Pens Repeat in '92, Gilmour Traded to Leafs, Messier to Rangers, LaFontaine to Sabres

[@knightradiant4990]

Shannon, you should do a video ranking all the outdoor games

[@senorsoupe]

Acquiring Doug Gilmour and Grant Fuhr showed that the Leafs could be a serious organiztion after two decades of being a deeply unserious organization under Harold Ballard

[@matthewdaley746]

Unfortunately, it also showed that Doug Gilmour cared more about money than, Cups, which explains why Joe Nieuwendyk, ultimately, had the career he totally should have had, no doubt, also, this was the beginning of Grant Fuhr really getting exposed.

[@severed111]

@@matthewdaley746 I thought Fuhr eventually adapted to the 90's and early '00s pretty well imo. He proved he was able to be a good goalie and not rely on his team destroying the opponents with 6 goals+ night in night out.

[@matthewdaley746]

​@severed111 Perhaps, but, he kept getting traded, and, the Blues were actually way better after he got hurt, to the point where Jon Casey scared the Red Wings to death, before the Avs finished them off, he also played for the Sabres, and, ironically, would finish his career with the Flames, truly odd.

[@justjohnny420]

​@@matthewdaley746 Gilmour won a cup though, might as well get the bag too

[@matthewdaley746]

​​​@@justjohnny420Really absolutely disappointing, nonetheless.

[@isaiahwirch9389]

Great series

[@kevinbudzinski9576]

There were a ton of blockbuster trades this season especially the Buffalo/NY Islanders trade (LaFontaine for Turgeon), Mark Messier traded to the NY Rangers, Doug Gilmour traded to the Leafs, Glenn Anderson and Grant Fuhr traded to the Leafs for Vincent Damphousse, and the huge Pittsburgh/Philly trade (Tocchet for Recchi)

[@SverigeiSverige]

And Oates for Janney.

[@kevinbudzinski9576]

@@SverigeiSverige I forgot about that one

[@BvG_Venom]

I still watch your old video titled "1992 was the best of the Pens". Uts just you reading an article on the year but its still solid.

[@jeffreystyles9472]

R.i.p Mr.Rogers to Bob Johnson

[@Mark-xl1ze]

The first time the NHL season ends in the month of June.

[@LSA30]

This was only the second time up to that point that the Canucks won their division, and the first since 1974-75. Being a Canucks fan can’t be much more painful going forward, right? Right?😂

[@matthewdaley746]

Unfortunately painfully predictable, unquestionably.

[@chriswoodie7242]

Shannon great video however you missed a pretty big trade February 7, 1992: Adam Oates Traded by the St. Louis Blues to the Boston Bruins for Craig Janney and Stéphane Quintal.

[@matthewdaley746]

Blues outfoxed predictingly, awful.

[@ronfehr7899]

Sad about Badger Bob. Watched him coach Calgary.

[@doubledouble4g379]

My first ever NHL Final - I specifically remember the first time I ever saw the Stanley Cup was in the preamble to game 4. Still have the complete set of 91-92 Upperdeck Hockey Cards, too :)

[@MrBlazemaster525]

Tonight on Smythewatch! We welcome our new newsroom in....San Jose? wait, not San Fran????? The Flames run out of kindling and sink! The Kings make way for.... VANCOUVER?WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE????? And in special Smythe-adjacent news, we pay respects to Badger Bob Johnson. May peace be upon ye, and it will *always* be a great day for hockey. TONIGHT ON SMYTHEWATCH! BN: 7

[@TheManny717]

(Opening Graphics) But first, we start with the passing of Badger Bob Johnson. Three months after he suffered a brain aneurysm and received the news that he has brain cancer, he succumbed to that disease - he was just 60 years old, but he left behind a legacy to look upon.

[@MrBlazemaster525]

​@@TheManny717*sticktaps and red towels waving*

[@thedamned6248]

This is the year I really started to watch hockey. I still didn't know a lot about it, but I bought a Penguins jersey and have rooted for them ever since. That is until Arizona got their team. Then I rooted for both. Then I moved to Utah in 2001. The rest, as they say in history. P.S. Somehow, Calgary snuck in there, too.

[@zept2170]

Getting close to 95, can't wait.

[@ElmSt1984]

That 1991/92 Pens team is my all time favorite,with my 2 all time favorite players in Mario Lemieux and Kevin Stevens. It seemed like no matter what happened,that team was destined to win the Stanley cup. They overcame SO much to get there. What an amazing team!

[@JoeBatson]

Susan St. James was from Kate and Allie

[@matthewdaley746]

Semi-Retired, truly, odd, inexplicable.

[@michaelleroy9281]

Yes, The Stanley Cup playoffs ended on June 1

[@YungEmmakulata]

This is the year I really get into hockey. Collecting cards, cheering on my Flyers even though they weren't good.

