Today in hockey history, an NHL franchise gets a new name, another team gets a new name and a new city, a team wins its second consecutive Stanley Cup, a role-player shows some playoff heroics, another player not known for scoring shows even more overtime heroics, and a coach sets a record by winning so much and generally being awesome.
May 27, 1966 – Jack Kent Cooke picked the name of the new NHL franchise in Los Angeles to start play in 1967 (one of six teams), and he chose the “Kings” for no apparent reason.
May 27, 1975 – The Flyers beat the Sabres 2-0 in Game 6 of the Finals to win their second-straight Cup (and their last Cup). Berine Parent, who recorded the shutout, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy, making him the only player to win that award in back-to-back years until Mario Lemieux did it in 1991 and 1992.
May 27, 1982 – The Colorado Rockies franchise was sold to Dr. John McMullen, who finally moved the team to New Jersey years of speculation and intentions, and he named the new team the “Devils.” Unlike the naming of Los Angeles’ franchise, the naming of this team actually made some sense; New Jersey has the legend of the “Jersey Devil” that’s said to inhabit the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey, and that name was selected after a vote.
May 27, 1994 – Stephane Matteau scored the winning goal at 4:24 of the second overtime to lead the Rangers to a 2-1 win over the Devils in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in New York, advancing to the Finals where they’d win their first Cup in 54 years. It was Matteau’s second double-overtime winner of the series (he had one in Game 3), and the goal call by Howie Rose on the radio is the most celebrated call in Rangers history. Fun fact: Stefan Matteau, his son (pronounced the same, spelled differently), was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in 2012 with the 29th overall pick. Awkward.
May 27, 1995 – Chicago’s Chris Chelios one-upped Matteau by scoring not only two overtime goals in the same series, but also in back-to-back games. He got the winner at 5:35 of OT to win 4-3 and complete the sweep of Vancouver in the conference semis after sending them home in the previous game. And what’s crazy about that is that Chelios scored only 31 goals in his NHL record 266-playoff-game career.
May 27, 1995 – Detroit’s Scotty Bowman set a coaching record by gaining his 46th career playoff series victory, as the Red Wings beat the Sharks 6-2, to sweep their conference semis. That’s a lot of happy post-series handshaking. He broke Toe Blake’s record.
Source: Hockey Hall of Fame
Latest posts by Scott Finger (see all)
- Possible destinations for players on the block - February 25, 2014
- Why Suspensions Don’t Matter and how they can Be Fixed - January 3, 2014
- This Day in Hockey History – December 31 - December 31, 2013
