1989 Flames / Canucks series

[The Panther]

Wow, is it ever fun to go back and watch the highlights of the Flames/Canucks first-round series in 1989!

Flames were at their all-time franchise peak, finishing 1st overall for the second year in a row. They're on the way to the Cup... but a major hiccup in round one with the upstart Canucks.

Flames are stacked with Gilmour, MacInnis, Suter, Mullen, Loob (who is awesome here), Nieuwendyk, and a young Roberts and rookie Fleury.

Canucks are in transition from 80s'-Canucks to new-look Canucks, with rookie-Linden, Greg Adams, and Kirk McLean out there, but also with veteran Stan Smyl, Tony Tanti, and ex-Flame Paul Reinhardt (who looks good here) on D.

(I don't know how to embed videos for these kinds of YouTube links... anyway, part one is here):




I remember this series really well.

The Game 7 overtime highlights are just too crazy... Poor Smyl put one shot off the post, and then minutes later had a partial breakaway foiled.


After this series, the Flames went 12W and 3L and won the Cup. But it's crazy to think how close they were to never winning that one. The Canucks were the only team to really challenge them.

Can you imagine Mike Vernon's legacy now if he had lost this one...? (It's bad enough with some fans already...)


Anyway, awesome series and great memories... still a crappy game 7 OT goal, however...

 

[Big Phil]

I think it goes down as a major upset! Along the lines of the Pens/Isles catastrophe in 1993. What happens to Calgary then? Is Crisp fired? Does Loob still go back to Sweden? Do they make trades for Gilmour or Nieuwendyk? Do they blow up the team? I mean, this would have been a team waiting for the Oilers to finally fail and once they did by trading Gretzky they probably thought this was their best shot. Lose in 1989 and things could have changed.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

As a Vancouver fan, I remember it well.

The team was the quintessential lunch bucket crew who all bought into the system and worked their ***** off. The Flames may have had us in skill, but they didn't best us in effort or toughness.

Reinhart was great and played some of the best hockey I've ever seen from a defenseman in a Canucks jersey. Linden was proving to be the hard working, up and coming leader, that he was sold as being (Horvat is thankfully trending the same way). McLean showed we were set in goal. Smyl tried hard, but was sooo snakebitten it was tragic. And as for Greg Adams, there were actually two of them... you can look it up.

Anyway, it was a great series and one that, as a long suffering Canucks fan, gave me hope for the franchise again.

I still say Otto kicked it in.

 

[Theokritos]

(I don't know how to embed videos for these kinds of YouTube links... anyway, part one is here):

It's an issue with videos that are part of a playlist ("NHL Classic Series" in this case). The solution is to delete the part of the address that directs you to the playlist (red part here):
youtube.com/watch?v=LB90BqfGEOo&list=PLCJ35EfuAp0iIqp48RMo-2RT57XZyLPjp

That leaves you with: youtube.com/watch?v=LB90BqfGEOo

Voilá:

 

[kmad]

I still say Otto kicked it in.

Not even up for debate. Of course he kicked it in.

 

[tony d]

What if Vancouver had gotten past the Flames in Round 1? Who would have won the Cup that year? Also what changes would Calgary make going into the 90's without a Cup and knowing they could be the big team in Alberta going into the 90's as the Oilers where without Gretzky?

 

[The Panther]

What if Vancouver had gotten past the Flames in Round 1?

One of the interesting things is that the Gretzky-Kings, in his first year there, would likely have faced Chicago in round-three for the Conference. And Chicago finished 25 points behind L.A., so most likely Gretzky/L.A. would have been in the Finals in his first year there.

Who would have won the Cup that year?

Montreal.

Both Gretzky and Roy's legacies would be even greater than they are today.


All that probably would have happened if Smyl had just shot 1/2-inch to the left...

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

I believe this was dubbed "The first best of 7 series to go 3."

Otto kicked it in, man.

 

[IComeInPeace]

I went to 2 games in Vancouver.

That was a fantastic series.

I think Skriko also had a great chance to win it.
Vernon won the Flames that game/series.

Steamer was on his last legs there. Always a slow skater at the best of times, by this point in his career, it seemed like he was barely moving on that breakway.

