The Minnesota North Stars 1990-91
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They definitely overachieved come playoff time. Everything aligned for them and they went on a miracle run. Chicago and St.Louis were unquestionably the class of the division, so to speak.
They had actually won only 4 of their first 23 games. They struggled mightily on the road, winning only 8 games all season. Imagine the betting lines at that point for them to make it to the Cup finals?
On the surface, the Stars had some decent offensive talent led by Brian Bellows, Dave Gagner, Mike Modano, Brian Propp, Neal Broten, Ulf Dahlen and a veteran Bobby Smith. Mark Tinordi was unquestionably the leader on the backend. Jon Casey and Brian Hayward were a solid tandem in goal.
I suppose on paper you could argue they actually underachieved in the regular season, but nobody thought they were good enough to make a run at the Cup. Knocking off Chicago and St. Louis in the first 2 rounds were massive upsets and said just as much about those teams as it did about Minnesota. The North Stars wanted it more. It was a true cinderella run and they were dubbed “Miracle Minny.” Of course they were no match for the Pens, who were a team of destiny.
They had actually won only 4 of their first 23 games. They struggled mightily on the road, winning only 8 games all season. Imagine the betting lines at that point for them to make it to the Cup finals?
On the surface, the Stars had some decent offensive talent led by Brian Bellows, Dave Gagner, Mike Modano, Brian Propp, Neal Broten, Ulf Dahlen and a veteran Bobby Smith. Mark Tinordi was unquestionably the leader on the backend. Jon Casey and Brian Hayward were a solid tandem in goal.
I suppose on paper you could argue they actually underachieved in the regular season, but nobody thought they were good enough to make a run at the Cup. Knocking off Chicago and St. Louis in the first 2 rounds were massive upsets and said just as much about those teams as it did about Minnesota. The North Stars wanted it more. It was a true cinderella run and they were dubbed “Miracle Minny.” Of course they were no match for the Pens, who were a team of destiny.
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Here is the thing.
Wild is a good name for a hockey team.
But it's an injustice that this name doesn't exist anymore.
Almost as bad as the fact that Whalers (and their symbol) doesn't exist.
Wild is a good name for a hockey team.
But it's an injustice that this name doesn't exist anymore.
Almost as bad as the fact that Whalers (and their symbol) doesn't exist.
GMR
Registered User
I understand the Whalers are gone because Hartford doesn't have a team anymore.
However, I wish somehow the Wild could change their logo and name to the North Stars. I doubt the fans in Minnesota would be upset. Would anyone involved with the Dallas Stars care? Would their fanbase care?
vadim sharifijanov
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the last time i was in the minneapolis airport, back when we could still fly across the border easily, in the gift shop between terminals there was a whole shelf of north stars pucks and not a single wild puck.
as for the '91 north stars, i think in the playoffs a team with really good and extremely playoff-seasoned forward depth had its PP and goalie catch holy fire, plus mark tinordi turning into scott stevens.
i'm not sure what happened in the blackhawks series. my guess is the team was just exhausted from keenan riding them to the presidents trophy and ran out of gas?
round two, i remember. gainey unleashed his checking line of gaetan duchesne and stew gavin, with i think bobby smith centering them, on hull and oates and st louis just didn't have the depth to do anything else, having just traded an entire scoring line to vancouver for garth butcher and dan quinn. in the end, two ex-canucks, neither of which were dan quinn, co-led the blues in ES goals with two each (butcher and rich sutter). hull and oates each had one ESG.
that said, they did still underachieve in the regular season, even if they also overachieved in the playoffs. i think the big reason was a coaching change from pierre page to bob gainey. this SI article sheds some light —
Taking their example from behind the bench, the North Stars presented a more unified front. Gainey will talk privately to players who err, or send a nonverbal message—like holding them out of a game for one period. His methods are in distinct contrast to those of his predecessor, Pierre Page, now the general manager of the Quebec Nordiques. Some North Stars say it was not uncommon for Page to unload on players. "You stunk out there tonight," he once screamed at his goaltender. "You let the whole team down!"
If a guy has stunk up the ice and let his teammates down, Gainey figures, he'll probably be down in the dumps without prompting from a coach. "We're less likely now to get tight and make another mistake," says center Neal Broten. "Pierre had guys so nervous they'd squeeze the sap out of their sticks."
[...]
The new-look North Stars won just 11 games from October through December. "We were a good team—on paper," says Minnesota center Dave Gagner. "It just took time for Bob to get to know our strengths." Fortunately for the Stars, the six-month regular season allows plenty of time for fine-tuning.
