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From overtime heroes to legendary dynasties, the Stanley Cup has produced some of the most unforgettable moments in all of sports. Join us as we count down our picks for the greatest moments in Stanley Cup history! Our countdown includes Bobby Orr's iconic flying goal, Wayne Gretzky launching a dynasty, Bill Barilko's tragic disappearance, and more! Which is your favorite Stanley Cup moment? Let us know!
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00:00Bobby Orr, behind the net, the status, and Orr!
00:03Bobby Orr!
00:05Orr, and the Boston Brawns have won the Stanley Cup!
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 moments that stand out as the
00:14greatest in the history of the Stanley Cup.
00:17Folks, there's a new putz on the block in the National Hockey League, the Edmonton Oilers!
00:26Number 20. Cam Ward completes historic rookie playoff run for Carolina.
00:31By any standards, Cam Ward's performance in the 2006 Stanley Cup Final would be impressive.
00:36Oilers keep it in, a little back, hammer, stop, rebound, and that's stopped by Ward!
00:41When you consider that he was in his rookie season, it really takes it to a different level.
00:45Ward wasn't even the number one pick for the goaltender position, but after finding his way into the lineup, he
00:50turned in a series of performances for the ages.
00:53In fact, he kept the Edmonton Oilers at bay so well that he became the first rookie goaltender to record
00:59a shutout in the finals in 20 years, since the great Patrick Roy.
01:03Skid the cross, dollar shot, save, rebound, on and off of the pad, aboard, and then we get the penalty
01:09call.
01:10It was a transformative win for Carolina, one that legitimized the franchise for years to come.
01:16Number 19. Max Talbot silences Detroit with stunning Game 7 brace.
01:21As the defending champions in 2009, it would seem as though momentum was on the side of the Detroit Red
01:27Wings as they entered another Stanley Cup Final against the Penguins.
01:30And at the other end, opportunity.
01:33Ruslan Fedotenko out in front of Maxime Talbot, Nicholas Cronwell down, a blocked shot with Osgood sprawling.
01:39The game served as a rematch of the 2008 Final, but this time, Pittsburgh had a secret weapon.
01:45Max Talbot showed up in a huge way in Game 7, shocking the world with a two-goal brace that
01:50turned him into a legend overnight.
01:53Maxime Talbot looks, gets to the top of the circle, and what I love is he keeps that puck in
01:58a shooting position.
01:59The Penguins took home a 2-1 win, sealing their redemption story and giving Talbot one of the greatest Game
02:057 contributions ever.
02:06Number 18. Jordan Binnington caps Cinderella rookie season with Game 7 gem.
02:12No list of the all-time great season turnarounds would be complete without a mention for the St. Louis Blues
02:18heroics in 2019.
02:24After falling to last place in the NHL standings by mid-season, they somehow managed to claw their way out
02:31of that spot, and eventually to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
02:35Facing off against the Boston Bruins, it was rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington who stood out, putting on the performance of
02:40a lifetime.
02:41He played with the composure of a veteran out there, saving 32 shots to lead St. Louis to their first
02:47ever championship title.
02:48For the first time in their history, the St. Louis Blues are the Stanley Cup champions!
02:53It was one of the most unlikely comebacks in the history of hockey.
02:58Number 17. Ken Dryden announces himself with stunning rookie playoff masterclass.
03:04Every now and then, a rookie will come along who almost single-handedly redefines the standards for young players in
03:10that position.
03:11Game opens with a great offensive move by Hull, but somehow Dryden manages to keep the puck out.
03:16Ken Dryden did exactly that with his gargantuan performance in the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals.
03:22He led his Montreal Canadiens past several heavily favored opponents before making 31 saves against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game
03:307.
03:30It capped off a stunning season that instantly established him as one of the top goaltenders in the league.
03:36And the game is over. The Montreal Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup for a record 16th time.
03:41He also took home the Conn Smythe Trophy for his efforts, marking a truly unlikely but undeniably special postseason run.
03:49Number 16. Tim Thomas shuts down Vancouver in historic road game 7.
03:54In 2011, Tim Thomas managed to deliver one of the all-time great late career performances at 37,
04:00turning back the clock with a goaltending tour de force.
