Remember the boy band "All-4-One"? They had the number one song "I Swear".  Tops at the box-office that week was "Speed" starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Unemployment was at 6.1%, a letter could be mailed for 29 cents, and the median household income was thirty-two thousand dollars.  If you wanted to fill up at the pumps, a gallon of gas would cost you a very reasonable (although at the time we probably complained about it) $1.09. Seinfeld was the top TV show, and if you wanted to make a phone call, most of us either had to wait until we got home, or use something called a "pay phone".

Most of the world was reeling from the shocking news of the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, and that Nicole's ex-husband O.J. Simpson was a suspect.  Bill Clinton was President, and most of us had no idea what "the internet" was.

Seventeen years ago today, none of it mattered. The only thing we had on our minds was:

Game 7.

The Curse.

1940.

After a rollercoaster loss at the Garden in Game 5 (Tik was NOT offsides), and an "Oh sh*t" Game 6 loss in Vancouver, Ranger fans went sleepless for two nights waiting for June 14^th and a night that, no matter what happened,  to coin a phrase....."history would be made".

No need to go back over the game, we know it by heart, we know the calls, the goals, the saves (Nathan Lafayette with 5 minutes left, Sam screaming "SAVE BY RICHTER!!!!!!!!!" I can still hear it in my head, and it still gives me chills). We remember it all. Who we watched the game with, where we were sitting, what we ate, what we drank, all of it.

So far, it's lasted a lifetime.

To those of you too young to truly remember and appreciate it, I sincerely hope that in your lifetime, you have a June 14^th of your own, because there was absolutely positively nothing like it.

To those of you from my generation and older, who lived through all those disappointments, all those bad breaks (Leetch's ankle), bad goals (Ron Francis), bad coaches (Jean Guy-Talbot), bad trades (Bobby Carpenter), and bad teams (not enough space), today is for us.

Happy Anniversary Ranger Fans.

1994 Stanley Cup Final - Game 7 (via vnvzech)

On June 14th, 1994, the New York Rangers finally exorcised the ghosts of 1940, but it didn't come easy.

Ranger fan Mike Fornabaio wrote a great piece on Game 7, and what Ranger fans went through that night. It's perfect, so I am going to use it here: I really couldn't say this any better than Mike did, so why try?

This day was all about eternities.

There was the eternity that took 54 years to elapse.

The eternity that it took for Saturday to turn into Tuesday.

The eternity of Tuesday morning turning into Tuesday afternoon turning into Tuesday evening (meatloaf, rice on the side) turning into Tuesday at 8 p.m. And the eternity of waiting for the anthems to get done.

And mixed somewhere in there is the eternity of waiting for Brian Leetch to shoot.

The net was a chasm, narrowing by the instant.

Mark Messier had blown by Pasha Bure on the right side in the neutral zone. He made a move to his left and dropped it off to Sergei Zubov, a play that drew everyone to the high right side of the ice.

Brian Leetch came into the zone and went to the left circle, untouched by anyone. Zubov had a wide-open passing lane to him. He used it.

Time stood absolutely, perfectly, heartwrenchingly still. Adam Graves picked off the defense at the top of the crease. Kirk McLean never managed to get across. And after another 54 years of waiting, Leetch drove it into the heart of the net, his 11th of the playoffs and a (by-a-defenseman record-tying) fifth in the finals at 11:02.

For the first time in five games, the Rangers had scored the first goal.

Three minutes and change later, with Jyrki Lumme in the box for cross-checking Craig MacTavish, it became 2-0, from a source unlikely in his unlikeliness.

Adam Graves had not scored a goal -- been stuck on nine in the playoffs -- since the first period of Game 3. Game 3 of the Devils series. May 19. It had been almost a month.

Adam Graves had been almost missing in action.

But again, Zubov set up the action, carrying through the middle. He flicked the puck off Murray Craven's stick to the left side to Alexei Kovalev, who streaked down the left side and fed Graves, wide open in the middle of the still-assembling box, in the slot. Graves went stick side. Beat McLean. New York 2, Vancouver 0.

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The Rangers found themselves in a familiar position after Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals. It was an identical situation they faced headed into Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Devils: down 1-0 in the series after losing Game One at home in overtime after surrendering a late tying goal in regulation.