[...]
The period of losing ugly ended in mid-November, giving way to a stretch of close games, most of which Minnesota lost. Throughout, Gainey remained resolutely upbeat. The tinkering continued.
In mid-January, a funny thing happened: The North Stars started winning. From Jan. 17 to March 17, Minnesota went on a 14-6-6 surge that ensured them both a spot in the playoffs and a near-doubling (from 3,500 this season to 5,800 next season) of their season-ticket base. "Now," says Forciea, "a chimpanzee could do my job."
As the North Stars speed through the playoffs, pinching themselves, none will admit the seemingly obvious: They are playing over their heads. Logic insists that midnight is nigh for the Cinderfellas, that against the defending champion Edmonton Oilers in the Campbell Conference finals, which begin Thursday, Minnesota's carriage will become a pumpkin.
Then again, the Cinderfellas may live happily ever after.
Star Struck
If a guy has stunk up the ice and let his teammates down, Gainey figures, he'll probably be down in the dumps without prompting from a coach. "We're less likely now to get tight and make another mistake," says center Neal Broten. "Pierre had guys so nervous they'd squeeze the sap out of their sticks."
[...]
The new-look North Stars won just 11 games from October through December. "We were a good team—on paper," says Minnesota center Dave Gagner. "It just took time for Bob to get to know our strengths." Fortunately for the Stars, the six-month regular season allows plenty of time for fine-tuning.
[...]
The period of losing ugly ended in mid-November, giving way to a stretch of close games, most of which Minnesota lost. Throughout, Gainey remained resolutely upbeat. The tinkering continued.
In mid-January, a funny thing happened: The North Stars started winning. From Jan. 17 to March 17, Minnesota went on a 14-6-6 surge that ensured them both a spot in the playoffs and a near-doubling (from 3,500 this season to 5,800 next season) of their season-ticket base. "Now," says Forciea, "a chimpanzee could do my job."
As the North Stars speed through the playoffs, pinching themselves, none will admit the seemingly obvious: They are playing over their heads. Logic insists that midnight is nigh for the Cinderfellas, that against the defending champion Edmonton Oilers in the Campbell Conference finals, which begin Thursday, Minnesota's carriage will become a pumpkin.
Then again, the Cinderfellas may live happily ever after.
Star Struck
vadim sharifijanov
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tbh, i think the stars organization would care. just being that north stars would inevitably be shorthanded to stars by fans, commentators, announcers, and so on, i feel like the dallas org would see that as stepping on their trademark.
which is too bad because i love a good roughriders vs rough riders dynamic.
GMR
Registered User
I can see that.
Although, Dallas has butchered their jerseys and logo so much over the years, that it's hard to believe they give two craps about their fans or trademark. I mean the mooterus was better than some of their modern designs.
frisco
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame...
15 PPG vs. Chicago in the first round. I remember one game it looked like Dave Manson was trying to set the record for cross-checking penalties. 10 vs. St.Louis round two. 7 against the Oilers then Pittsburgh held them to just 3 while scoring 3 SHG of their own.
My Best-Carey
My Best-Carey
vadim sharifijanov
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i just googled mooterus. that's a very apt name for that thing
What's also wild about 91 is that in the conference finals, Edmonton was the WORST team they faced record-wise. 1-2 overall CHI/STL, PIT with a winning record, and a .500 Oilers team that basically made it that far on muscle memory and knowing that they knew how to win squeezing the last remaining drops out of their dynasty.
Outside of Habs/Flyers 2010, it's the only time the last 30 years a conference final matched teams not above .500'
Blackhawks, Blues, Flames, Kings, all over 100 points....... and NONE of those teams made the Campbell Finals while a .500 Oiler team had home-ice
Outside of Habs/Flyers 2010, it's the only time the last 30 years a conference final matched teams not above .500'
Blackhawks, Blues, Flames, Kings, all over 100 points....... and NONE of those teams made the Campbell Finals while a .500 Oiler team had home-ice
The Panther
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North Stars hit rock bottom in 1987-88 (last overall), drafted Modano, then cleaned house to get Gainey in to run things. With Gainey in charge, defense rules.
In a way, the 1990-91 club was sort of a harbinger of the coming NHL: make defense a priority, and hope the PP wins you your share of games.
Probably for most of the regular season, they were struggling to find that right balance and team identity, and then it all clicked in the playoffs. Their power play was, like, historically great in that playoff run, for reasons I still can't explain.
