WFAN Best Sports Moments: #3 — Rangers Win Stanley Cup In 1994
Editor's Note: As part of WFAN's 30th anniversary celebration, from May 29-June 9, we asked you to vote on the best local sports moments overthe past 30 years. Over the course of two weeks, we are revealing the top-10 vote getters.
NEW YORK (WFAN) — It took 54 years, but the Rangers finally lifted the trophy of all trophies.
New York had puts its fans through the ringer for much of the previous five-plus decades, failing time after time to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1940.
But thanks to the adept work of general manager Neil Smith, the brilliance of head coach Mike Keenan and one clutch performance after another, the Rangers put all of their demons to bed with a Presidents Cup-winning regular season, followed by a playoff run for the ages in 1994.
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The Blueshirts started things off with a one-sided sweep of the rival Islanders in the first round and then a five-game triumph over the Washington Capitals in the second round. But things got dicey from there. The Rangers needed seven games, aided by a pair of Stephane Matteau double-overtime winners, to get by the Devils in the Eastern Conference finals.
Then, against the Vancouver Canucks in the Final, the Rangers let a 3-1 series lead get away, losing 6-3 in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden and 4-1 two days later at Pacific Coliseum.
Needless to say, tension was high when the teams met in Game 7 at the Garden, but Mark Messier's goal late in the second period was the difference in New York's 3-2 victory.
The Rangers have four Stanley Cup championships -- 1928, '33, '40 and '94.