Flames Bust Ghosts of Stanley Cups Past : McDonald Helps Club Become First Visitor to Win It on Canadiens’ Ice

As the capacity crowd of 17,909 stood and cheered Thursday night at the Montreal Forum, the Stanley Cup was held aloft and paraded around the ice by a throng of triumphant hockey players.

Triumphant Calgary Flames.

The Flames won their first Cup by beating the Montreal Canadiens, 4-2, becoming the first visiting team to win the Cup on Montreal ice.

So much for mystique and tradition and ghosts of hockey stars past. So much for the weight of the 23 Stanley Cup banners hanging from the rafters.

The Flames skated onto the ice with a vow: No seventh game. And they did it.

“There is no such thing as divine right in sports,” said Calgary President and General Manager Cliff Fletcher. “You have to earn it.”

The Flames earned it by beating the Vancouver Canucks, thanks to a superb goaltending performance from goalie Mike Vernon in the overtime of the seventh game; by sweeping the Kings; by beating the Chicago Blackhawks in five games, and by channeling their anger into energy after a double-overtime loss here in Game 3 to win the next three in a row.

Said Fletcher, who was with the team when they were the Atlanta Flames: “I hope our old fans down in Atlanta are enjoying this as much as the folks in Calgary.”

And he focused on the emotional favorite of the emotional victory when he said: “Lanny McDonald is the greatest thing that ever happened to this franchise. He’s been with us since the ‘82-’83 season when we had a poor hockey team. We were fighting for credibility, especially with that team up the road (the Edmonton Oilers, who have won four Stanley Cups). He gave us credibility for many years.

“To see him come through with that goal, and to see him carrying the Cup around . . . it was a fitting end to a great career.”

For three games of the final series, McDonald had been scratched by Coach Terry Crisp in favor of younger players.

But Crisp went back to his team captain. And the feisty 36-year-old with the brushy red mustache came through.

Only a few days ago, McDonald was refusing to complain about the possibility that he might finally get his name on a Stanley Cup after doing nothing more than watching the final series. He said then: “Being angry is for little kids. It’s one of those tests in life as you go along. Somewhere, there’s a silver lining. I’m waiting to see it behind that cloud.”

The silver lining came in the form of a Stanley Cup, which, McDonald said, he could carry over his head forever.

McDonald put the Flames ahead, 2-1, at 4:24 of the second period, skating in from the right wing while Joe Nieuwendyk and Hakan Loob passed the puck back and forth in their assault from the left side. When Canadien goaltender Patrick Roy moved over to face the challenge, Nieuwendyk passed the puck across to McDonald, who put it in the left side as Roy made his move.

“This is the most peaceful feeling I’ve ever experienced in hockey,” McDonald said. “I wish it were possible to describe to people outside how much hard work it takes for 25 guys to put it all together.

“I think you appreciate it all more after working at it for 16 years. This was so nice. I scored my first NHL goal in the Montreal Forum, and now, maybe my last. I don’t know.”

McDonald’s goal broke the tie created when the Canadiens scored on a weird bounce, with Calgary goalie Mike Vernon reaching up to block a shot that Claude Lemieux had fired from the blue line near the right boards. In his upward motion to block the puck, Vernon instead sent it over his shoulder. It dropped behind and and slowly trickled across the line as Vernon dived.

The only goal of the first period was scored by Calgary left winger Colin Patterson. It was his first goal in 13 games and it seemed to take Roy by surprise.

Al MacInnis had sent the puck to Dana Murzyn as the Flames headed toward the Montreal end. Murzyn tried to flip the puck into the zone, but Montreal defenseman Chris Chelios knocked it down. Patterson picked it up and skated slowly through the slot, apparently looking for someone to pass to when he shot it past Roy.

The goal came with 1 minute 9 seconds left in the period, but it was only Calgary’s third shot of the game.

Doug Gilmour, who had two goals for Calgary, scored his first at 11:02 of the final period, giving the Flames a 3-1 lead on a power play that resulted from Montreal’s Russ Courtnall flattening Vernon behind the net. Gilmour skated in on Roy and took a shot that Roy blocked, but Gilmour batted the rebound out of the air and between Roy’s knees, getting it through when Roy dropped to the ice.

Less than a minute later, Montreal defenseman Rick Green brought the crowd back into the game when he scored after Lemieux had decked Vernon in the crease.

The Flames closed ranks after that. Careful, patient defense paid off.

The only other goal was the one that Gilmour scored on the Canadiens’ open net with 1:03 left to play.

It was the goal that clinched the victory and started all of those tears of joy flowing on the Calgary bench.

Stanley Cup Notes

Calgary defenseman Al MacInnis, who won the Conn-Smythe Trophy for being the most valuable player of the playoffs, was the top scorer of the playoffs with seven goals and 23 assists. He stretched his playoff point streak to 17 games with his assist on the first goal of the game Thursday night. . . . The last team to win the Stanley Cup for the first time was Edmonton, Calgary’s archrival in the Smythe Division and Province of Alberta. Edmonton won its first Cup in 1984. Only 10 teams (including Calgary) in the NHL have won the Cup. . . . Calgary Coach Terry Crisp became the fifth to win the Stanley Cup as a player and as a coach. Crisp skated for the Philadelphia Flyers when they won it in 1974 and 1975.

Kings’ coaching search update: Owner Bruce McNall, having recently returned from Europe, says that he and General Manager Rogie Vachon will be going over the information gathered by Vachon from his interviews of the last two weeks and should be ready to announce a new coach next week. The front-runner continues to be Detroit assistant Colin Campbell. Talk of the possibility of hiring Pat Burns away from Montreal is dying out.

STANLEY CUP FINALS SERIES AT A GLANCE

CANADIENS vs. FLAMES

FLAMES WIN SERIES, 4-2

RESULTS

Game 1 Flames 3, Canadiens 2 Game 2 Canadiens 4, Flames 2 Game 3 Canadiens 4, Flames 3 (2 OT) Game 4 Flames 4, Canadiens 2 Game 5 Flames 3, Canadiens 2 Game 6 Flames 4, Canadiens 2