In a way, the 1990-91 club was sort of a harbinger of the coming NHL: make defense a priority, and hope the PP wins you your share of games.
Probably for most of the regular season, they were struggling to find that right balance and team identity, and then it all clicked in the playoffs. Their power play was, like, historically great in that playoff run, for reasons I still can't explain.
Dissonance Jr
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One big reason Minnesota upset Chicago that year is that the Blackhawks under Mike Keenan were an incredibly hotheaded, undisciplined team that took loads of bad penalties.
Chicago was already shorthanded more often than anyone else in the regular season and then they gave the North Stars *54 power play opportunities* in that first round series (Minnesota ended up scoring a then-record-tying 15 power play goals). Bob Gainey apparently told all his tough guys like Tinordi and Churla to rein it in and let Chicago's big penalty guys — Chelios, Manson, Peluso, Presley — act like idiots. And it worked!
This is a good recap of all the mayhem in that series: the big shoving match during warmups of Game 4, Chelios gouging Bellows in the eye, Mike Keenan completely losing his mind and getting delay of game penalties, etc.
It's funny because nowadays, fans are so used to heaping scorn on players who take bad penalties at key moments. But I don't think Chris Chelios got a ton of blame for that series, even though there he is, sitting in the penalty box when Minnesota scores the game-winning PP goal in Game 4, or taking a dumb slashing penalty in Game 5 to put Minnesota on a 5-on-3 (the Stars scored to put the game out of reach), etc. Different era, I guess.
Chicago was already shorthanded more often than anyone else in the regular season and then they gave the North Stars *54 power play opportunities* in that first round series (Minnesota ended up scoring a then-record-tying 15 power play goals). Bob Gainey apparently told all his tough guys like Tinordi and Churla to rein it in and let Chicago's big penalty guys — Chelios, Manson, Peluso, Presley — act like idiots. And it worked!
This is a good recap of all the mayhem in that series: the big shoving match during warmups of Game 4, Chelios gouging Bellows in the eye, Mike Keenan completely losing his mind and getting delay of game penalties, etc.
It's funny because nowadays, fans are so used to heaping scorn on players who take bad penalties at key moments. But I don't think Chris Chelios got a ton of blame for that series, even though there he is, sitting in the penalty box when Minnesota scores the game-winning PP goal in Game 4, or taking a dumb slashing penalty in Game 5 to put Minnesota on a 5-on-3 (the Stars scored to put the game out of reach), etc. Different era, I guess.
The Panther
Registered User
Just watching these highlights from game one:
The play-by-play guy says (I think, after the 2nd) that the Stars weren't able to take advantage of all the power-plays Chicago was giving them. The North Stars actually scored two PP goals early in the 1st, but in the 2nd period they had 8 full minutes on the PP and couldn't score. So, I dunno, but maybe Chicago started to feel like they could afford to get away with taking penalties.
In overtime, Keith Brown took a double-minor high-sticking penalty, and Brian Propp scored for Minnesota 34 seconds into the PP -- Minny's 3rd PP goal of the game.
The North Stars would eventually score 11 PP goals in the four games they won.
The play-by-play guy says (I think, after the 2nd) that the Stars weren't able to take advantage of all the power-plays Chicago was giving them. The North Stars actually scored two PP goals early in the 1st, but in the 2nd period they had 8 full minutes on the PP and couldn't score. So, I dunno, but maybe Chicago started to feel like they could afford to get away with taking penalties.
In overtime, Keith Brown took a double-minor high-sticking penalty, and Brian Propp scored for Minnesota 34 seconds into the PP -- Minny's 3rd PP goal of the game.
The North Stars would eventually score 11 PP goals in the four games they won.
Dissonance Jr
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Good point. Even though the Blackhawks were shorthanded more often than anyone else in the regular season, they had the second-best PK and were by far the best defensive team in the league that year, so it wouldn't be shocking if they just assumed that taking a bunch of penalties wouldn't hurt them too much. But man, giving up 54 power plays in 6 games... that's going to catch up with you.