Just like in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Rangers managed to bounce back in Game Two. They insured this by beating the Canucks, 3-1, with the game-winning goal scored by Glenn Anderson, and setup by Mark Messier, while the Rangers were short-handed.

The Rangers were holding a 2-1 lead in the waning moments of the game, and with Vancouver goaltender Kirk McLean on the bench, Brian Leetch assured there would be no late game meltdown when he scored a long empty net goal to seal the win for the Rangers and send the series back to Vancouver tied at one game apiece.

Doug Lidster opened the scoring for the Rangers, with a goal at the 6:22 mark of the first period. Sergio Momesso tied it for the Canucks late in the first, but Anderson put the Rangers ahead for good with a goal at the 11:42 mark of the second period with Adam Graves in the box for tripping.

Pavel Bure, Vancouver's star sniper, was held scoreless for the second consecutive game after leading the NHL with 13 goals in the first three rounds. Shadowed closely by Adam Graves, he had just four shots on goal, and was on the ice for all three Ranger goals.

Imagine you are on a rollercoaster traveling at 120 MPH. You get off the ride, eat a plate of runny eggs, and go bungee jumping. Then just for fun, you get on a twin prop plane and fly through a Category 5 hurricane.

That about sums up Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals between the Rangers and Devils.  

In a series filled with suspensions, benchings, guarantees, and double overtime drama, the Rangers and Devils showed they weren't quite done toying with emotions in the final game of this classic series. Whichever team came out the winner, it wasn't going to come cheap. The average fan lost 5 years off their life expectancy on May 25^th 1994.

You want hitting? How about Alexei Kovalev running into Bobby Holik at the Devils blue line, blowing Holik's helmet off his head, and both players standing there staring each other down? Or Jeff Beukeboom laying out Tommy Albelin with a shoulder check? How about Scott Niedermayer steamrolling Joey Kocur in the Devils zone? Yeah, this game had plenty of great hitting.

Goaltending? Check. Mike Richter and Martin Brodeur matched each other great save for great save. Both teams had plenty of chances in this game, but nothing was coming easy. The 1^st period ended scoreless, and the nervousness was building inside the "Garden Beast", Ranger fans knew that the longer the game was scoreless, the more the advantage went to the Devils.

The pressure of this game kept building and building until the 9:31 mark of the 2^nd period, when the first pipe burst. Brian Leetch made a spin move around Bill Guerin on the side of the Devils net and slid a backhander through Brodeur's legs to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead, and send the Garden into a frenzy.

Both teams had several chances to change the scoring in the 2^nd period, but both goalies continued to make big stops, and the score remained 1-0 Rangers heading into the final 20 minutes of Game 7, or so we thought.

The Rangers maintained a 1-0 lead as the last minute of the 3rd period ticked away, and the decibel level rose. The Rangers were seconds away from their first trip to the Finals since 1979. But the "Curse of 1940" was nowhere near done with this Ranger team, and it reared its ugly head again, in the face of Valeri Zelepukin, who stunned the Rangers, the crowd, and the hockey world by scoring with 8 seconds remaining and sending the game into overtime, then double overtime.

There are many calls in sports history that live forever.......

"Do you believe in miracles? YES!" (Al Michaels-1980 USA Hockey Team)

"The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" ("The Shot Heard ‘Round The World"-1951 New York Giants)

"Little roller up along first....behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!!" (Vin Scully-1986 World Series)

But for a Ranger fan, Howie Rose has the one that will never be forgotten:

Stephane Matteau exceeded his Game 3 heroics by sliding the puck past Martin Brodeur in the second overtime, and sending the Rangers into the Finals.A classic ending to a classic series.

One more hill to climb baby, and its Mt. Vancouver.

In 1994, I was an Assistant Manager of the Sam Goody store at the Ocean County Mall in Toms River, NJ. As an assistant manager, you usually get all the crap duty, which includes closing the store at night, which one some nights could take until well after 10 PM.

My boss was well aware of my love of the Rangers, and when the playoffs started, my schedule worked out pretty well that I was only closing on nights when there was no game.

The Rangers played 23 playoff games in 1994, I saw every one of them, except one. This one. The other assistant manager couldn't work that night, and after almost 6 weeks of having the schedule tailored for my hockey needs, I couldn't really complain, I had to work.

