With the Chicago Blackhawks back in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1992, I thought I would write about that appearance against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 1992 Cup Finals (the 99th year of the Stanley Cup) opened in Pittsburgh with the Blackhawks jumping on the Penguins with a 4-1 lead, but the Pens fought back and shocked the Hawks with a 5-4 win.
Game 2 was all Pittsburgh 3-1.
The Blackhawks went back to Chicago for games 3 and 4 down 2-0. Game 3 was a hard fought game with the Pens pulling it out 1-0.
Game four was a relative barn burner with the Penguins winning 6-5 and sweeping the Blackhawks for their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.
The Blackhawks, led by captain Dirk Graham,reached the Stanley Cup final for the first time since the 1973-74 season. They got to the finals with relative ease by beating St Louis 4-2 in the first round, by sweeping the Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers to capture the Prince of Wales Trophy the Black Hawks set a then record of 11 straight wins to reach the finals.
The Penguins started out the playoffs against their rival the Washington Capitals and the Pens came out on top 4 games to 3. In the 2nd round they faced the President's Trophy winner New York Rangers and took that series 4-2.
They moved on to sweep the Boston Bruins to win their second straight Clarence Campbell Bowl.
The Penguins had looked to be down and out as they struggled with the loss of their very popular head coach "Badger" Bob Johnson early in the season, but Scotty Bowman stepped in and guided the team back to the playoffs. They rewarded him with a 4 game sweep to capture their 2nd Stanley Cup.
The winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP was Penguins Captain Mario Lemieux for the 2nd year in a row.
The 75th NHL regular season award winners were:
Art Ross Trophy (scoring) - Mario Lemieux (131 points) (3rd)
(for the first time in his career Wayne Gretzky did make the top 2 in scoring, he finished 3rd behind Lemieux and Kevin Stevens of the Penguins.)
The only player in the top 10 of scoring in 1992 without 100 points was Adam Oates who had 99 points. Brett Hull led the league with 70 goals.
Hart Trophy (MVP) - Mark Messier - NY Rangers (2nd)
Norris Trophy (Defenseman) - Brian Leetch - NY Rangers (1st)
Vezina Trophy (Goaltender) - Patrick Roy - MTL Canadiens (3rd)
Selke Trophy (Forward) - Guy Carbonneau - MTL Canadiens (3rd Time)
Lady Byng Trophy (Gentlemanly Play) - Wayne Gretzky - LA Kings (2nd)
Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) - Pavel Bure - Vancouver Canucks
Adams Trophy (Head Coach) - Pat Quinn - Vancouver Canucks (2nd)
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