Today in History – 94 Cup Run Comes to End

It was today, 16 years ago that Mark Messier made good on his guarantee in the City of New York, and helped his and Mike Keenans New York Rangers defeat the Vancouver Canucks in 7 games to win the Stanley Cup. Many people have many memories of that day, and game.

One in particular from broadcast legend Jim Robson, where he remembers walking up to the arena, and seeing the Canucks team bus go by. Tim Hunter stuck out a thumbs up to the radio man. Jim Robson to this day will tell you that at that very moment, he truly believed the Vancouver Canucks would win the game. But, it was not meant to be. From a league perspective, it was likely better that at that time, a marquee city and media capital like New York win the cup. It really was the perfect ending for the league and that franchise. Over on the West Coast, it was everything but. The City of Vancouver, that night and leading into morning, had one of its most embarrassing moments, the 94 riots. As thousands celebrated a cup run, a few hundred likely fueled by alcohol, and probably not knowing the Canucks starting lineup, decided to break some windows, flip a cop car or two, and steal some merchandise. Of course, the way mob mentality goes, it was as if the entire city, for a few hours, was dedicated to entering a different kind of rebuilding. Weeks of mugshots, and partial pictures of faces on news programs followed. Police were asking for any information as to who took part in the chaos. Many arrests followed.

On the ice, the story in this city is a familiar one. Mike Keenan, eventually wound up in this city behind the bench, bringing his ‘Iron Mike’ approach with him. He eventually got Mark Messier to follow him, that led to the heart and soul of the city, Trevor Linden, being stripped of the ‘C’. It also led to a good few years of the worst hockey and results this city has ever seen. The Moose experiment was a clear bust. With the team having little to no chemistry, Keenan inspiring nothing but shouting matches with his star players, oftentimes mid game, the team almost willingly imploded. And, the rebuild was taking a different direction.