The 1979 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the New York Rangers and the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, making their fourth straight appearance. It was New York's first appearance since 1972. The Canadiens would win the best-of-seven series four games to one, to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup. As of 2009, this is the most recent time that two teams of the Original Six have competed for the Stanley Cup championship.

[edit] Paths to the Final

Montreal defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 and the Boston Bruins 4–3 to advance to the finals. New York defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2–0, the Philadelphia Flyers 4–1 and the New York Islanders 4–2 to make it to the finals.

[edit] The series

The Canadiens won the Cup in five games, winning it on home ice for the first time since 1968. After the game Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer and Ken Dryden retired. Coach Scotty Bowman would leave the Canadiens to join the Buffalo Sabres.

Montreal wins the series 4–1.

[edit] Montreal Canadiens 1979 Stanley Cup champions

Roster

Stanley Cup engraving

• †Yvan Cournoyer played only 18 regular season games. He missed the rest of the season due to a back injury. His name was still put on the cup, even though he did not qualify. Serge Savard served as captain while Cournoyer was injured.
• ††Richard Sevigny's name was engraved on the Stanley Cup, before he played his first NHL game. He was dressed in the finals when Michel Larocque was injured in pre-game warm-up for game two. Sevigny would join Montreal full-time, the next season after Ken Dryden retired.
• †††Dan Newman played 16 regular season games, but did not qualify to be on the cup. He was dressed for one playoff in the quarter-finals, but did not play

[edit] Members of Montreal Canadiens 1976 to 1979 dynasty

Rick Chartraw, Yvan Cournoyer, Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey, Doug Jarvis, Guy Lalfeur, Yvon Lambert, Guy Lapointe, Jacques Lemaire, Michel Laroque, Doug Risebrough, Mario Tremblay, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Steve Shutt (15 Players), Jacques Courtois, Sam Pollock, Jean Beliveau, Scotty Bowman, Claude Ruel, Eddie Palchak, Pierre Meilleur, Ron Caron (8 Non-Players)

[edit] Broadcasting

The Stanley Cup Finals were produced by CBC, who carried the game in Canada, and were shown in the United States on the NHL's syndicated package. Dan Kelly provided play-by-play, while Dick Irvin, Jr. and Gary Dornhoefer served as color commentators, Dave Hodge as host, and Howie Meeker as studio analyst.

Had the series gone to a seventh game, ABC would have carried it in the United States under the Wide World of Sports banner, with Al Michaels on play-by-play and Bobby Clarke on color commentary. This would have given Michaels the distinction of calling all four major North American sports championships (he has called the Super Bowl, World Series and NBA Finals). Michaels would go on to host the Stanley Cup Finals for ABC from 2000 to 2002.

[edit] See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1978–79 NHL season

[edit] References

• Total Stanley Cup. NHL. 2000. 
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 1–55168–261.