1992 Stanley Cup Finals

1992 Stanley Cup Finals
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Teams 1 2 3 4 Games Pittsburgh Penguins  5 3 1 6 4 Chicago Blackhawks  4 1 0 5 0 * – overtime period(s)
Location: Pittsburgh, PA: (Pittsburgh Civic Arena) (1,2) Chicago, IL: (Chicago Stadium) (3,4) Format: Best-of-seven Coaches: Pittsburgh: Scotty Bowman Chicago: Mike Keenan Captains: Pittsburgh: Mario Lemieux Chicago: Dirk Graham National anthem: Pittsburgh: Christina Aguilera Chicago: Wayne Messmer Dates: May 26 – June 1 MVP: Mario Lemieux Series-winning goal: Ron Francis (7:59, third)
< 1991 Stanley Cup Finals 1993 >

The 1992 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Prince of Wales Conference and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins and the Clarence Campbell Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks were appearing in their first Finals since 1973. After the Blackhawks jumped to an early 4–1 lead in the first game of the series, Mario Lemieux and the Penguins came back to win the game, sweep the series in four games, and win their second consecutive and second overall Stanley Cup. It was the 99th year of the Stanley Cup, and the first to extend into the month of June. It was the last final for Chicago Stadium as it closed in 1994.

Road to the Finals

Pittsburgh defeated the Washington Capitals 4–3, the New York Rangers 4–2, and the Boston Bruins 4–0.

Chicago had to defeat their three biggest rivals, first the St. Louis Blues 4–2, then their long-time Original Six rival Detroit Red Wings 4–0, and then, the Edmonton Oilers 4–0.

With their co-tenants at Chicago Stadium, the Bulls, coached by Phil Jackson and led by Michael Jordan, playing in the NBA Finals, it was an opportunity for both the Blackhawks and the Bulls to help the city of Chicago become the first city to have both NHL and NBA championships in the same year.

Chicago set an NHL playoff record in winning 11 games in a row to reach the finals.

Pittsburgh had won seven in a row entering the finals and swept Chicago in four games to tie Chicago's record. Pittsburgh then extended the playoff winning streak record to 14 with wins in the first three games against the New Jersey Devils in the following season's first playoff round.

The series

The Penguins were led by captain Mario Lemieux, coach Scotty Bowman, and goaltender Tom Barrasso. The Blackhawks were led by captain Dirk Graham, coach Mike Keenan, and goaltender Ed Belfour. They also made history in having the first Russian-born player to have a chance to get their name on the Stanley Cup in Igor Kravchuk.

Mario Lemieux won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for the second consecutive year, becoming only the second player in NHL history to do so: Bernie Parent had won it when the Philadelphia Flyers won the Cup in the consecutive years of 1974 and 1975.

Game four was the first NHL game played in the month of June.

Tue, May 26

Pittsburgh Penguins

5–4

Chicago Blackhawks

Pittsburgh Civic Arena

Thu, May 28

Pittsburgh Penguins

3–1

Chicago Blackhawks

Pittsburgh Civic Arena

Sat, May 30

Chicago Blackhawks

0–1

Pittsburgh Penguins

Chicago Stadium

Mon, June 1

Chicago Blackhawks

5–6

Pittsburgh Penguins

Chicago Stadium

Pittsburgh wins series 4–0 and Stanley Cup

Pittsburgh Penguins – 1992 Stanley Cup champions

Roster

  Centres

• 10 Ron Francis
• 15 Shawn McEachern
• 18 Ken Priestlay†
• 19 Bryan Trottier (A)
• 38 Jiri Hrdina
• 66 Mario Lemieux (Captain)

  Wingers

• 7 Joe Mullen
• 12 Bob Errey (A)
• 14 Jock Callander
• 16 Jay Caufield
• 20 Jamie Leach
• 24 Troy Loney
• 25 Kevin Stevens
• 29 Phil Bourque
• 34 Dave Michayluk
• 43 Jeff Daniels*
• 45 Mike Needham*
• 68 Jaromir Jagr
• 92 Rick Tocchet

