1979 Stanley Cup Finals

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 one, to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup championship.[2]

1979 Stanley Cup Finals
12345 Total
Montreal Canadiens 1644*4 4
New York Rangers 4213*1 1
* indicates periods of overtime
Location(s)Montreal: Forum (1, 2, 5)
New York City: Madison Square Garden (3, 4)
CoachesMontreal: Scotty Bowman
New York: Fred Shero
CaptainsMontreal: Yvan Cournoyer[1]
New York: Dave Maloney
DatesMay 13 – May 21
MVPBob Gainey (Canadiens)
Series-winning goalJacques Lemaire (1:02, second, G5)
NetworksCBC (Canada-English)
NHL Network (United States)
AnnouncersDan Kelly, Danny Gallivan, Gary Dornhoefer (in Montreal)
Bobby Orr (in New York)
Dick Irvin Jr. (CBC and NHL Network)

This was the last Stanley Cup Final until 2013 where both teams were from the Original Six, and 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. Prior to the Canadiens' dynasty, the feat had been achieved only twice before, both times by the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball. The aforementioned Islanders are the only team to accomplish it since.

Paths to the Finals
Further information: 1978–79 NHL season, 1978–79 Montreal Canadiens season, and 1978–79 New York Rangers season

Montreal defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 and the Boston Bruins 4–3 (highlighted by the "too many men on the ice" game seven overtime win) to advance to the Final.

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.

Game summaries

The Canadiens won the Cup in five games, winning it on home ice for the first time since 1968.[3] After the game Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer and Ken Dryden retired, while head coach Scotty Bowman would leave the Canadiens to join the Buffalo Sabres, which would mark the end of the Canadiens' dynasty.

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.

Montreal won series 4–1

Team rosters

Montreal Canadiens
# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
1 Michel Larocque G L 27 1972 Hull, Quebec
3 Brian Engblom D L 24 1975 Winnipeg, Manitoba
5 Guy Lapointe D L 31 1969 Montreal, Quebec
6 Pierre Mondou C R 23 1975 Sorel, Quebec
8 Doug Risebrough C L 25 1974 Guelph, Ontario
10 Guy Lafleur RW R 27 1971 Montreal, Quebec
11 Yvon Lambert LW L 28 1971 Drummondville, Quebec
12 Yvan Cournoyer (C) RW L 35 1963 Montreal, Quebec
14 Mario Tremblay RW R 35 1963 Alma, Quebec
15 Réjean Houle RW L 29 1969 Rouyn, Quebec
17 Rod Langway D L 22 1977 Taipei, Taiwan
18 Serge Savard D L 33 1966 Landrienne, Quebec
19 Larry Robinson D L 27 1971 Winchester, Ontario
20 Cam Connor RW L 24 1978 Winnipeg, Manitoba
21 Doug Jarvis C L 24 1975 Brantford, Ontario
22 Steve Shutt LW L 26 1972 Willowdale, Ontario
23 Bob Gainey LW L 24 1973 Peterborough, Ontario
24 Gilles Lupien D L 25 1974 Lachute, Quebec
25 Jacques Lemaire C L 33 1967 LaSalle, Quebec
27 Rick Chartraw D R 24 1974 Caracas, Venezuela
28 Pierre Larouche C L 23 1977 Taschereau, Quebec
29 Ken Dryden G L 31 1964 Hamilton, Ontario
30 Pat Hughes RW R 24 1975 Calgary, Alberta
31 Mark Napier LW L 24 1975 North York, Ontario
33 Richard Sévigny G L 22 1979 Montreal, Quebec

