1991 Stanley Cup Finals

1991 Stanley Cup Finals
Teams 1 2 3 4 5 6 Games Pittsburgh Penguins  4 4 1 5 6 8 4 Minnesota North Stars  5 1 3 3 4 0 2
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Pittsburgh Civic Arena) (1,2,5) Bloomington, MN (Met Center) (3,4,6) Format: Best-of-seven Coaches: Pittsburgh: Bob Johnson Minnesota: Bob Gainey Captains: Pittsburgh: Mario Lemieux Minnesota: Curt Giles Dates: May 15 to May 25 MVP: Mario Lemieux Series-winning goal: Ulf Samuelsson (2:00, first)
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The 1991 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Minnesota North Stars. It was the Penguins' first Final series appearance and their first Stanley Cup victory. As of 2012, this is the first and only Stanley Cup Final to feature two teams from the expansion group of 1967. It was Minnesota's second Final series appearance. It is also the first time since 1983 that an American franchise would win the Stanley Cup. This is the first all American finals since 1981, the only previous time the North Stars made the finals.

This was also the first final since 1982 not to feature either the Calgary Flames or the Edmonton Oilers, and the first since 1981 not contested by a team from Western Canada.

The Finals, and the NHL season, ended on May 25, marking the last time to date that the Stanley Cup playoffs have not extended into the month of June.

Road to the Finals

For more details on this topic, see 1991 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Minnesota defeated the first-place overall Chicago Blackhawks 4–2, the second-place overall St. Louis Blues 4–2, and the defending cup champion Edmonton Oilers 4–1 to advance to the Final. The North Stars became the first American team and first Norris Division team to win the Campbell Conference since the league re-aligned the divisions and adopted a divisional-based playoff format in 1981.

Pittsburgh defeated the New Jersey Devils 4–3, the Washington Capitals 4–1 and the Boston Bruins 4–2.

The series

Pittsburgh center Mario Lemieux, despite missing a game due to a back injury, recorded twelve points in five games to lead all scorers, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy. One of the most famous goals in NHL history was the goal he made in the second period of the second game. Receiving the puck between the Penguins blue line and the center line, (on a delayed penalty call to Doug Smail) Lemieux skated solo into the North Stars zone facing two defensemen (Shawn Chambers and Neil Wilkinson) and the goalie (Jon Casey) by himself. Mario Lemieux skirted the puck through the legs of Shawn Chambers, skated around Chambers, got the goalie Jon Casey to commit left (Lemieux's right), then switched the puck to his backand side and slid the puck into the net before crashing into the net himself. The brief video of the goal has been since featured on recent Stanley Cup promo ads by the NHL.

Schedule and results

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Minnesota North Stars
Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 15	Minnesota	5	Pittsburgh	4
May 17	Minnesota	1	Pittsburgh	4
May 19	Pittsburgh	1	Minnesota	3
May 21	Pittsburgh	5	Minnesota	3
May 23	Minnesota	4	Pittsburgh	6
May 25	Pittsburgh	8	Minnesota	0
Pittsburgh wins series 4–2 and Stanley Cup
Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh) wins Conn Smythe Trophy

Pittsburgh Penguins - 1991 Stanley Cup champions

Roster

  Centres

• 66 Mario Lemieux (Captain)
• 9 Ron Francis
• 10 Barry Pederson
• 15 Randy Gilhen
• 19 Bryan Trottier(A)
• 38 Jiri Hrdina
• 18 Ken Priestlay†

  Wingers

• 7 Joe Mullen
• 8 Mark Recchi
• 12 Bob Errey(A)
• 14 Jock Callander
• 16 Jay Caufield*
• 24 Troy Loney
• 25 Kevin Stevens
• 29 Phil Bourque
• 34 Scott Young(also played center)
• 68 Jaromir Jagr
• 20 Jamie Leach†

  Defencemen

• 2 Jim Paek
• 3 Grant Jennings
• 5 Ulf Samuelsson
• 22 Paul Stanton
• 23 Randy Hillier(A)
• 28 Gordie Roberts
• 32 Peter Taglianetti
• 55 Larry Murphy
• 77 Paul Coffey(A)
• 5 Gord Dineen†
• 27 Gilbert Delorme††

  Goaltenders

• 35 Tom Barrasso
• 40 Frank Pietrangelo
• 1 Wendell Young
• 44 Bruce Racine†††

(dressed for 4 playoff games, did not play)

  Coaching and Administrative Staff

• Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. (Chairman/Owner)
• Marie Denise DeBartolo York (President/Owner)
• Paul Martha Paul Martha (Vice President-General Council), Craig Patrick (Vice President/General Manager)
• William Scotty Bowman(Director of Player Development-Recruitment), Bob Johnson (Head Coach)
• Rick Kehoe (Asst. Coach), Rick Paterson (Asst. Coach), Barry Smith (Asst. Coach)
• Gilles Meloche (Goaltending Coach/Scout)
• Steve Latin (Equipment Manager), Charles "Skip" Thayer (Trainer)
• John Welday (Strength-Conditioning Coach), Greg Malone (Head Scout)

Stanley Cup engraving

• Jay Caufield* played only 23 games. His name was engraved on the Stanley Cup, because he spent the whole season with Pittsburgh.

• † Ken Priestley, Jamie Leach, Gord Dineen were included on the team, and have Stanley Cup rings. They did not play enough regular season games, or in the playoffs to qualify to win the Stanley Cup.

• †† Gord Dineen missed the whole season due to car accident in the off season. Dineen was still included on the team picture, and has a Stanley Cup ring.

• ††† Bruce Racine was called up from the minors to serve as back-up to Frank Pietrangelo. He was dressed for last two games of round one, and first two games of round two. Both Wendell Young (who missed first three rounds due to injury), and Tom Barrasso (missed four games due to injury) were unable to play. Racine name was left off the Stanley Cup, because he had not played in the NHL - in fact, Racine has never played for Pittsburgh. His only NHL experience came in 1995-96 for the St. Louis Blues. Racine was included on team picture and has a Stanley Cup ring.

• 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.

See also

• 1990–91 NHL season
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1990–91 Minnesota North Stars season
• 1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins season

References

• Total Stanley Cup. NHL. 2000. 
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont: Fenn Pub. pp. 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7. 

Preceded by Edmonton Oilers 1990

Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Champions 1991

Succeeded by Pittsburgh Penguins 1992