The offseason for the 1990-91 Stanley Cup Champs had an ominous tone when beloved head coach Badger Bob Johnson was diagnosed with brain cancer. His battle was relatively short, and he passed away on 11/26/91, in one of the saddest days in Penguins history. We were there for the ceremony honoring Badger's life, and there was not a dry eye in the house.
Scotty Bowman was named interim head coach to start the season in Badger's absence, and the Penguins started strong, but began to slump in the middle of the season. The Pens went from a front runner to fighting with the Islanders and Flyers for the last playoff spot. In a move many took to signal giving up on the season, the Penguins traded Paul Coffey to the Kings in return for Jeff Chycrun, Brian Benning and the 1992 first round pick in the draft. GM Patrick made a move that changed the identity of Pittsburgh moving Mark Recchi as the centerpiece of a deal, along with the aforementioned Brian Benning, and the 1992 first round pick from LA that brought one of my all time favorite guts and glory players, Rick Tocchet from Philadlelphia, along with big defenseman Kjell Samuelsson, and back up netminder Ken Wregget. Moving young scoring star Mark Recchi was a risky move, but the added grit allowed the Penguins to go on a 12-5-1 tear to close the season, and make the playoffs for the second straight year. Tocchet brought a snarl and deft scoring touch to a talented group of forwards and "the other Samuelsson" added another shutdown dimension to the blue line. Despite missing 16 games, Mario led the league with 131 points while scoring 44 goals and winning the Art Ross. Kevin Stevens was second in the league with 123 points, and led the team with 54 goals, while Joey Mullen tacked on 42 more goals and 87 points. In his first full season as a Penguin, Larry Murphy led all Pens blue liners with 77 points, and Jagr added 69 more points in 70 games. The Penguins finished 3rd in the Patrick Division, and 4th in the Wales Conference, earning the right to face the Washington Capitals who finished 11 points higher in the standings in the Patrick Division semi-Finals. The Caps played great taking a 2-0, then 3-1 series lead, and looked ready to run the Penguins out of the playoffs. The Pens deployed the left wing lock, and wound up beating the Caps in three straight games to win their first round match up and add to a length post season dominance of the Capitals that is still in place today.
After taking care of Washington, the Penguins got to face Patrick Division Champions, the New York Rangers in the Patrick Divsion Finals. The Penguins lost Mario to a broken bone in his left hand due to a wicked slash by Adam Graves in Game Two. The fear was that Mario was gone for the playoffs and that a Lemieux-less Pens team would lose to the Rangers in round two. The play seemed to galvanize Pittsburgh, and they never lost again to New York, winning the series in five games!
Up next was Boston again, a team the Penguins had beaten in six games the year before. This year, it was a sweep, and Mario made Hall of Famer Ray Bourque look foolish on a great goal in the series. The series ended with a 5-1 Pittsburgh win. Pittsburgh's reward was to play red hot Chicago in the Stanley Cup Finals. In game one in the Mellon Arena, the Blackhawks quieted the crowd by taking a commanding 4-1 lead in the game. However, this only set the stage for one of the best memories of my life at the Mellon Arena. The Pens diligently fought back, and before you know it, it was 4-3 Chicago, until this!
This tremendous goal tied the game at 4-4, and suddenly, a game that looked lost was all tied up late. That only set the stage for one of the greatest hockey moments ever for a Pens fan when in the last 12 seconds, Mario Lemieux buried a Larry Murphy rebound to cap a great Penguins come from behind win!!
This come from behind win fuelled what would become another Penguins sweep as the Penguins won their second straight Stanley Cup! I remember driving home from a friend's house in the southside, with jammed streets and crazed Pens fans! The feeling of two Cups in a row is hard to describe, but I truly felt that a dynasty had been born!
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