EDMONTON - The 1983 Stanley Cup finals were a lesson in humility for the Edmonton Oilers. After scoring goals at a breathtaking clip in a regular season which saw them tie for the best record in the NHL, the Oilers advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time that spring. Their opponents were the aging three-time defending champion New York Islanders.
In that series, the old guard taught the new kids on the block what it took to be a champion. Agressively checking the much faster Oilers, the Islanders stuck to a game plan of forcing Edmonton to take long shots, allowing goalie Billy Smith to carry them. The result was a stunning four-game sweep that made the Islanders just the second franchise in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup four straight years.
The next year saw a rematch, with the Oilers - now a year older and more experienced - trying to knock off the Islanders - also a year older, but on the wrong end of the career spectrum. In the regular season, the Oilers and Islanders finished 1-2 in the league in scoring, but Edmonton scored a stunning 83 more goals than the Islanders, finishing a full goal a game ahead of the second-place team. There was some surprise, then, when the Oilers eked out a 1-0 win in Game 1 behind the stellar play of goalie Grant Fuhr.
The Game 2 loss didn't temper the hopes of the Oilers. The NHL had switched the format of the finals for this season, meaning that Edmonton would have three straight home games. If they could hold serve at home, they wouldn't have to go back to Long Island.
With Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, among others, in the primes of their careers, the rest of the series turned into a laugher. A pair of 7-2 wins put the Oilers on the cusp of the championship. Game 5 was May 19, and the Oilers started to make that one look easy, too, taking a 4-0 lead after two periods. But the Islanders showed they wouldn't go easily, scoring two quick goals to cut the lead in half. The Oilers dug in from there, getting an empty-net goal to seal their first Stanley Cup.
Game 5 marked a transition for the NHL. The Islanders, representing the tough-as-nails style of hockey, were done, while the high-flying Oilers became the dominant team. With a lineup full of Hall of Famers, Edmonton would win the Cup five times in seven years, in the process becoming, to date, the last true NHL dynasty.
HONORABLE MENTION
May 19, 1973: BALTIMORE - The move was so sudden, so breathtaking in its swiftness, that there was hardly any time to comprehend it. As the six horses crossed the finish line for the first time, Kentucky Derby winner Secretariat was in last. Twenty seconds later, he was in first. He had passed five horses on the far outside while navigating one of the toughest, tightest turns in horse racing. When he nosed in front at the top of the backstretch, the race was already over. Nobody was catching him.
Secretariat's pass seems even more impressive in this isolation shot of Secretariat. Note that during his move from last to first, his jockey was actually trying to hold him back.
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