[@kieranperreaultdit-morin9262]

I thought heard something that during that playoff run for Chicago, Wirtz (I believe Bill) the owner of the blackhawks was so mad at the hawks they won all those games in a row (losing the potential ticket revenue) he came in the locker room and grilled them over it

[@matthewdaley746]

Additionally, prevented, broadcasts, insufferable.

[@Mach141]

Mr Rodgers! Heck yeah. I did not remember this. He has his own statue in Pitt now.

[@sirekumasutra7022]

Susan St James also was a guest announcer at Wrestlemania 2 and the wife of NBC Dick Ebersol.

[@jameshenner5831]

Let's Go Red Wings! Tied for 2nd best team in the league.

[@SverigeiSverige]

Adam Oates also played for Boston, he was trade for Craig Janney and Stefanie Quintal.

[@kosmicwizard]

I used to play ea nhl against my friend back in the day, he was always the Pens, I was always the Hawks. He rarely ever won. I would do the spin-a-rama with D. Savard and it was pretty much a goal every time, lol

[@derekleblanc9717]

Savard was with Montreal at the time

[@kosmicwizard]

@@derekleblanc9717 must have been nhl 95?

[@Warhawknm]

the rangers had an awesome team that year. so many awesome players: Kocur, Mess, Gartner, Amonte, Tie Domi, beezer, richter, leetch, james patrick. man the rangers should of won that cup!

[@matthewdaley746]

Worse, Tony Amonte, Mike Gartner, and, Todd Marchant, were traded away for unnecessary depth pieces two seasons later, as a result, a possible, Dynasty, became a, one-off, simple as that.

[@DavidMartinez-cq3hx]

As a Sharks fan I remember 1992 as the year I saw my 1st NHL game up at the old Cow Palace in Daly City, I saw the original Winnipeg Jets vs the Sharks and I have been hooked ever since. As someone who grew up a Giants and 49ers fan and also played baseball and football once I started watching hockey I always say I am a Sharks fan 1st and a 49ers fan a close 2nd. Go Sharks!!!!

[@jeromekeefe6334]

I have the full set of Pro Set Honorary Captains.

[@isaiahwirch9389]

Love the vid

[@RobbyThomas18]

From being born in 02. Seems like 90s era blues was oprah winfrey this year. Just handing out all star players

[@markroberts9577]

McMillian and wife was the show

[@edwarddobrowolski9398]

can you do a career video on Cheveldae?

[@kosmicwizard]

Shannon, can you do a video of Nordiques first round picks from Sakic to Lindros? Covering possibly who they should have taken instead of Lescision (sorry spelling) and Nolan? But even if you only count Sakic, Sundin and Lindros how could that not have been literally epic?

[@madmen2288]

Tomorrow is going to get weird... Really weird.

[@matthewdaley746]

Not really, a team took their success for granted, and, the predictable result, occurred.

[@SverigeiSverige]

Mark Recchi was traded for Rick Tocchet and Kjell Samuelsson.

[@run2fire]

Pittsburgh in 93 had the Presidents Trophy curse

[@matthewdaley746]

More like they had, The, Arrogance, Curse, seriously, they completely dismissed the Islanders until it was too late, really, truly.

[@randypattie9524]

You mention the Canucks that uear as your favorite team. Imagine IF; Peter Nedved has actually developed as a number two pick instead of pouting his way out of town. IF, Igor Larionov had stayed and not left out of honor. IF, they had one defenceman who had half the skill of Quinn Hughes. Wait, maybe that was the problem!

[@bartsanders1553]

Nordiques out here sellin' bridges.

[@grahamdamberger7130]

Oilers were swept in the Conference Finals in 1992, and it would happen again 30 years later, despite them having a SCF appearance in between those two trips to the WCF. Just thought that was hilarious, and both times it was against a team in the now Central Division.

[@matthewdaley746]

The, Oilers', run to the, Conference Final, in 1991, was a total mirage, they lost Jari Kurri before the season, the, Blues/Blackhawks, would have absolutely annihilated them, they admitted their return to the, Conference Final, in 1992, was a fluke, it actually ended their run for good, despite, lacking the feeling of finality from the previous season, simple as that, really, truly.

[@jacobdill4499]

Looking at all the good players traded to Vancouver & Calgary, the Blues could have been a really good team if they had held onto some of those players.

[@matthewdaley746]

Throughout their history, the Blues were a team that could have been great, unfortunately, they were their own worst enemy, they kept building, Champions/Dynasties, and, getting next to nothing in return, worse, because they kept making the, (diluted), Playoffs, they could never improve through the draft, perpetual mediocrity proved nasty, 2019 has been liberating, if only to a small degree.

