As the clock slowly ticked away, the Canadiens knew they had accomplished their mission.  In a very exciting series, they had managed to over come the Winnipeg Oilers to capture the dream known as the Corpsey Cup.

Aside from Magnus Arvedson, who was a member of the championship Hartford Whalers team the previous season, all the members of the team got to hold the cup for the very first time.  General Manager Ivan Audet, father of Whalers GM Andy Audet, was quite pleased with the result of the finals.  "Finally, the cup has come back to Montreal", said Audet.

The series started on a sour note for the Canadiens, however.  Game one ended in an 8-2 loss to the Oilers, a game that left GM Audet shaking his head in disbelief.  Dainus Zubrus and Pavol Demitra led the way with three points apiece while Chris Therrien scored twice for the Oilers.

Game two saw the Canadiens holding a 5-4 lead halfway through the third period.  Mike Rathje went into the box at 9:59 of the period with an elbowing penalty.  A soft pass along the point was caught by Pavel Vorobiev of the Oilers who converted on a short handed breakaway goal.  The score remained tied late into the third period, until Jason Allison scored a one-timer goal from Mike Johnson to give the Oilers a 6-5 lead with 1:51 left in the game.

Game three was more or less a "do or die" game for the Habs.  Coach Maurice Richard gave an inspiring speech to his players during the second intermission which led to Ray Bourque scoring a powerplay goal at 7:52 of the third period.  The game went into overtime and may have ended quickly if it weren't for Evgeny Nabakov's dazzling save on a Paul Kariya breakaway.  "I just followed the puck and prayed I would stop it", said Nabakov after the game.  The hero of the game turned out to be Mark Parrish who redirected a Trevor Letowski shot to beat Oilers goaltender Curtis Joseph in front of a sell out crowd in Montreal.

Game four proved to be another obstacle in the road for the Habs.  A second period Mark Parrish goal tied the score at one halfway through the period.  Sean O'Donnell broke the tie early in the third period for the Oilers.  From that point on in the game, Curtis Joseph played like a man possessed as he made six extraordinary saves to win the game.  The Habs were now down 3-1 to the dominant Oilers in the series.

Game five moved back to Winnipeg where the fans stampeded in, hoping to see their Oilers lift the cup over their heads at the game's end. All seemed to be falling into place for the Oilers, as they led 3-0 after the first on goals by Pavol Demitra, Pierre Turgeon, and Vincent Lecavalier.  The Habs' frustrations seemed to be getting the best of them as rookie Dan Boyle was ejected for cross checking at 9:38 of the period.  As the second period began, the Habs caught fire, scoring five goals in the period to take a 5-3 lead in the game.  They added a sixth goal in the third period and Sergei Berezin added a second goal for the Oilers.  The Habs now trailed the series 3-2.

Game six came back to Montreal in front of another sellout crowd.  Tickets sold by scalpers were in excess of $300 Canadian.  Mark Reechi opened up the scoring for the Oilers at 6:32 of the first, but that managed to be all they could muster in this game.  Rod Brind'Amour and Ray Bourque scored in the first to give the Habs a 2-1 lead.  In the second Bourque added a second goal in the second period along with Taylor Pyatt's tally to give the Habs a 4-1 lead.  Late in the third, Jaromir Jagr tossed a little salt into the wound, giving the Habs a 5-1 win and to tie the series at three games a piece.

Game seven in Winnipeg was not a pretty one for the Oilers as Joe Niewendyk and Mike Ribeiro each tallied three points for the Habs en route to an 8-2 win to win the cup.  When the buzzer sounded, the Montreal bench emptied out onto the ice, with their arms in the air. They crowded at center ice as the cup was brought out to them.  The cup was passed around, waved in the air and kissed by the playoff MVP Ray Bourque.  Bourque scored six goals in the finals series totaling 10 in the playoffs.  He had a total of 27 points (10-17-27) in 26 games.

Celebrations are scheduled throughout the weekend and next week in Montreal.

Montreal Playoff Leaders

Oilers Playoff Leaders