In 1983's Stanley Cup Final the Islanders beat the Oilers to win the Cup. But 1 year later the Oilers got their revenge on the Islanders in the Final by winning the Stanley Cup. Today Gretzky talked about the rivalry that was created against the Islanders. “There was a rivalry that was created between us and the Islander,” recalled Gretzky. “Losing that first final, walking by their locker room the one thought we had as players was that it was going to be a dreadful sight watching them celebrate and have a tremendous time."
"As we found out, it was pretty quite in there. Really, we kind of walked out healthy and they were pretty beat up and we realized then and there it takes more than just wanting to win, you were going to have to earn it and it was going to take a lot to win a Stanley Cup and be a champion.”Mark Messier also talked about the Cup final.“The Islanders presented a big challenge for us,” stated Messier. “They were very well coached, they played a very tight defensive game and they really took a lot of things away from us that we liked to do offensively.
"Getting swept the previous year, we knew we had to come back the next year and figure out a way to play better as a team defensively and harder.”The Penguins will look to do exactly what the Oilers did by beating the Wings to win the Cup.Over the years in Crosby's career he has been compared to Gretzky and Lemieux. But Crosby said he can not be compared to them unless he wins a Stanley Cup.They've won cups and, you know, and we've yet to do that," Crosby said. "So we still have some things to prove."
The other big story about this series is about Hossa facing his former team."It's a unique situation right now, definitely this doesn't happen often," Hossa said."I try to make the best of the situation for myself and try to help the team win a Cup." Look back at the NHL offseason 2008, Hossa turned down the Penguins offer and settled for less to sign with Detroit.Hossa signed with the Wings because he thought that Detroit would make the Cup Final and the Pens would not. "It was a really tough decision for me to make," Hossa said of his choice at the time. "When I compared the two teams, I felt like I would have a little better of a chance to win the Cup in Detroit."the Cup Final will start this Saturday.
Written By Andrew Di Pardo
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