[@severed111]

Another childhood epic, everything was great then, the cold war's over, that bad president in the US is going away (sorry for the apparent but very brief political commentary, future looked very bright then as I was close to getting to 10 y/o) my own hockey and baseball "career" had me bumped up a level from Atom (the level before Pee-Wee in Quebec, if you were Atom, you were at the top, others were in the "MAGH" leagues that went from 1 to 5, the previous season after I did a short stint in MAGH 1 perfecting my skating with chairs in practice, I got bumped to MAGH 2 then just one game in MAGH 3 then I ended up in MAGH 4 and the next season training camp had me classed as an Atom level kid so, all things were coming up my way. Same for baseball, the year before I was in the local (city league) and after my team making it to the finals, where the playoffs were 1 loss max, or else you're out, we beat those guys who had lost zero out of 20 games in the season, they always had the same coach and I don't know how that happened, every year I had a different coach, they didn't level up with the same group, some weirdness was going up in that neighborhood for them to be together since they were 5 years old in T-Ball. We beat em 3-1 in the playoffs, and at that age it was if you were 10 points down after an inning, the game was over, and only them had done that to use in the season, early on, we lost our first 3 games and won our last 17, had good pitchers, especially one who could do a Screwball, for a 9-10 year old, he was impressive. So the next season I start in the local league again and there were scouts for the regional team and after a couple games (and my parents being convinced they should spend 130 dollars for all of the bus sittin' we were gonna be doing), i found myself in Pee-Wee BB, the 2 letters meant regional, so there was AA, BB, CC. All at the same time, my Nords were out and so were the Habs, that 4 game sweep had a lot of people in my family breaking a fuse, their hatred for Boston reaching EPIC proportions, hating them more than the Nords, because they thought the Nords were irrelevant (shouldn't have thought that, it was the guys that they met in the playoffs the next season as guys like Nolan finally started being what he was supposed to be and Fiset becoming a solid goalie, Scott Young with Joe Sakic was a scoring machine), but by then when I joined the big baseball team in my area for our age group, of course, I was staying up late, watching the magic on ice that was Lemieux, it was incomprehensible how good he was and I felt lucky to witness that SC finals, although too short compared to the previous season where the North Stars actually gave em a little problems. sigh....good times ☺😎

[@Powderkegable]

Where's the career vids? I guarante if u do a Theo Fleury (or and big name that spent time in Canada) will get views. Keep up the good work.

[@dsc4178]

The trade with Calgary was great, but the Leafs forgot about drafting.

[@matthewdaley746]

They also were way too busy whining about the officials to win, Game Seven, and, losing in, Five Games, to a worse team the following season proved that they weren't going to win the, Cup, anyway.

[@nersharific813]

LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALA LAFONTAINE!!!!!

[@geoffroi-le-Hook]

When the Hawks won 11 straight in the playoffs, it was a new record ... only to be tied by Pittsburgh. Casual Chicago sports fans were more interested in Michael Jordan's second championship with da Bulls.

[@matthewdaley746]

Oddly enough, they had their first, three-peat, the following season, but, it also was the very same year that Mike Ditka got fired, and, the latter event was the bigger story, even after Michael Jordan's, (first), retirement, how, very bizarre.

[@McSomething15]

Detroit is done being mediocre/bad, how long before they became one of the more hated teams?

[@klompsauce]

Oh!

[@gbtrat]

Washington 3-1 up on Pittsburgh with 2 games at home 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[@kosmicwizard]

The draft choices that the Nords picked in the late 80s and early 90s is unprecedented in history. The AVs would have been like the 80s Oilers if they would have been able to keep all those players! As good as the Wings were at that time, I just don't think they would have been able to compete in the rivalry.

[@matthewdaley746]

It's funny, those Red Wings won twice as many, Cups, (2022's another era, entirely), but, there's no getting around the fact that they couldn't win a single Game against the Devils in the, 1995, Final, not, to mention, they quit psychologically way before it ended, meanwhile, the Avs beat the Devils in 2001, and, if Peter Forsberg doesn't go down, it ends in, Six Games, period.

[@toriamansfield2999]

Oh, I dunno. It would have been close, that's for sure! Those 'feud' games were the best ever!!

[@matthewdaley746]

​​​​​@@toriamansfield2999True, ended, swiftly, unquestionably.

[@tonttaana8930]

Nice punch in The middle...sakic/Lindroos/sundin

[@matthewdaley746]

​​​@@tonttaana8930Very physical rivalry, unquestionably.

[@Plaguedoc47]

Damn Hartford and Quebec sucks

[@tehbeernerd]

The Pens were the first team I hated when getting into the NHL a few years later. It seemed like they would never let another team have a league leader in points.