No TV in the store, and these were the days before internet and cell phones as we know them now, so my only lifeline to this game was going to be phone calls from my brother Jeff (schmied77).

I had my night at work all planned out. My brother would call with scores, I would drop the gates on the store as early as I could without catching hell, have the registers closed and money counted as fast as possible, I had a 10 minute ride home, I could probably catch the last half of the third period. My brother would be at my house watching the game even though I wouldn't be there, for superstitious reasons.

Of course the two big stories heading into this game were the "Curse of 1940" rearing its ugly head again, and Mark Messier's guarantee. The press loves a good guarantee (See: Namath, Joe, and Fassel, JIm), and they were eating this story up.

After the game started, every time the store phone rang, I would get nervous, wondering if this was an update, and what it would be.The first call came in 8 minutes into the game, Scott Niedermayer had given the Devils a 1-0 lead. 15 minutes or so later, the phone rang again, Claude Lemieux had put the Devils up 2-0 before the end of the 1st period.

After that, the phone didn't ring for a long time, business or hockey-wise. I was out of my mind with worry, and I was starting to think how seeing the Devils win the Cup (I was sure they would beat Vancouver) before the Rangers would just be unbearable.

Then I got the call that Alex Kovalev had put the Rangers on the board before the end of the 2nd period, and it was 2-1, going into the 3rd.

A few minutes later, the phone rang, and I launched into the company schpiel, "Good evening, thank you for calling Sa...."

My brother. "MESSIER MADE GOOD ON HIS PROMISE, IT'S 2-2!!!"

Rejuvenated, now all I can think about is getting out of that store, and fast. As planned, I got the store closed up, and money counted in record time. On a normal night, when you closed the store at 9:30, you walked out at 10. But this was no normal night, and by 9:35 I was headed to my car.

Which wouldn't start.

My 1986 Pontiac Sunbird failed me when I needed it most, and left me sitting in the parking lot of the Ocean County Mall listening to one of the greatest games in Rangers history on the radio. I made a few phone calls for assistance, but naturally nobody was coming to pick me up until this game was over.

So there I sat, listening to the radio, cursing my car and all its ancestors, while Mark Messier made sports history by guaranteeing a victory, and backing it up with a hat trick. Messier put the Rangers ahead to stay with less than 8 minutes to go, and iced it with an empty netter with 1:45 left, and I sat screaming at the radio in my car all along in the parking lot.

Game Seven was going to be at the Garden two nights later, and I had the night off.

Thanks to ESPN Classic and the advent of the DVD, I've seen this game countless times now, and every time I do, I am reminded of Sam Goody and that damn Sunbird.

Here is a great video I found on You Tube that someone put together chroniciling Messier's historic night.

After defeating the Rangers 4-1 in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, the Devils were poised to add their names to the "Curse of 1940" lore, and there wasn't a Ranger fan alive at this point who didn't believe the curse was real.

The Devils dominated the Rangers in front of their home fans, and were headed home for Game 6 with a chance to advance to the first Stanley Cup Finals in franchise history.

The Devils had not beaten the Rangers once during the regular season, but had now won three of five, and two in a row to take a 3-2 lead in the series, and leave the Rangers are the brink of disaster.

"If we can play the way we've played the last two games, we'll have a great opportunity," said Devils center Bernie Nicholls, a former Ranger. "The boys are going to be fired up and I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully, we'll use our nervousness to our advantage and play the way we've been playing all along."

Martin Brodeur was again spectacular, keeping the Rangers scoreless until Esa Tikkannen scored a meaningless goal with less than 4 minutes remaining in the game, but the Rangers were long cooked at that point.

After Game 4, Rangers Coach Mike Keenan said five of his regulars - Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Craig MacTavish, Brian Noonan and Adam Graves - were ailing. But all were in the lineup. Leetch, who apparently has a sore shoulder, threw a check on the first shift, but never had a shot on goal, not good considering he was the Rangers' top playoff scorer. Messier, was said to have sore ribs, was not as physical as in the first few games and did nothing offensively. He had at least one point in all 13 of the Rangers' playoff games before Game 5.