04:07Not only did he manage to pull off an insane individual display,
04:11holding the favored Canucks to just 8 goals in the 7-game series,
04:14he also helped his Boston Bruins overturn a 39-year championship drought.
04:19In other words, despite being under enormous pressure,
04:23Tim Thomas locked in from Game 1 to Game 7 in a way that utterly transformed his legacy.
04:28Taken along by Hanson, around in front, save Thomas! Point blank on Hanson.
04:32In many ways, it became the defining story of the postseason that year.
04:37Number 15. Patrick Kane celebrates before anyone realizes Chicago has won.
04:42He didn't realize it at the time, but Patrick Kane's game-winning shot in 2010 against the Philadelphia Flyers
04:47would launch one of modern hockey's most dominant dynasties.
04:58One thing he did realize at the time was that his sharp angle shot had, in fact, landed in the
05:03back of the net.
05:04The funny part?
05:05Well, Kane seemed to be the only person in the arena who knew he had scored at first,
05:10wheeling off in celebration, knowing full well what had just happened.
05:13When the rest of the arena finally caught on, it was a truly joyous scene,
05:18marking Chicago's first Stanley Cup since 1961.
05:21One of the more unusual finishes, but it's a goal!
05:25The Stanley Cup to the Chicago Blackhawks!
05:28Number 14. Brian Hextall brings home gold with sudden overtime strike.
05:32There have been many great sporting curses,
05:35ones that left formerly formidable franchises with decades-long championship droughts.
05:40The Stanley Cup final of 1940 would mark the last time in 54 years that the New York Rangers would
05:46lift the trophy.
05:47Brian Hextall's overtime goal came on the back of a strong individual season for him,
05:51clinching New York's third Stanley Cup victory.
05:54It would take over five decades for this drought to finally come to an end.
05:58But in many ways, that only served to make Hextall even more of a legend to New York fans.
06:03Number 13. Pete Babando delivers double overtime glory for Detroit in Game 7.
06:08The 1950s Stanley Cup final was special for a myriad of reasons,
06:12primarily because it was the first ever Final Series Game 7 to be finished in overtime.
06:17And eight minutes into the second overtime set the stage for intense sports drama!
06:22It was instantly heralded as a classic.
06:24And right at the center of it all was Pete Babando.
06:27The game was a razor-close affair that moved all the way to double overtime before it got its resolution.
06:33Babando's name was forever written in the history books,
06:36granting Detroit their first title in seven years.
06:39It also began a run of dominance for the franchise that stretched through the early to mid-1950s.
06:45Number 12. Tony Leswick's deflected shot wins legendary overtime Game 7.
06:50The margins that exist at the very highest levels of sport are far narrower than most people can comprehend.
06:56The right move here, a substitution there, could mean the difference between defeat and victory.
07:02For the Detroit Red Wings' Tony Leswick, the defining moment of his 1954 season boiled down to a mix of
07:08good intentions and a healthy dose of luck.
07:10Leswick's overtime shot deflected off a Montreal player, rocketing past the goaltender to seal a dramatic victory.
07:17To this day, it remains a clear example of the chaos of high-stakes overtime hockey.
07:22The Red Wings give Tony Leswick a real back-pounding.
07:25The awkward bounce illustrated just how little difference there can be between the glory of success and the pain of
07:32a crushing defeat.
07:33Number 11. Sweeney Schreiner caps Toronto's historic reverse sweep against Detroit.
07:38There is nothing quite like a great comeback story.
07:41And for our money, few turnarounds in the history of hockey compared to the one pulled off by the Toronto
07:46Maple Leafs in 1942.
07:48The 1942 Stanley Cup Final featured one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.
07:53Despite going down three games to none to the Detroit Red Wings, they clawed their way back into a good
07:58position one game at a time, bringing the series to an unlikely Game 7.
08:02When the Maple Leafs needed a hero to rise up, the veteran Sweeney Schreiner was exactly that.
08:07He scored two goals in the deciding game, turning in a career-best performance when it mattered the most to
08:13seal the victory.
08:14More than 16,000 fans, the largest crowd to witness a hockey game in Canada at the time, filled Maple
08:20Leaf Gardens as Toronto beat Detroit by a score of 3-1 to complete the unprecedented comeback and earned the
08:26franchise its first Stanley Cup in 10 years.