(That said, worth giving credit to Minnesota here — they converted on 27% of their PP chances, which was just exceptional. Everything was clearly clicking for them.)
vadim sharifijanov
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maybe this is a silly thing to say about a team that had dave manson, mike peluso, stu grimson, and warren rychel all playing regular shifts, but maybe keenan expected the refs to swallow their whistles in the playoffs and it didn't happen?
as for chelios,
from what i'm seeing in the game logs, most of his antics were during garbage time.
for ex, this is game 4, down 3-0 at the end of the second, belfour had already been pulled, keenan is icing a line of FFFFFing peluso and grimson centered by mike hudson (nb, hasek before his rookie year... also nb, manson wants so badly to hop the boards)
i guess my other hypothesis is during garbage time keenan wanted to demoralize the north stars by gooning it up, but minnesota wouldn't back down and the series was won on the blackhawks losing their intimidation edge. also worth noting, the previous year, in chicago's run to the conference finals, a much less deep minnesota team took them to game seven in the first round in what looks to have been a fairly violent series.
here is rookie modano, then supposedly a soft pretty boy player, clocking duane sutter—
Jinsell
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The team had a new owner (Norm Green), a new general manager (Bob Clarke), and a new coach (Bob Gainey), so much of the 1990-91 season was spent adjusting to all of the changes after two years of relative stability and on-ice improvement under GM Jack Ferreira and coach Pierre Page in 1988-89 and 1989-90. It didn't help that the North Stars started their season having to play exhibition games in the Soviet Union. Nor did it help that the Norris Division was vastly improved after being a joke for so long during the 1980s. Chicago and St. Louis had emerged as contenders while Detroit was slowly beginning to put together the powerhouse club that would dominate the mid-to-late 90s. The Ballard era was over in Toronto but on-ice improvement for the Leafs was still a couple years away.
A lot of NHL season previews for 1990-91 had the North Stars pegged to compete with the Quebec Nordiques in the Eric Lindros sweepstakes. I think most pundits figured that all of the off-ice turmoil over possibly leaving Minnesota during the latter half of the 1989-90 season and all of the front office changes in the offseason would manifest itself in a slow start from which the Stars would never recover. To some degree these predictions were well-founded as Minnesota got off to a rough start, going 4-12-4 in the first quarter of the season. Despite the dismal start, the team was actually firmly in fourth place (and playoff contention) in the Norris Division throughout the season simply because Toronto was so much worse than they were. 1989-90 had been an entertaining season for the Leafs in that they led the NHL in goals for (337) and were able to finish third in the Norris, making the playoffs with an exact .500 record (38-38-4). Of course, the kind of hockey they played (358 goals against) wasn't conducive to winning in the playoffs, so it wasn't surprising when they were eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in five games. In 1990-91, however, the goals for dried up (241) while the goals against remained (318), so what you had was a division cellar dweller that would pretty much ensure that there would be playoff hockey in Minnesota.
While many experts were down on the North Stars, in truth the team was a lot better than their record indicated. Mike Modano was only in his second season and he was already showing glimpses of what would later become. Brian Bellows and Dave Gagner were both in their primes and led the Stars' offense. Minnesota also had a nice mix of veteran leadership in Neal Broten, Brian Propp, and Bobby Smith (the latter two being signed and traded for respectively in the offseason). Their weakest area may have been on defense. Not because it was bad per se, but simply because it was inexperienced. Outside of Larry Murphy and Curt Giles, the North Stars' blue line was relatively green with the likes of Shawn Chambers, Neil Wilkinson, Brian Glynn, and Rob Zettler getting a fair bit of ice time. That said, Mark Tinordi was also in that mix and he was becoming a force to be reckoned with (Seriously, for a couple years there he was looking like Scott Stevens 2.0 until injuries slowed him down). Furthermore, Jon Casey was considered one of the NHL's better goaltenders at the time because he was a workhorse, playing 55-60 games while having respectable numbers and a winning record.
As the season wore on, Minnesota slowly got better. A December trade that sent Larry Murphy and Peter Taglianetti to Pittsburgh for Jim Johnson and Chris Dahlquist brought more experience to the blue line. While Johnson and Dahlquist seemed to help stabilize the defense, it came at the expense of future HHOF Larry Murphy (something the Stars may have later regretted when the Cup Finals rolled around). In the absence of Murphy, Tinordi stepped up as the team's offensive defenseman and did well, so the loss wasn't felt immediately at first. After the All Star Break, the Stars quietly became one of the hottest teams in the league going 14-6-6. Going into the playoffs, though, they had only won one of the last six games, so no one was expecting them to put up much of a fight against the best team during the regular season the Chicago Blackhawks.
Others have explained their playoff run, so I won't elaborate on it much other than to say that pretty much every team that faced Minnesota didn't take them seriously.
Chicago played stupid, undisciplined Mike Keenan-esque hockey trying to intimidate the North Stars. It backfired completely as tough guys like Basil McRae, Shane Churla, and Mark Tinordi turned the other cheek and allowed the Stars' red hot power play do the fighting for them. Neal Broten had a hell of a series and Jon Casey played far better than the Calder/Vezina winning Ed Belfour and the then realtively unknown Dominik Hasek.
