The 1990 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1989–90 season, and the culmination of the 1990 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Edmonton Oilers and the Boston Bruins. This was a rematch of the 1988 Finals, albeit with the notable absence of Wayne Gretzky who was traded from Edmonton to the Los Angeles Kings during the 1988 off-season. The Oilers once again defeated the Bruins, this time in five games, to win the Stanley Cup.
For the Oilers, it was their fifth Cup win in seven years, and the team's only championship after trading Gretzky. This was the last of eight consecutive Finals contested by a team from Alberta and nine by a team from Western Canada (the Oilers appeared in six, the Calgary Flames in two, the Vancouver Canucks in one).
This was the last appearance in the Finals for the Bruins until 2011, where they would go on to end their 39-year Stanley Cup drought.
Boston defeated the Hartford Whalers 4–3, the Montreal Canadiens 4–1 and the Washington Capitals 4–0 to advance to the Final.
Edmonton defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4–3, the Los Angeles Kings 4–0 and the Chicago Blackhawks 4–2.
In Game 1, Petr Klima scored at 15:13 of the third overtime period to give the Oilers a 3–2 win; this game remains the longest in Stanley Cup Finals history (see Longest NHL overtime games), edging both Brett Hull's Cup-winner in 1999 and Igor Larionov's game-winner in 2002 by less than 30 seconds.
Though the Oilers ultimately won the series in five games, it was the Bruins who dominated play during the early part of the series. The Bruins had more chances to win the opener, and at one point had a 15-4 shot advantage in game two before the Oilers came back.[1]
In Game 5 at the Boston Garden on May 24, the Oilers won 4–1, the first time they had ever clinched the Cup on the road. Edmonton won all three Finals games played at Boston Garden - in each their previous Finals wins, the Oilers only won one game away from Northlands Coliseum. Craig Simpson scored the game-winning goal. Oilers goaltender Bill Ranford, originally the backup who took over from Grant Fuhr for the remainder of the regular season and the entire playoffs, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Game 5 was the last Stanley Cup Finals game ever played at the Boston Garden.
Mark Messier won his first Stanley Cup as a team captain, and his fifth overall.[2] He won his sixth Stanley Cup as the captain with the New York Rangers four years later, and scored the Cup-winning goal, making him the only player to captain two different Cup-winning teams.[3][4]
Ray Bourque did not reach the Stanley Cup Finals again until the Colorado Avalanche won in 2001. As for the Bruins, they would not return to the Stanley Cup Finals until their championship season of 2011.[5] The Oilers did not reach the Finals again until 2006, losing in seven games.
Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.
The 1990 Stanley Cup was presented to Oilers captain Mark Messier by NHL President John Ziegler following the Oilers 4–1 win over the Bruins in game five.
The following Oilers players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
1989–90 Edmonton Oilers
Neither player qualified for engravement on the Cup, but both players received Stanley Cup rings. Ruzicka was also included on the team winning picture.
In Canada, the series was televised on the CBC.
In the United States, the series aired nationally on SportsChannel America. However, SportsChannel America's national coverage was blacked out in the Boston area due to the local rights to Bruins games in that TV market. NESN televised games one, two, and five in the Boston area while WSBK had games three and four.
The Oilers’ cup win marked the beginning of the end of Canada’s dominance in the Stanley Cup Finals. After the 1990 Finals, American teams would take home the Stanley Cup in 32 of the next 33 editions of the Finals, with the sole Canadian Cup victory coming in 1993. The Oilers would return to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006 and 2024, but they would lose both in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers respectively.
This was the last Finals appearance for the Bruins until 2011, where they defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games to end a 39-year Cup drought.