1988 Stanley Cup Championship

Lore & Background

This was the last of four consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice. The series is remembered for the power failure during game four at Boston Garden, which caused that game to be suspended. The league decided to replay game four at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. Game four is also the final time Wayne Gretzky appeared in an Edmonton Oilers uniform, as he was traded to Los Angeles just prior to the next season, and the last Stanley Cup he would win as a player.

In Their Own Story

The air inside Northlands Coliseum was thick with anticipation, a palpable electric charge that seemed to vibrate through the wooden floorboards. It was Game 6, May 24, 1988. The Oilers needed one more win to claim their fourth banner in six years. On the ice, Wayne Gretzky skated with a calm focus, his stick sweeping across the boards as if conducting an orchestra. He received a pass from Jari Kurri, faked a shot that froze the Boston defender, and then, in a flash of vision, threaded a needle through traffic to Mark Messier. The crowd erupted before the puck even hit the net. As the final buzzer sounded, confetti rained down on the ice, mixing with the sweat and determination of a team that had just rewritten history once again.

Reader's Guide

The Oilers lost only two games in the playoffs, beating the Winnipeg Jets in five, sweeping the Calgary Flames, and beating the Detroit Red Wings in five to win the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl. The Bruins took six games to beat the Buffalo Sabres, five to beat the Montreal Canadiens, and seven to beat the New Jersey Devils for the Prince of Wales Trophy. In the Finals, the Oilers surrendered just nine goals in the four completed games. Ray Bourque was physical in defending against Gretzky, but Gretzky claimed his second Conn Smythe Trophy, setting playoff records with 31 assists in 18 games and 13 points in the Finals series. In the suspended game four, Glenn Anderson set a record for quickest goal from the start of a Finals game (ten seconds). Fog interfered, requiring stoppages. Craig Simpson tied the game at 3–3, then a power failure occurred before the ensuing face-off. NHL President John Ziegler Jr. announced the game was suspended. In the replayed game four in Edmonton, the Oilers won 6–3 to sweep the series.

Did You Know?

• Glenn Anderson's record for quickest goal from the start of a Finals game (ten seconds) was tied two years later by John Byce, playing for the Bruins against the Oilers.
• The 1988 Stanley Cup was presented to Oilers captain Wayne Gretzky by NHL President John Ziegler following the Oilers' 6–3 win in game four.
• This was the final year under ESPN's national three-year deal for U.S. broadcast rights; SportsChannel America took over the following season.
• In Canada, English-language rights were split between the Global-Canwest consortium and the CBC, with CBC airing game three and both the original and replayed game fours.