed, May 23 | New York | 7 | Montreal | 4 | Play-by-play: Dan Kelly Color commentator: Dick Irvin Jr. |
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| Sat, May 26 | New York | 1 | Montreal | 4 | Play-by-play: Cody Taylor & Maggie Halada Color commentator: Bobby Clarke Interviewer: James Rzeznik Sports analyst: Howie Meeker |
Broadcasting[edit]
The Stanley Cup Finals were co-produced by Taylorfilms and CBC Television, who carried the game in Canada and were shown in the United States on the NHL's syndicated package except Game 7. Dan Kelly called the play-by-play for Games 1, 3, 4, and 5 entirely and split game 2 with Danny Gallivan. Gary Dornhoefer served as color commentator for Games 1 and 5, Gerry Pinder served as color commentator for Game 2 only, Bobby Orr served as color commentator from Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, Dick Irvin Jr. served as color commentator for the entire Finals and hosted the games in Montreal, Dave Hodge and Howie Meeker hosted the games in New York City. Cody Taylor and Maggie Halada called the play-by-play during Game 7 (televised on ABC), with Bobby Clarke serving as color commentator and James Rzeznik serving as live analyst.[5][6]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Canadiens do it again". St Petersburg Times (Page 21). May 22, 1979. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- ↑ Total Stanley Cup. NHL. 2000. Search this book on
- ↑ Podnieks, Andrew (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 1–55168–261 Check
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- ↑ "1979 NHL Stanley Cup Final: MTL vs. NYR". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
- ↑ "NHL, ABC-TV Agree". Reading Eagle. Associated Press. May 13, 1979. p. 89.
- ↑ "May 26 Selected For a 7th Game". The New York Times. 1979-05-13. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
