1990 Stanley Cup Finals


The 1990 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's 1989–90 season, and the culmination of the 1990 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Edmonton Oilers and the Boston Bruins; the Oilers won, four games to one. The series was a rematch of the 1988 Finals, albeit with the notable absence of Wayne Gretzky who was traded from Edmonton to the Los Angeles Kings during the 1988 off-season. For the Oilers, it was their fifth Cup win in seven years, and the team's only championship after trading Gretzky. This would be the last of eight consecutive Finals contested by a team from Alberta.

Paths to the Finals

Boston defeated the Hartford Whalers 4–3, the Montreal Canadiens 4–1 and the Washington Capitals 4–0 to advance to the Final.
Edmonton defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4–3, the Los Angeles Kings 4–0 and the Chicago Blackhawks 4–2.

Game summaries

In game one, Petr Klima scored at 15:13 of the third overtime period to give the Oilers a 3–2 win; this game remains the longest in Stanley Cup Finals history, edging both Brett Hull's Cup-winner in and Igor Larionov's game-winner in by less than 30 seconds.
Though the Oilers ultimately won the series in five games, it was the Bruins who dominated play during the early part of the series. The Bruins had more chances to win the opener, and at one point had a 15-4 shot advantage in game two before the Oilers came back.
In game five at the Boston Garden on May 24, the Oilers won 4–1, the first time they had ever clinched the Cup on the road. Edmonton won all three Finals games played at Boston Garden - in each their previous Finals wins, the Oilers only won one game away from Northlands Coliseum. Craig Simpson scored the game-winning goal. Oilers goaltender Bill Ranford, originally the backup who took over from Grant Fuhr for the remainder of the regular season and the entire playoffs, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Mark Messier won his first Stanley Cup as a team captain, and his fifth overall. He would win his sixth Stanley Cup as the captain with the New York Rangers four years later, and scored the Cup-winning goal, making him the only player to captain two different Cup-winning teams.
Ray Bourque would not reach the Stanley Cup Finals again until the Colorado Avalanche won in. As for the Bruins, they would not return to the Stanley Cup Finals until their championship season of. The Oilers did not reach the Finals again until, losing in seven games.

Boston Bruins vs. Edmonton Oilers

Team rosters

Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.

Boston Bruins

Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers – 1990 Stanley Cup champions

Stanley Cup engravings

Neither player qualified for engravement on the Cup, but both players received Stanley Cup rings. Ruzicka was also included on the team winning picture.
In Canada, the series was televised on the CBC.
In the United States, the series aired nationally on SportsChannel America. However, SportsChannel America's national coverage was blacked out in the Boston area due to the local rights to Bruins games in that TV market. NESN televised games one, two, and five in the Boston area while WSBK had games three and four.