Redemption
1987 Stanley Cup Final, Game 7, May 31, 1987,
Edmonton 3, Philadelphia 1

After the disappointment of the 1986 playoff failure, the Oilers changed philosophy for the 1986-87 season. Although the team was still an offensive powerhouse, they scored 54 fewer times over the course of the regular season than the previous year when they scored 426 goals.

The trade off was the Oilers allowed 284 goals against. In a move dictated by coach and general manager Glen Sather, the Oilers had become one of the better defensive clubs in the NHL. Sather believed defence was critical if the team wanted to avenge the previous season’s playoff loss. By finishing atop the NHL regular-season standings, Edmonton proved the less-is-more formula could be a successful one.

When the regular season was over and the playoffs began, the Oilers offense once again exploded. A Game 1 first-round loss to the Los Angeles Kings reminded Oilers fans of the “Miracle on Manchester”, a 1982 series in which the Kings came back and upset the dominant Oilers.  By Game 2, Edmonton put fears to rest and won the game 13-3, almost scoring as many goals as the Kings had shots on net (15). With an assist on the first goal of the game, Wayne Gretzky earned his 177th all-time playoff point, breaking the record he held with Montréal Canadiens legend Jean Béliveau.

That drubbing erased any fears that the Oilers would stumble against the Kings, and paved the way for avenging the injustice of 1986. The Oilers won the series, and would win 12 of 14 games to reach the Stanley Cup final.  In the final, they would once again face the Philadelphia Flyers, and their hot, young goaltender Ron Hextall.

After four games, the Oilers needed one more win for their third Cup. Punctuated by a Game 2 overtime winner from Jari Kurri and a Game 4 winning goal from Kevin Lowe, Edmontonians prepared a Stanley Cup party for Game 5. But, Flyers coach Mike Keenan was a master tactician, and he brought the Cup itself to the Flyers dressing room to inspire his troops. Instead of a Oilers' celebration party, the Flyers showed the kind of grit the franchise displayed in its glory days of the 1970s. The Flyers took the next two games, 4-3 in Edmonton and then 3-2 at the Spectrum, to tie the series. Hextall had shown the same stellar form he displayed through the first three rounds of the playoffs, and the Flyers pushed for a final game to decide the Cup.

Game 7 was at Northlands Coliseum. After a tentative opening, the Oilers caught their stride. A goal from Kurri gave the Oilers what they needed for a hard-fought 3-1 win. The Oilers were euphoric, and Hextall was disconsolate when league officials presented him the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs

Edmonton was once again the capital of the hockey world, and the Oilers proved that 1986 was a fluke. Steve Smith, who had scored the own-goal that eliminated the Oilers in 1986, was possibly the happiest person in all of Edmonton when he hoisted the Cup above his shoulders; the weight of the world had been replaced by the weight of hockey’s most prized possession.

[back] [top]