New York Rangers
# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
1 Wayne Thomas G L 31 1977 Ottawa, Ontario
3 Dave Farrish D L 22 1976 Wingham, Ontario
4 Ron Greschner D L 24 1974 Goodsoil, Saskatchewan
5 Carol Vadnais D L 33 1975 Montreal, Quebec
6 Bobby Sheehan C L 30 1979 Weymouth, Massachusetts
8 Steve Vickers LW L 28 1971 Toronto, Ontario
10 Ron Duguay C R 21 1977 Sudbury, Ontario
11 Ulf Nilsson C R 29 1978 Nynäshamn, Sweden
12 Don Maloney LW L 20 1978 Lindsay, Ontario
14 Don Murdoch RW R 22 1976 Cranbrook, British Columbia
15 Anders Hedberg RW L 28 1978 Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
16 Pat Hickey LW L 25 1973 Brantford, Ontario
17 Ed Johnstone RW R 25 1974 Brandon, Manitoba
18 Walt Tkaczuk C L 33 1967 Emsdetten, West Germany
19 Nick Fotiu LW L 26 1976 Staten Island, New York
23 Lucien DeBlois RW R 21 1977 Joliette, Quebec
24 Pierre Plante RW L 27 1978 Valleyfield, Quebec
25 Mario Marois D R 21 1977 L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec
26 Dave Maloney (C) D L 22 1974 Kitchener, Ontario
27 Mike McEwen D L 22 1976 Hornepayne, Ontario
30 John Davidson G L 26 1975 Ottawa, Ontario
77 Phil Esposito C L 37 1975 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1979 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens acting captain Serge Savard by NHL President John Ziegler following the Canadiens 4–1 win over the Rangers in game five.

The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1979 Montreal Canadiens

Players

  Goaltenders

Coaching and administrative staff

Stanley Cup engraving
  • †Yvan Cournoyer played only 18 regular season games. He missed the rest of the season due to a back injury. His name was still put on the cup, even though he did not qualify. Serge Savard served as interim captain while Cournoyer was injured.
  • ††Richard Sevigny's name was engraved on the Stanley Cup, before he played his first NHL game. He was dressed in the finals when Michel Larocque was injured in pre-game warm-up for game two. Sevigny joined Montreal full-time, the next season after Ken Dryden retired.
  • #26 Dan Newman played 16 regular season games, but did not qualify to be on the cup. He was dressed for one game in the quarterfinals, but did not play
  • Floyd Curry changed roles from Assistant Manager to Director of Scouting. Name was left off the Stanley Cup.
  • American Rod Langway was born in Taiwan. This makes Langway first and only player to win the Stanley Cup born in Taiwan (Republic of China).

Members of Montreal Canadiens 1976 to 1979 dynasty
  • Players: Rick Chartraw, Yvan Cournoyer, Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey, Doug Jarvis, Guy Lafleur, Yvon Lambert, Guy Lapointe, Michel Larocque, Jacques Lemaire, Doug Risebrough, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Steve Shutt, Mario Tremblay
  • Non players: Jacques Courtois, Sam Pollock, Jean Beliveau, Scotty Bowman, Claude Ruel, Eddie Palchak, Pierre Meilleur, Ron Caron, Floyd Curry

Broadcasting

The Stanley Cup Finals were produced by CBC, who carried the game in Canada and were shown in the United States on the NHL's syndicated package. Dan Kelly called the play-by-play for Games 1, 3, 4, and 5 entirely. Danny Gallivan and Dan Kelly split play-by-play for Game 2 only. 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. Dick Irvin, Jr. served as studio host in Montreal and Dave Hodge in New York and Howie Meeker served as studio analyst. ABC was contracted to televise game seven.[4][5] Since the Finals ended in five games, the contract was void.[6]

See also

References
  1. Due to injury, Cournoyer didn't play in any playoff games. Serge Savard served as acting captain.
  2. "Canadiens do it again". St Petersburg Times (Page 21). May 22, 1979. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  3. Jenish, D'Arcy (2009). The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory. Doubleday. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0.
  4. Associated Press (May 13, 1979). "NHL, ABC-TV Agree". Reading Eagle. p. 89.
  5. "May 26 Selected For a 7th Game". New York Times. May 13, 1979. p. S4.
  6. Ramsay, Donald (May 22, 1979). "Montreal win kills ABC TV deal but Ziegler feels pact is on way". The Globe and Mail. p. P35.
Bibliography
  • Total Stanley Cup. NHL. 2000.
  • Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.
Preceded by
Montreal Canadiens
1978		 Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup Champions
1979		 Succeeded by
New York Islanders
1980
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