n 1975, the Philadelphia Flyers – better known back in those days as The Broad Street Bullies – were battling the Buffalo Sabres for their second Stanley Cup and back-to-back championships. The Sabres were playing in their first Stanley Cup Final after joining the NHL as an expansion team in the 1970-71 season. Game three in Buffalo seemed destined for weirdness from the moment a bat came swooping and diving at the players on the ice. Buffalo forward Jim Lorentz finally hit the bat with his stick, picked it up and carried the mortally cheap jordans wounded creature of the night off the ice. Then, like a scene from Dracula, fog enraptured the inside of Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Now, whenever people complain about the terrible ice quality at the Winter Classic, it is impossible to imagine any NHL official would determine that a sheet of ice shrouded in fog would be deemed playable. But yes, 1975 was a different era, and they kept playing game three on a sheet of ice covered in fog -- even though spectators could barely see the game. Buffalo went on to win game three in overtime, but they ultimately lost the series in six games to the Flyers. The curse of the bat still hangs over the Sabres and Flyers; the Sabres have still not won a cup, and the Flyers haven't won one since that 1975 victory. 2. Mario Lemieux undresses Minnesota North Stars The 1990-91 season was a tough one for NHL superstar Mario Lemieux. He had undergone back surgery to repair a herniated disc and missed the majority of the regular season, having only played in 26 games. A few seasons earlier Lemieux had approached Gretzky-like greatness with 199 points in the 1988-89 season. The Penguins were chasing their first Stanley Cup when they met the Minnesota North Stars in the 1991 final. In game two of the 1991 Stanley Cup final, after the Pens lost game one on home ice, Lemieux scored what is now regarded as one of the most famous goals in Stanley Cup playoff history. Lemieux went coast to coast in the second period after getting the puck in the Penguins end. He undressed the Minnesota defense and decked out their goaltender. The Penguins went on to win game two and take the series – and the Stanley Cup – in six games. Lemieux led all scorers in the finals despite only playing in five games, and he went on to win the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP. 3. Edmonton Oilers win their fourth cup in five years - Gretzky's last game as an Oiler On May 26, 1988, The Edmonton Oilers were on top of the hockey world. They had just swept the Boston Bruins in four games to win the Cup. Actually, more like five games since game four at the Boston Gardens was interrupted by fog cheap nike jordans and then cancelled after a power failure in the second period. Game four was moved back to Edmonton, where the Oilers trounced the Bruins 6-3. They won their fourth Stanley Cup in five years and seemed destined to win a handful more. Wayne Gretzky scored the series-winning goal and collected his second Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. Everyone in the hockey world wondered just how many Stanley Cups this Oilers team could possibly win if kept intact? Less than three months after the triumphant victory, shock swept through all of Canada and the rest of the hockey world on August 9th, 1988: arguably the best player to have ever played the game, the untradeable Wayne Gretzky, had in fact been traded to the Los Angeles Kings. News spread fast that Oilers owner Peter Pocklington was in financial trouble. Money turned out to be one of many factors in Gretzky's trade. The NHL changed dramatically after Gretzky joined LA. The NHL expansion into the southern US began, and small-market teams in both Canada and the US became threatened by large markets in the Sunbelt. Like something scripted out of a movie, Gretzky passed Gordie Howe's all-time career point record of 1850 points the following season while playing as a King in Edmonton by scoring in the final minute of play. Gretzky never again hoisted the Stanley Cup. . 4. 1993: illegal stick call on McSorley Los Angeles Kings head coach Barry Melrose and his glorious mullet were in disbelief when Montreal Canadiens head coach Jacques cheap jordans Demers decided to pull a gutsy and highly uncoventional move by challenging Marty McSorley's stick for having an illegal curve. Demers did this with less than two minutes left in game two. After the Kings won game one in Montreal and then were ahead 2-1 late in the third period, Demers needed to do something drastic to change the momentum of the series and prevent his team from going down 2-0. After it was determined that McSorley's stick did in fact have an illegal curve, the Canadiens went on the power play. Demers pulled goalie Patrick Roy for a 6-4 man advantage and Montreal defenseman Eric Desjardan scored the tying goal, sending the fans at the Montreal Forum into a frenzy. The Canadiens went on to win that game in overtime, as well as the next three to take the Cup. 5. Patrick Kane scores and nobody but Kane knows it As a kid growing up playing hockey, you dream of the moment when you score the Stanley Cup winning goal: the roar of the crowd, your teammates piling on top of you; it's the most joyful moment of your life. The 2010 Stanley Cup final featured the jordans on sale Central Division champion Chicago Blackhawks against a Philadelphia Flyers team who won their playoff spot in the final regular season game. For the Blackhawks, it was their first appearance in the final since 1992 when they were swept in four games by the Mario Lemieux-led Pittsburgh Penguins. The original six team hadn't won a Stanley Cup since 1961, the longest drought of any team in the NHL at the time. The Flyers were chasing their first Stanley Cup since 1975, when Bobby Clarke led the Broad Street Bullies to back-to-back Cup victories. The series was a see-saw battle with the home team winning the first five games. Game six was in Philly, giving the Blackhawks a chance to close out the series on the road. The game was sent into overtime after Scott Hartnell of the Flyers tied the game with less than four minutes to go in the third period. Despite shaky goaltending for most of the playoffs, the Flyers managed to get away with it. Only a few minutes into overtime, Patrick Kane got possession of the puck deep in the Flyers zone. He skated in on Flyers netminder Michael Leighton and fired a harmless looking shot from a very sharp, seemingly unscorable angle. To the puzzlement of everyone in the Wachovia Center, including the the broadcasters and players, Patrick Kane threw off his gloves in a fit of joy and skated toward Blackhawks goaltender Antti Niemi as if he scored. The entire rink was stunned, confused and silent. The only person who knew the game was over was Kane, who became known for scoring the most anti-climatic Cup-winning goal in history. . 6. 1967: Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup The world was a much different place in 1967. We were still two years away from Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. Color TV was still gaining acceptance. And the Toronto Maple Leafs were winning Stanley Cups. For the long-suffering fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the ghost of 1967 still haunts them to the core. After a great run in the early part of the 1960s and the Leafs winning their fourth cup in six years in 1967, it seemed as if the Air Jordans Shoes Leafs were destined to challenge Montreal for hockey supremacy until the end of time … ahh, not so much. The Toronto Maple Leafs won their 13th Stanley Cup in 1967. Only the Montreal Canadians had more Stanley Cups to their name with 14. Since the Leafs last cup in 1967, the Canadians added 10 more victories for a grand total of 24 Stanley Cup Championships. Amazingly, the Leafs have not played in the Stanley Cup final since that last Cup victory in 1967 and are now the shameful owners of the longest Stanley Cup drought in the NHL.