  Defencemen

• 2 Jim Paek
• 3 Grant Jennings
• 5 Ulf Samuelsson
• 6 Jeff Chychrun
• 22 Paul Stanton
• 23 Kjell Samuelsson
• 28 Gordie Roberts
• 32 Peter Taglianetti
• 55 Larry Murphy

  Goaltenders

• 1 Wendell Young
• 31 Ken Wregget
• 35 Tom Barrasso

• Mike Needham* did not play in any regular season games for Pittsburgh (played in the minors), but played in five playoff games (one playoff game in the conference finals, but not in the Finals). Jeff Daniels* played in two regular season games for Pittsburgh, spent the rest of the regular season in the minors, but was recalled during the playoffs. Their names were engraved on the Stanley Cup, even though they did not qualify. Ken Priestlay† played in 49 regular season games and was sent to the minors at the trade deadline, but rejoined the team late in the playoffs. Priestlay was also included on the Stanley Cup even though he played in the minors during the playoffs. Pittsburgh included a record 31 players on the Stanley Cup in 1992.

  Coaching and administrative staff

• Morris Belzberg (Owner), Howard Baldwin Sr. (Owner/President), Thomas Ruta (Owner)
• Donn Patton (Vice President-Chief Financial Officer), J. Paul Martha (Vice President-General Council)
• Craig Patrick (Vice President/General Manager)
• Bob Johnson (Coach), William Scotty Bowman (Head Coach/Director of Player Development-Recruitment), Barry Smith (Asst. Coach), Rick Kehoe (Asst. Coach)
• Pierre McGuire (Asst. Coach), Gilles Meloche (Goaltending Coach/Scout), Rick Paterson (Asst. Coach)
• Steve Latin (Equipment Manager), Charles "Skip" Thayer (Trainer), John Welday (Strength-Conditioning Coach), Greg Malone (Head Scout)
• Les Binkley (Scout), Charlie Hodge (Scout), John Gill (Scout), Ralph Cox (Scout)

Stanley Cup engraving

Bob Johnson, head coach of the Penguins in the 1990–91 season and for their 1991 championship, died on November 26, 1991 of cancer. The NHL allowed the 1991–92 Penguins to have his name engraved on the Cup.

Pierre McGuire, Les Binkley, John Gill, Charlie Hodge, Ralph Cox were with the team as Scouts in 1990–91, but names were not included on the Stanley Cup that year. All five members have two Stanley Cup rings with Pittsburgh.

Aftermath

Another 18 years would pass before the Blackhawks returned to the Stanley Cup Finals, this time defeating the Penguins' in-state arch-rivals, Philadelphia Flyers, in six games. It would be the first Finals to be played in the United Center, where the Blackhawks moved in the 1994–95 NHL season. The year before, the Penguins won the Stanley Cup at the expense of the Blackhawks' arch-rival Detroit Red Wings, exacting revenge from their 2008 defeat.

Following their Cup win, the Penguins modernized their logo and uniforms. However, the 'Robo-Penguin' logo wasn't as universally received as the 'Skating Penguin' and was gradually phased out between 2001 and 2007, being replaced by the updated 'Skating Penguin' logo featuring a Vegas gold triangle. On the ice, the Penguins won a league record 17 straight games en route to the Presidents' Trophy in the 1992–93 season, despite Mario Lemieux missing much of the season to Hodgkin's lymphoma. However they lost in the conference semifinals to the New York Islanders. The Penguins stayed competitive for the remainder of the 1990s, despite the retirement of Lemieux, but mounting debt forced the team to declare bankruptcy and in 2000, Lemieux purchased the club and later returned to play for another five-year stint. The Penguins rebuilt during the first half of the 2000s, before Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-André Fleury led the team to the 2009 Stanley Cup.

Chicago's goaltending tandem of Ed Belfour and Dominik Hasek would later play against each other in the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals as members of the Dallas Stars and Buffalo Sabres respectively. The series, won by Dallas in six games, was overshadowed by Brett Hull's controversial series-clinching goal past Hasek in Game 6.

See also

• 1991–92 NHL season
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1991–92 Chicago Blackhawks season
• 1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins season

References

Preceded by Pittsburgh Penguins 1991

Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Champions 1992

Succeeded by Montreal Canadiens 1993