08:29Number 10. Joe Sackick hands Ray Bork hockey's most emotional Stanley Cup.
08:34There are many sporting heroes who simply didn't play at the right time or with the right team to win
08:39the biggest trophies available to them.
08:41Will there be, at last, a Cup for number 77 tonight?
08:4722 seasons he's been trying.
08:49For years, it seemed as though Ray Bork was doomed to fall into that number.
08:53After 22 years of proving his ability, Bork finally won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001.
09:01Rather than lifting the trophy first, Captain Joe Sackick immediately handed it to Bork after Colorado defeated the New Jersey
09:07Devils.
09:07The jester became one of the most beloved moments in all of sports.
09:11Bork's long pursuit of a championship resonated throughout hockey, and Sackick's act demonstrated extraordinary respect and leadership.
09:19The Stanley Cup champions, Borks.
09:22Ray Bork had come to the all sports.
09:27Number 9. Patrick Roy authors marathon goaltending performance for Colorado.
09:32It's not every day that you see a goaltender posting a 63-stop shutout.
09:37And yet, that is exactly the level of heroism that Patrick Roy produced in Game 4 of the 1996 Finals.
09:48Colorado was well on their way to completing their sweep over the Florida Panthers.
09:52And yet, it would have all fallen apart if it weren't for Roy's brilliance.
09:55He was nothing short of an immovable object, helping the newly relocated Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup win in
10:01their new home.
10:02Roy was already seen as one of the very best in the business, but this win proved he was among
10:08the greatest playoff goaltenders to ever touch down on the ice.
10:11What an incredible hockey game, and an incredible finish.
10:16Number 8. Alec Martinez delivers double overtime championship for Los Angeles.
10:20For the Los Angeles Kings, they walked a much harder road than their fans would have liked to end up
10:26in the 2014 Stanley Cup final.
10:28Captain Dustin Brown hopes to finish the night getting a handshake and a piece of hardware from the commissioner.
10:35Three separate Game 7s were needed in order to book them their spot in the final series.
10:39When they got there, they certainly knew a thing or two about how to deal with pressure.
10:43With the New York Rangers ahead of them, the series was decided in Game 5.
10:48Alec Martinez scored in double overtime to seal the Rangers' doom.
10:57After a rebound landed near the crease, Martinez buried the puck to secure the championship for the Los Angeles Kings,
11:03furthering their golden era after their 2012 win.
11:06Number 7. Brett Hull's controversial triple overtime goal breaks Buffalo hearts.
11:12There's nothing like a healthy dose of controversy to make a moment truly stand out.
11:16For Brett Hull's game winner in the 1999 Stanley Cup final, to say it split people down the middle would
11:22be an understatement.
11:22By Hull shot, Lier Leitner, Hull loose puck, Hull shot, the score, the score, the score, the score, the score,
11:30the score!
11:30So what was the problem?
11:32Well, the controversy centered on whether Hull's skate was illegally positioned within the goal crease.
11:37According to the NHL, Hull was already in possession of the puck before he entered the crease, making the goal
11:42legal.
11:43They also claimed that the rule had been altered in a private memo sent to each team, but not to
11:48the public.
11:49Naturally, this caused all manner of uproar, but for Dallas, it marked an historic moment as they captured their first
11:56Stanley Cup.
11:57What about, it looks like a genius move, picking up Brett Hull, believing he was going to be the missing
12:02link to help win the Stanley Cup in Dallas,
12:05and lo and behold, triple overtime, he gets the game-winning rule.
12:09Number 6. Bobby Nystrom launches Islanders' dynasty with overtime Stanley Cup winner.
12:14Every great dynasty has to start somewhere, and for the New York Islanders, after years of disappointment,
12:201980 was the year they turned it all around.
12:23The New York Islanders have never won the Stanley Cup in their eight-year history, but they have a chance
12:27to do it here this afternoon.
12:29Bobby Nystrom's overtime winner against the Philadelphia Flyers wasn't just an iconic moment because of the win itself.
12:35It also opened the floodgates for one of the most dominant runs of form in the sport's history.
12:39Nystrom would play a big role in this incoming era, showing his quality through his dogged, hard-working style.
12:45For many New York fans, they will never forget the singular moment that took this franchise from perennial contender to
12:52championship threat.
