Who's the greatest unsung hero in Stanley Cup history?

 

                Over the past few seasons we've been exposed to a couple of playoff performances for the ages, and when we see this it takes us back 20+ years where it was a common occurrence.

                Today you’ll learn of a few names and you’ll be asking yourself who and the hell is that, other players we’ll look at you’ll say to yourself its to be expected.

                This discussion comes about after Tuesday night ‘s effort by Boston Bruins rookie Tyler Seguin, who had two goals and two assists in the second period of game two conference finals. It’s a NHL record for a rookie to get 4 points in one period, the last rookie to get four points in one game was Vancouver Canucks great Trevor Linden in the 1989 season. To say this is Seguin’s coming out party is an understatement, he struggled during  the regular season but has six points in his first two playoff games.

                The best overall performance by a rookie was in 1971 when little known Ken Dryden took control of the Montreal Canadiens crease, leading them to a Stanley Cup victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

                In the 2010 playoffs, Johan Franzen’s Detroit Red Wings backs were against the wall, being down 3-0 going into game for versus the San Jose Sharks.  “The Mule” took the bull by the horns, in the first period along Franzen had three goals and one assist, the hat trick (goals 3 mins 26 secs apart)  was two seconds shy of an NHL record. When it was all said and done he got his four goal early in the second period leading the Wings to a 7-1 win.

                Sweden’s Patrick Sundstrom was an unappreciated talent during the 1980’s. Surprising to some Sundstrom had 588 points in 679 NHL games, played with the New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks. Sundstrom made a name for himself in the Devils improbable run to the conference finals in 1988. It was April 22, 1988 game three between the Devils and the Washington Capitals, Sundstrom was a one man wrecking crew, scoring three goals and five assists in a 10-4 win. Sundstrom’s limelight  was stolen by  Jim Schonfeld (Caps coach) and referee Don Koharski who had an historic confrontation after the game.  That effort by Sundstrom is the single most points in one game in the playoffs, tied with Mario Lemieux.

                In 1985 the Edmonton Oilers were in the middle of their hay-days. Shockingly the Oilers were not overly loaded unlike teams nowadays. What I mean by that is their third and fourth lines were not gifted with speed and skill. Their first two lines however were the deepest in NHL history. In the 85 playoff run, they put up some utterly insane numbers. As a team Edmonton went 15-3 in the playoffs, on their way to a Stanley Cup Championship.   During the 85 playoffs, they had six players that averaged more than a point a game, led of course by Wayne Gretzky and his 17 goals and 47 assists. Then there was Paul Coffey 12 goals 37 points and Jari Kurri had 19 goals and 31 points.

                Arguably best individual ever performance ever was Patrick Roy in 1993. The Habs were the underdogs versus the Quebec Nordiques in round one, but when the finals came around featuring the Habs and Kings, Montreal was a big time favorites, because of Roy’s outstanding performance 16-4 with a 2.16 GAA, .929 SP%.

                The 1994 New York Rangers had everything, they had the ultimate core captain Mark Messier, power forward Adam Graves, the defense led by Brian Leetch and Jeff Beukeboom, and the goaltending from Mike Richter. Then on top of that they had an unreal supporting cast in Steve Larmer, Craig Mactavish, Stephane Matteau, Brian Noonan and Esa Tikkanen. They to this day could be considered one of the most complete teams ever in history. 

Unsung Hero’s

                After Gretzky was traded to the LA Kings, I became a Kings fan. I remember fondly the 1989 playoff run for them, and 1 specific player. Chris Kontos during the regular season had one goal in seven games, in 11 playoff games he managed to score nine goals. Kontos was the third leading point getter that year, topping Steve Dushene and Luc Robatille. Kontos went onto play 5 more playoff games in his career scoring one goal.

               This year Sean Bergenheim has been an unsung hero thus far for the Tampa Bay Lightning, as he currently leads the playoffs in goals scored. In 13 playoff games this year, the former NY Islander has eight goals and 2 assists, compared to his 14 regular season goals in 80 games this year.

            In 2007 the Anaheim Ducks had one of the best ever checking lines in Stanley Cup Playoff History. Samuel Pahlsson centered Travis Moen and Rob Nidermayer, that line often outscored the number one lines that they checked against. They were the key component to the Ducks winning the Cup.

            Same can be said for the 1995 New Jersey Devils, you cannot find a more complete fourth line than Bobby Holik, Randy Mckay and Mike Peluso. That line scored 13 goals in the Stanley Cup win, eight of those goals coming from Randy Mckay. That stat of 13 goals by a fourth line can never and will never be matched again.

                Did we go over everyone? Of course not, but every team that wins the Cup needs an unsung hero.