Rangers defenseman Jeff Beukeboom knocked Stephane Richer into the boards as he was trying to stand up. Referee Don Koharski had a clear view and called nothing, but Beuk would be suspended for Game 6.

The Rangers were banged up, demoralized, frustrated, and would be playing Game 6 without one of their best defensemen. "The Curse" needed to be lifted, and fast.

Just like in Game 2, a message needed to be sent, and the Captain was going to deliver it.

With C Bernie Nicholls suspended for Game 4 due to a cross check on Alexei Kovalev in Game 3, and C Bobby Carpenter nursing an injury, the Devils were weak at the center position coming into Game 4 at the Brendan Byrne Arena.

The Rangers were flying high a big 3-2 win in Game 3 thanks to Stephane Matteau's first bit of double overtime heroics, and had every reason to think they were on the verge of taking command of the series, with a potential Series ending Game 5 at Madison Square Garden.

A couple of hours and some strange benchings later, everything had changed.

The Devils dominated this game from almost beginning to end, with Stephane Richer getting a power play goal midway thru the first period. Bill Guerin added a breakaway goal a few minutes later, and Rangers coach Mike Keenan had a meltdown, pulling Mike Richter and sending in Glenn Healy to hopefully jump start the team. When that didn't work, the Rangers found out "Iron Mike" was just getting warmed up.

Brian Leetch was benched early in the 2^nd period. Mark Messier, Kevin Lowe, Sergei Zubov, and Brian Noonan also sat for extended periods of time. Joey Kocur saw more ice time in this game than he probably had the entire playoffs, as Keenan kept sending him out there to inject some energy into the lifeless Rangers.

Keenan would blame the benchings on the players having suffered "undisclosed injuries", although neither Messier nor Leetch would admit to being hurt.

When Matteau scored his 2nd goal in two games, the Rangers, for all their flaws in this game, were only down 2-1 and things didn't look so bad.

Healy and Brodeur were both outstanding in this game, each of them had to make spectacular saves to keep the score from changing., but Valeri Zelepukin was able to put the Rangers away for good in this game with a late third period goal, and give the Devils a 3-1 victory, and we had a brand new series.

It was now a best of three, headed back to Madison Square Garden.

In Game 3 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, Martin Brodeur faced 50 shots on goal, but number 50 turned out to be the one that counted most.

Stephane Matteau scored the game winning goal at 6:13 of the second overtime to give the Rangers a 3-2 win over the Devils, and a 2-1 lead in the series in front of a sellout crowd of 19,040 (that number!) at Brendan Byrne Arena.

This game would never have reached overtime if not for Brodeur, who was sensational. The Devils goaltender was becoming a superstar in the league right before our very eyes. He had 30 saves in this game by the end of the 2^nd period.

"We still have to play better," said Rangers captain Mark Messier. "I guess coming into the series, we knew Brodeur was good. We had a chance to take control early, but we couldn't put the puck past him. This game was pretty much a goaltender's battle."

Adam Graves and Steve Larmer scored in regulation for the Rangers. Viacheslav Fetisov and Valeri Zelepukin scored for the Devils against Mike Richter, who was hardly tested in the first forty minutes, but had to make a great save on Richer late in the third period and a spectacular stop on Tommy Albelin in OT.

Play took a turn for the nasty in this game. Jeff Beukeboom injured the knee of Devils C Bob Carpenter with a check, and Devils C Bernie Nicholls cross-checked Alex Kovalev in the neck.

After the game, Rangers coach Mike Keenan blasted Nicholls, the refs, and the league.

"I'm also calling for Bernie Nicholls to be suspended," Keenan said after the game. "He deliberately tried to injury Alex Kovalev when he was defenseless on his hands and knees." Keenan added a moment later, "Bernie is a hell of a hockey player, but there is no need to try to break somebody's neck." Nicholls would be suspended for Game 4.

Viacheslav Fetisov and Valeri Zelepukin scored for the Devils. New Jersey got lucky when Fetisov's shot from the point hit Richter, then Craig MacTavish and then went in for a 1-1 tie after one period. Zelepukin's goal came on the power play.

Despite the two double overtime games, all the best drama of this series was still to come.

[Note by jrs1940, thanks to highbeam.com for the post game quotes]