The Top Stanley Cup Celebrations

You might have seen the NHL's latest attempt at marketing its product via a television commercial. If so, you're probably just as in awe of it as I am. If you haven't seen it, you'll be surprised to see that it's actually effective. In fact, it might be the best ad the NHL has ever produced. Given the days of the "My NHL" promotional campaign, that's not saying much. But I'd put it up there with the "Pond Of Dreams" from the 2000 All-Star Game - and that's saying something.

Anyway. With the Stanley Cup Finals starting on Saturday, I thought this might be a good time to look at the great Stanley Cup celebrations of our time. It's one thing to win the Cup; it's an entirely different thing to celebrate the win in style. A good celebration can put the whole thing over the top and make it that much more memorable. There are a few characteristics that make for a great Cup celebration...

- A superstar or veteran winning his first Cup. Seeing a player with the Stanley Cup held proudly above his head completely changes his perception. Whereas before he might have been a good player, he's now a winner. His name is going to be on that Cup forever. His fans will never forget that he helped bring the Cup to their city. And, as they say, the first Cup is always the best.

- The home team wins. Sure, winning a Stanley Cup is always special. But on the road, it sort of loses some of its luster. The crowd might give a polite round of applause, but it's a far cry from the boisterous scene of a hometown victory. There's nothing like watching the captain raising the Cup for the first time in front of a raucous crowd. You will never hear a louder roar in an arena than when the Stanley Cup is awarded.

- The deciding game is close. Ideally, the game would end on an overtime goal to win the Cup, but that's far from likely. Instead, the closest you'd get is a game that goes down to the final minute, where an empty-net goal sets thae celebration off. A blowout win takes away from the spontaneity of the celebration, which many times is the best part.

With these rules in mind, let's look at the top five Cup celebrations of the past twenty-five years.

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5: 1987 Edmonton Oilers/1998 Detroit Red Wings





These ones are special for what happens immediately after the Cup is given to the captain. Usually, the Cup goes from the captain to one of the alternate captains or one of the big stars. In these cases, though, the second recipient meant a little bit more. In 1987, Gretzky received the Stanley Cup for the third time and gave it right to Steve Smith, whom most blamed for the Oilers' loss to the Flames the previous year. Eleven years later, Steve Yzerman gave the Cup to Vladimir Konstantinov, who was involved in a serious car accident just days after the Red Wings' Cup win in 1997. Kudos to the Washington fans for recognizing this and applauding appropriately.

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4: 1995 New Jersey Devils


You probably didn't think you'd be seeing the Devils on here, did you? And it's not just to show that once upon a time, people actually did attend games in New Jersey. At this point in time, the crowd was absolutely rocking - the camera shook non-stop during the game itself. Also, they were a great story, upsetting the heavily favored Red Wings. My favorite part is not the Cup presentation to Scott Stevens, but the Conn Smythe being awarded to Claude Lemieux. Not only is it imperative to recognize one of the greatest playoff performers of all-time, but to see the emotion on his face is powerful stuff. People love to say he doesn't respect the game, but it's clear from this scene that he truly appreciated the honor.

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3: 2006 Carolina Hurricanes


There's just something about this one that gets me. Maybe it's because it had been two years since the Cup was awarded. Maybe it's because it was so nice to see hockey succeed in a non-traditional market. But it's probably because so many veterans that had never won a Stanley Cup were winners here. Rod Brind'Amour, Glen Wesley, Doug Weight, Bret Hedican... the list goes on and on. Not to mention the heroics of Cam Ward and Erik Cole, who was supposed to be out for the season months prior. Seeing the crowd go nuts after Justin Williams' empty-netter still gives me chills.

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2: 1994 New York Rangers


Sorry, Ranger fans, but you just barely got nudged out of the top spot. This was the last Stanley Cup Final to be broadcast on regional TV, which means we get the call of Sam Rosen and John Davidson (yes, this is the one time when Gary Thorne takes a back seat to anybody else). To hear Rosen, a lifelong Ranger fan, and the former Ranger Davidson cherish the moment is something special. Obviously, the rest of the celebration is just beyond compare; even us Islander fans can't help but appreciate it. Sure enough, on WFAN's list of the top twenty moments of their twenty-year history, New York - a baseball town at heart - picked the Rangers' Stanley Cup win in 1994 as their most cherished memory.

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1: 2001 Colorado Avalanche


Now you see why the Rangers didn't take the top spot. As we all know, the 2001 Cup will always be remembered as the moment Ray Bourque finally got to hoist the Cup. Joe Sakic can't wait to dump the Cup off on Bourque so he can finally experience what he's dreamed about for his entire career. Good luck keeping your composure as you watch this - especially around the 2:12 mark. It's getting dusty in here just thinking about it.

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So there you have it - some of the finest moments in Stanley Cup Playoffs history. Here's hoping for another wonderful memory or two to add to the list in the next two weeks.