Ranford’s Success Is a Long Time Coming : Stanley Cup: Edmonton goalie, buried in the minor leagues by Boston, gains retribution against Bruins.

Edmonton Oiler goalie Bill Ranford smiled and shook his head when asked if he had considered coming off the ice at any point in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals.

No way. Never mind that he played nearly six periods--115 minutes 13 seconds, a record for the finals--and faced 52 Boston Bruin shots. Ranford wasn’t going to give up a second after the wait he had endured to get on the Boston Garden ice.

Seven years, to be exact.

The irony of this best-of-seven finals, which resumes tonight at the Northlands Coliseum with Edmonton leading, 2-0, is that it has come down to the goaltending. Because the situation could easily be reversed.

Two years ago, Boston goalie Andy Moog was an Oiler and Ranford was a Bruin.

At least in name.

But after 45 games with Boston in two seasons following three seasons in the minors, Ranford was sent back down.

He later admitted he felt that as long as Terry O’Reilly was Boston’s coach, the Bruins would pass him over in favor of more experienced goalies.

So Ranford looked upon it as a break in March, 1988, when he was traded to Edmonton, along with Geoff Courtnall and a draft choice, for Moog.

“I finally got a chance to play,” Ranford said.

Not exactly. Ahead of him was Grant Fuhr, who had been in the net for four Stanley Cup championships.

Ranford appeared in only 29 games in his first full season with the Oilers.

His chance came this year when a bad shoulder knocked Fuhr out.

Still, there were doubts in Edmonton, heading into the playoffs with an inexperienced goalie.

Those doubts grew after the Oilers lost to the Winnipeg Jets, 7-5, in their playoff opener.

Ranford was ripped mercilessly by the media. Forgotten was his 24-16-9 regular-season record and 3.19 goals-against average.

“It was a tough game,” he said of the Winnipeg defeat. “It seemed like everything was coming back at me. People jumped all over me. Everybody has a bad game, but the goalie is the one who shows up in the scorebook.

“The reason I got through it mentally was because I got so much support from my teammates and the coaching staff.”

Ranford rewarded that faith by permitting the Jets only 15 goals over the next six games as Edmonton came back to win the series.

He was even more impressive in the next series, a sweep of the Kings. Ranford shut them out in the opener and went a club-record 154 minutes 24 seconds without allowing a goal, a streak that started in the finale against the Jets and stretched into Game 2 of the King series.

Going into tonight, Ranford is 14-5 in the postseason and has allowed an average of about 2 1/2 goals per game.

“When he joined us, he had very quick reflexes, but was not sound fundamentally,” said his coach, John Muckler. “The combination of the two is what you’re seeing now.”

Moog had come into the finals with a postseason record of 12-3 and a 1.92 goals-against average, but he lost the opening marathon and was then pulled in the second period of Game 2 Friday night after giving up three goals on four shots. Edmonton went on to win, 7-2.

Boston Coach Mike Milbury indicated he’ll put Moog back in tonight.

“Andy’s in large part responsible for getting us this far,” Milbury said, “and I’m comfortable he’ll bounce back.”

Stanley Cup Notes

Boston center Dave Poulin, sidelined 49 seconds into Game 2 because of a knee sprain, is doubtful for tonight. . . . Only two teams, the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and 1966 Montreal Canadiens, have come back to win the finals after losing the first two at home. The Detroit Red Wings were the victims both times.