The St. Louis Blues also took Minnesota lightly. In fact, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch brazenly declared that the Blues had a clear shot at the Cup thanks to the North Stars doing them a favour and ousting the Blackhawks. Be careful what you wish for. Brett Hull's goal scoring was nowhere near as potent when Gainey had Stewart Gavin and Gaetan Duchesne effectively shadow him. Casey also outclassed Vincent Riendeau and Pat Jablonski between the pipes.
Even the defending Stanley Cup Champion Edmonton Oilers didn't take the North Stars seriously and that series ended very quickly. The Oilers were left to ponder their future and wonder why they didn't play like the North Stars any more.
It can even be argued that the Pittsburgh Penguins (who had never won anything before and had actually missed the playoffs the year prior), took Minnesota lightly. It wasn't until they were down 2-1 in the series and Mario Lemieux's presence in the series came into question that the Penguins started to wake up. With a driven Lemieux leading the way, the Pens won the next three games and the Cup. Outside of an 8-0 blowout in the clinching Game 6, though, it was by no means easy for them. The North Stars put up valiant efforts to come back in Games 4 and 5 after falling behind early. By this time, however, their once hot power play had gone cold and their frustrations manifested itself in taking too many penalties just as the Hawks, Blues, and Oilers had against them.
Overall, it was one entertaining run to the Cup and really the last great moment for the Minnesota North Stars.
The Panther
Registered User
Great write-up! (I wish more people made posts like this...) Couple points:
-- I'm not sure it's fair to say that the Oilers didn't take the North Stars seriously. Edmonton was only a .500 team that season and was having trouble scoring for the first time ever. In their three games vs. Minnesota that regular season (all occurring late in the season), they hadn't won a game and had been outscored 11-3. The problem the Oilers had in the playoff series was simply being gassed. They had a lot of older core players, with a lot of mileage, and Messier was banged up and not effective. They'd just gone through two series against their two arch-rivals (Calgary and L.A.), both way ahead of them in the standings, and they'd defeated both but it had taken 13 games, including six overtimes, to get to the Conference series. After playing every second day for two rounds, they had only three days off to prepare for the North Stars. In the end, three of the five games were either won by Edmonton or were close, but the two other ones, in Minny, were blowouts for the North Stars. If Messier had been on 1989-90 or 1991-92 form, though, I think this series would have been closer.
-- I'm glad you reminded us that, in the Cup Finals vs. Pittsburgh, Minnesota actually had a 2-1 series lead! I don't know the exact stats, but I'm guessing teams in that position historically win about 70% of Cups. We all remember the 8-0 Pittsburgh blow-out at the end, but previous to that the Pens had a goals-advantage of only 19 to 16 (not counting an empty netter) through five pretty close games.
Must have been hard for Bob Gainey to see Larry Murphy play so well for Pittsburgh. Murphy had 10 points (+6) in the Finals.
Man, the 1990-91 season... As we say in Japan, natsukashii.... I feel like with the Oilers' Dynasty breathing its last (before Messier, Anderson, Kurri, Muckler et al. left that summer), with it being Gretzky's last superhuman season, and it being just before players like Lidstrom and Bure arrived, as well as being the last season of the 21-team League, 1990-91 was the end of an era.
GMR
Registered User
Good read. The Murphy trade was stupid. He may have been underperforming, but they gave up too soon. He had his best playoff that spring. What was so special about Dahlquist and Johnson?
Big Phil
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I can never understand how this team only had 68 points. Sort of reminds me a bit of the 1982 Kings. Okay, not an all-time team but 63 points with the Triple Crown line (Simmer had a lot of injuries that year though) a rookie in Larry Murphy and a youngster in Bernie Nicholls? Either way, the Northstars in 1991 had a pretty good team on paper.
Gagner, Bellows, Propp, Modano, Smith, Broten.
That's a very good top 6 right there. Even though not everyone was at the same point in their careers that is probably as good as Bellows was and Modano was stepping up and you had grisled vets like Propp, Broten and Smith. Gagner has his best year in 1991 as well.
Casey was an okay goalie, but the defense once they foolishly traded Larry Murphy for spare parts mid-season was sketchy.
5 guys with at least 20 playoff points. They scored a ton in the postseason. I always thought their opening round win against Chicago was the thing that triggered Belfour's choking label in the 1990s (he did make up for it later on of course).