Bob McCammon did a fabulous job with those guys.
Linden had a great series as a rookie, and I think Reinhart also played great.
If I'm not mistaken, even Mel Bridgeman played some good hockey in that series, on the ice and as a leader.

Kind of an oddity...athletes are a superstitious bunch. McCammon told a joke to the boys before they left the dressing room to play game 1. He was trying to loosen the young guys up. They won, and from then on, before every game he came up with another joke for the boys.

Unfortunately, Joel Otto's foot had the last laugh.
Still can't believe that goal wasn't called back.

 

[LightningStorm]

From studying hockey history, that 1989 Flames team is my favorite cup winning team outside of the time each of my 2 teams won the cup, so basically my favorite cup winning team from before I was born (1990). I've seen the series recap that the Panther posted, and was a very entertaining series.

I can't believe people still think Otto's goal shouldn't have counted. There was no distinct kicking motion. Plus it would've been hard for him to blatantly kick it in since he was battling for position in front of the net. It was a lucky bounce for Otto and the Flames, but a legal goal nonetheless. Ironic that a goal like that ended that game 7 after those amazing saves by Vernon and even some by McLean.

 

[IComeInPeace]

I agree there was no kicking motion, but, wasn't the rule back then that you couldn't kick it in or direct the puck into the net with your foot (in the absence of a kicking motion)???

At any rate, bounces even out over the course of a series. The Canucks had numerous glorious chances to win in OT. When you give a team with that much talent to play on...it usually comes back to bite you in the butt.

 

[Big Phil]

Not even up for debate. Of course he kicked it in.

I am not a Nucks or Flames fan so I look at this objectively. That was sort of a broken play on that goal, it really didn't look all that threatening. Otto is standing in front of the net waiting for a pass. He drops his stick hoping for it. The pass instead hits his skate and bounces in. I think in the mid 1990s they changed it where it had to be a kicking motion in order to be called back, in other words you weren't allowed to deflect it at all. So in 1989 a deflection is no good, and an errant bounce off your foot is alright.

Put it this way, there is no way Otto managed to deflect that in. He's practically being pushed while this is happening. Does anyone think the slow-footed Otto was that talented? I don't. It was an errant bounce and it just happened to go into the net. Kirk McLean is right there and he doesn't say a word to the ref. It's a good goal in my mind.

What if Vancouver had gotten past the Flames in Round 1? Who would have won the Cup that year? Also what changes would Calgary make going into the 90's without a Cup and knowing they could be the big team in Alberta going into the 90's as the Oilers where without Gretzky?

The Kings beat the Oilers, so that means they play the Canucks. Gretzky owned the Canucks his whole life, they may have even gotten swept. Or in 5. That places the Kings against Chicago who had one of the worst goals against in the NHL that year. I can't imagine them beating the Kings.

So that pits the Kings against Montreal. Somehow I get the feeling that Montreal still wins but it is a tremendous story for Gretzky that year.

 

[IComeInPeace]

^^^
That's what it was.
A kicking motion or your foot directing the puck into the net at the time meant a disallowed goal.

I think it was probably 5-6 years later where the rule was changed to just a 'kicking motion'.

I also agree that it would have ended up LA vs Montreal.

I'm inclined to think it would be Montreal...but a younger Gretzky would have been closer to his prime...and you never know what could have happened.

The Canucks weren't good enough to go on and make any kind of run, unless all the stars aligned absolutely perfectly, and McLean stood on his head

 

[Big Phil]

^^^
That's what it was.
A kicking motion or your foot directing the puck into the net at the time meant a disallowed goal.

I think it was probably 5-6 years later where the rule was changed to just a 'kicking motion'.

I also agree that it would have ended up LA vs Montreal.

I'm inclined to think it would be Montreal...but a younger Gretzky would have been closer to his prime...and you never know what could have happened.

The Canucks weren't good enough to go on and make any kind of run, unless all the stars aligned absolutely perfectly, and McLean stood on his head

And that's the thing, I don't even think Otto had the chance to try and deflect it either. He was hoping for the pass and at the same time was fighting for space in front of the net while being pushed. Yeah, it was just one of those things in hockey that happens, it worked for the Flames though.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

89 Flames were such a great hockey team. Youth was needed back then, too.