In 1984, Wayne Gretzky was on his way to becoming "the great one". In his first four seasons in the NHL, the Hall of Fame center had scored 269 goals and tallied 709 points in 319 career games. He had won four consecutive Hart Memorial Trophies (given to the league's most valuable player), three consecutive Art Ross trophies (given to the league's top scorer) and two consecutive Lester Pearson awards (given to the most outstanding player voted on by the NHL)
The one thing he hadn't been able to do was hoist the cup.
Edmonton was swept by Philadelphia in the first round Gretzky's rookie year in 1979-80. In 1980-81, they swept Vancouver in the first round before losing in six games to the New York Islanders, who were in the middle of their run of four straight championships. In 1981-82, they were upset by a 24-win LA Kings team in five games. In 1982-83, they finally reached the Stanley Cup Finals before being swept by the Islanders for their fourth straight Stanley Cup.
But this isn't a blog about Edmonton. This is a blog about Minnesota.
In the 1983-84 season, the North Stars won their second Norris Division championship in three years.
At 39-31-10 (88 points), the North Stars were the only division winner not to win at last 49 games and have fewer than 100 points.
In fact, eight other franchises (Edmonton, Boston, Buffalo, Quebec, NY Islanders, Washington, Philadelphia, NY Rangers) had more points than the North Stars.
If Brian Bellows and the 1983-84 North Stars
had played in the Patrick Division, they would have
finished in fifth place.
During their Stanley Cup Finals run in 1981, the North Stars were an underdog in almost every series as well. Brian Bellows, Neal Broten and Dino Cicerelli were up for the challenge.
In the first round of the playoffs, the North Stars drew rival Chicago. After losing to the New York Islanders in the 1980-81 Stanley Cup Finals, the Black Hawks had eliminated Minnesota the past two seasons.
The 68-point Black Hawks won Game One in Bloomington 3-1. In Game Two, the North Stars needed some late-game heroics. Tied 3-3 after the second period, Al MacAdam and Willi Plett each scored to give Minnesota a 5-3 lead. A Denis Savard goal trimmed the lead to 5-4 before Neal Brotten scored to make it 6-4. A late Darryl Sutter goal made it a one goal game before Minnesota's defense locked down to give the North Stars a 6-5 Game Two win.
Game Three at Chicago Stadium went to Minnesota 4-1 to give the North Stars a 2-1 series lead. Game Four saw Minnesota lose a 3-2 midway through the third period to lose 4-3.
The North Stars never trailed in the decisive Game Five at the Met Center, winning 4-1 to take the series.
The semi-final round matched the North Stars up against the St. Louis Blues, who had defeated the Detroit Red Wings in four games. The two teams split the first four games of the series. In Game 5, the North Stars shut the Blues out 6-0. St. Louis responded in Game Six by shutting Minnesota out 4-0. A decisive Game Seven was played at the Met Center, and was tied at the end of regulation. A Steve Payne goal gave Minnesota the series win in overtime and a date with the Edmonton Oilers in the Conference Finals.
Steve Payne
After going 2-0 in elimination games, the North Stars were pretty confident into their tough match up against Edmonton. They'd need more than confidence against a team that featured eight 20+ goal scorers (Gretzky had 87 by himself) and six future Hall of Famers (Anderson, Fuhr, Gretzky, Kurri, Messier, Coffey).
The series wasn't even close. Edmonton outscored Minnesota 22-10 in the four game sweep. Five of Minnesota's goals came in an 8-5 Game Three loss with Andy Moog in net.
Embed from Getty Images
Jari Kurri (above) scored as many goals (5) as
G Grant Fuhr allowed (5) against Minnesota
Jari Kurri (above) scored as many goals (5) as
G Grant Fuhr allowed (5) against Minnesota
The Oilers would dethrone the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup finals, winning their first of five Stanley Cups in the 1980s.
And, just like in 1980-81, the North Stars were once again a footnote of one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history.
And, just like in 1980-81, the North Stars were once again a footnote of one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history.
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