Gagner, Bellows, Propp, Modano, Smith, Broten.
That's a very good top 6 right there. Even though not everyone was at the same point in their careers that is probably as good as Bellows was and Modano was stepping up and you had grisled vets like Propp, Broten and Smith. Gagner has his best year in 1991 as well.
Casey was an okay goalie, but the defense once they foolishly traded Larry Murphy for spare parts mid-season was sketchy.
5 guys with at least 20 playoff points. They scored a ton in the postseason. I always thought their opening round win against Chicago was the thing that triggered Belfour's choking label in the 1990s (he did make up for it later on of course).
vadim sharifijanov
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thanks for the inside perspective.
i've made this observation before, and iirc gotten into trouble from hurricanes fans for it, but if casey had stayed hot in the last three games of the '91 finals, i really don't see much to choose between the '91 north stars and '06 hurricanes.
bellows broten dahlen/craig
propp gagner modano
duchesne smith gavin
mcrae bureau churla
cole/cullen staal recchi
stillman brind'amour williams
whitney weight ladd
adams adams larose
then
tinordi wilkinson
chambers glynn
dahlquist giles/johnson
hedican commodore
kaberle ward
wesley wallin
and finally
casey
ward
that's eerily similar right? minnesota had their brind'amour on defence (tinordi), but otherwise, both teams were powered by ridiculously hot powerplays and once-in-a-career goaltending performances, both had entirely anonymous defences (tinordi notwithstanding), both had their young power forward injured for a lot of the run, and both had their all time franchise games played leader on his last legs to play for.
carolina added stillman and whitney in the offseason, and recchi and weight at the deadline to turn a laughable offence the year before into a really deep group; the north stars did the same with propp and smith in the offseason and young marc bureau at the deadline.
MadArcand
Whaletarded
No, as I said back then and as I say now, this not at all an apt comparison. Ward & Casey, or the defenses, maybe. But for almost every position among forwards, the Canes' player is much better than the North Stars' counterpart (save Modano vs. Williams and Bellows vs. Cole. Maybe old Propp can be considered equal to Stillman if we stretch it a bit), in most cases absurdly so (Staal vs. Broten, Brind'Amour vs. Gagner, Recchi vs. Dahlen (let alone worst NHL player ever Craig), all bottom 6 wingers).
This is what I remember about the team. Gainey and the way Gainey did things. They played a simple d-first style. Tried to win a lot of games 1-0. It was really strange to watch at the time. Little did I know...
vadim sharifijanov
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i think you’re either underrating the stars forwards or overrating the canes ones. this is how i see a side by side comp:
brind’amour — tinordi
staal — bellows (a year removed from 55 goals, 2nd team all-star)
stillman — gagner (back to back 40 goal years)
j will — young modano
whitney — late prime broten (still a 1c on a cup winner four years later)
recchi — propp (73 pt rs/point per game playoffs)
weight — smith (16 pt last hurrah, top 25 all time scorer in the playoffs, higher than every cane including recchi)
cullen — best comp is probably stew gavin playing out of his mind and finishing one pt behind modano for team lead in es scoring
then slide gaetan duchesne playing lockdown d to defence to offset the tinordi:RBA comp
not only was that north stars forward core overachieving wildly, they also had so much big game experience and playoff knowhow in smith and propp, who both turned back time in that run.
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MadArcand
Whaletarded
That of course ignores the elephant in the room, namely that one team was 3rd overall with 112 points, and the other 16th overall with 68 points...
Also, adjusted points:
Staal 98
Williams 74
Stillman 74
Gagner 73
Brind'Amour 68
Bellows 66
Propp 65
Recchi 63
Broten 62
Cole 58
Modano 57
Weight 56
Whitney 53
Cullen 48
Smith 40
Dahlen 35
K. Adams 23
C. Adams 21
Smail 20
Duchesne 16
Berezan 15
Larose 12
Craig 11
Gavin 8
CAR total: 648
MNS total: 468
Mere 38% edge for Canes forward group. So similar.
Also, adjusted points:
Staal 98
Williams 74
Stillman 74
Gagner 73
Brind'Amour 68
Bellows 66
Propp 65
Recchi 63
Broten 62
Cole 58
Modano 57
Weight 56
Whitney 53
Cullen 48
Smith 40
Dahlen 35
K. Adams 23
C. Adams 21
Smail 20
Duchesne 16
Berezan 15
Larose 12
Craig 11
Gavin 8
CAR total: 648
MNS total: 468
Mere 38% edge for Canes forward group. So similar.