13:12It's one thing to secure victory in the sporting world, but to boldly predict a win like Mark Messier did
13:18in 1994 and then carry it out successfully?
13:20That is the stuff of legend.
13:23Not only was he working against a 3-2 deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals, he was also contending with
13:28a 54-year-long championship drought.
13:30Messier confidently told the world that he and his team would find a way, and that's what they did.
13:35He scored a hat-trick in the very next game before the Rangers turned the series around.
13:39Do you believe it? Do you believe it?
13:42He said we will win game six.
13:45He has just picked up the hat-trick.
13:47They then went on to win the Stanley Cup, instantly putting Messier's name into the conversation for greatest captains in
13:54NHL history.
13:55Number 4.
13:56Bill Barilco scores Stanley Cup winner, then vanishes tragically.
14:00The tale of Bill Barilco is a story of triumph and tragedy in equal measure.
14:04In Game 5 of the 1951 Stanley Cup Final, Bill Barilco scored the overtime goal that gave the Toronto Maple
14:10Leafs the championship over the Montreal Canadiens.
14:19Just a few months later, a fishing trip would end in disaster when Barilco's plane crashed in northern Ontario, leading
14:26to Barilco's disappearance.
14:27It was a shocking event that went far beyond sports, and has since become impossible to separate from the team's
14:33glorious win in 1951.
14:35The Maple Leafs would not win another Stanley Cup until 1962, the same year Barilco's wreckage was eventually discovered.
14:42Eleven years later, they find the remains of the plane that Dr. Henry Hudson and Bill Barilco had been in.
14:49That's the same year that the Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.
14:52Number 3.
14:53Montreal completes hockey's greatest dynasty with fifth straight cup.
14:57In every sport, there is a single dynasty that stands as the benchmark for greatness.
15:02In hockey, that benchmark is often found in the form of the Montreal Canadiens team that sealed their fifth consecutive
15:09Stanley Cup title in 1960.
15:17They defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, sweeping them over four games in a rematch of the previous year's finals.
15:23No NHL team before or since has managed to match their record of five straight championships.
15:28And this time, they've set a record. For the fifth time, they are the champs.
15:33So you can't find anything more convincing than that.
15:36The achievement represented the peak of one of hockey's most dominant eras.
15:40And it's the type of legacy that any franchise would have a near impossible time living up to.
15:45Number 2.
15:46Wayne Gretzky launches Edmonton's dynasty with dominant cup clincher.
15:50It can often be a struggle to boil a truly great playing career down to one definitive moment.
16:00However, for as much as Wayne Gretzky has had more iconic moments than most,
16:04in 1984, he helped to topple one dynasty while ushering in the era of another.
16:09At the time, his critics were openly wondering whether his clear offensive talents could translate into sustained playoff success.
16:16Meeting the defending champions, the New York Islanders, in the final,
16:20Gretzky led his Edmonton Oilers to a decisive win, playing a key role throughout.
16:24It was made even sweeter by the fact that the Islanders had beaten them the previous year.
16:29It was a well-earned revenge, that's for sure.
16:31He's always said, the only thing that's important is the Stanley Cup.
16:36He's gotta be feeling on top of the world now.
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16:58Iconic moments like Bobby Orr's overtime goal against the St. Louis Blues
17:02become images that are seen as a visual symbol for greatness and glory.
17:06And it didn't seem to matter to Bobby Orr that it was overtime.
17:09He was still coming up ice in his daredevil, freewheeling style,
17:13and was about to cap his most amazing season with yet another wondrous accomplishment.
17:18The goal itself was, of course, completely crucial,
17:22ending Boston's 29-year championship drought in dramatic fashion.
17:26What really sealed it was the fact that Orr went flying through the air
17:29just as he fired off the shot.
17:31Ray Lussier was on hand to capture what would soon become
17:34one of the most iconic photographs in sporting history.
17:37Orr sailed through the air, arms outstretched in pure joy,
17:40and by the time he landed on the ice, his legacy was officially set in stone.
17:56What do you consider to be the single greatest Stanley Cup moment of all time?
18:00Let us know in the comments.
18:01See you guys.asc
18:03Boston. Brian
18:04Hey. Here
18:06he is. You
18:06he is. installation,
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