Twenty-six years ago, a group of kids by the names of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and Grant Fuhr led the Edmonton Oilers to the 1982-83 Stanley Cup finals. But after seeing the Promised Land in the distance, the three-time defending champion New York Islanders were there to greet them and continue their dynastic run.
With Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier having their way with the inexperience of the young Oilers, Long Island celebrated its fourth Cup in a row, embarrassing Edmonton with a four-game sweep.
One year later, the Oilers and Islanders found themselves playing for the most recognizable trophy in all of sports once again. With the core of the Oilers still in their early 20s, it seemed ludicrous to think a few kids, superstars or not, could stop Trottier from quenching his thirst from the Cup once more.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the Islanders' fifth championship in a row … the same Oilers who rolled over and laid an egg the previous year learned how to win, ending the Islanders' dreams of five straight in five games.
The Islanders’ run ended at four, while the Oilers went on to take the next two titles and five of the next seven, as the young core grew into arguably the greatest dynasty to ever step on the ice.
In the matter of a year, the Oilers went from being the future of the NHL to being the best team in the NHL.
Fast forward to the 2007-08 season.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, led by a group of kids by the names of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury, made it all the way to the 2007-08 Stanley Cup finals. But standing in the way of a championship happened to be the Detroit Red Wings — the NHL's version of the Big Red Machine.
With four rings in 11 years, the Red Wings had been the class of the league since 1996-97, using their unorthodox scouting methods to sign and acquire a mix of foreign talent. Dipping deep into the Russian hockey systems, the Wings inserted unknown and unheralded talent into their lineup season after season. The result? A playoff berth every year since 1990-91.
Prior to the '07-08 finals between the Penguins and Red Wings, ESPN analyst Barry Melrose said that the Penguins would need to lose to the Red Wings to learn how to win.
The Pens would indeed fall, in six games, to the Red Wings. And while the Red Wings skated around Pittsburgh's home ice taking turns raising the Cup above the Mellon Arena ice, a devastated Penguins team looked on wondering when it would be their time to be viewed as the league's juggernaut.
This season, the conference finals ended with the Pens and Wings once again the last teams standing, setting up a rematch of the '07-08 finals. A chance for Detroit to continue their dominance, and a chance for the Penguins to up-end the defending champs.
After falling behind 2-0 in the series, the same way the finals started a year ago, the Penguins looked like they would once again serve as the red carpet the Wings would walk on to be awarded the Cup.
But Pittsburgh knotted the series at two, and then at three, proving they are on the verge of becoming the team to beat in the league, if they aren't already there.
Two-and-a-half decades ago, the Islanders were four wins against the Oilers from going down as arguably the most distinguished dynasty in hockey history, before the best young talent in the game derailed their plans.
Friday night, the Red Wings can put themselves in the same conversation as the Maple Leafs of the '40s, the Red Wings and Canadians of the '50s, the Maple Leafs of the '60s, the Canadiens of the '60s and '70s, and the Islanders and Oilers of the '80s as the top teams in NHL history.
But a win on the road for the Penguins would start their journey to join the legendary clubs whose names are already etched into the Cup.
Could it be possible that the Penguins loss in '07-08 prepared them to begin their own chapter of hockey history in '08-09? Or are the Red Wings, at home, too much of a challenge for pesky Pens?
One game in Hockeytown will decide the fates of two franchises — one looking to continue their dynasty, and the other trying to start their own.
