The 1992 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Prince of Wales Conference & defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins and the Clarence Campbell Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks were appearing in their first Finals since 1973.
After the Blackhawks jumped to an early 4–1 lead in the first game of the series, Mario Lemieux and the Penguins came back to win the game, sweep the series in four games and win their second consecutive and second overall Stanley Cup.
It was the 99th year of the Stanley Cup and the first to extend into the month of June and it was the last final for Chicago Stadium as it closed in 1994.
Road to the Finals[]
The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals 4–3, the New York Rangers 4–2, and the Boston Bruins 4–0.
The Chicago Blackhawks had to defeat their three biggest rivals, first the St. Louis Blues 4–2, then their long-time Original Six rival Detroit Red Wings 4–0, and then, the Edmonton Oilers 4–0.
With their co-tenants at Chicago Stadium, the Chicago Bulls (coached by Phil Jackson and led by Michael Jordan) playing in (and winning) the NBA Finals, it was an opportunity for both the Blackhawks and the Bulls to help the city of Chicago become the first city to have both NHL and NBA championships in the same year.
(New York also had this opportunity in 1994 when the Knicks and Rangers made the finals in their respective sport; however, the result was the same, albeit a reversal of Chicago's ending, as the Rangers won their first Stanley Cup since 1940, and the Knicks lost, with both of those series going the full seven games.)
Chicago set an NHL playoff record in winning 11 games in a row to reach the finals.
Pittsburgh had won seven in a row entering the finals and swept Chicago in four games to tie Chicago's record.
Pittsburgh then extended the playoff winning streak record to 14 with wins in the first three games against the New Jersey Devils in the following season's first playoff round.
The Series[]
Stanley Cup Engraving[]
Centers
- 10 Ron Francis
- 15 Shawn McEachern
- 18 Ken Priestlay
- 19 Bryan Trottier (A)
- 38 Jiri Hrdina
- 66 Mario Lemieux (Captain)
Wingers
- 7 Joe Mullen
- 12 Bob Errey (A)
- 14 Jock Callander
- 16 Jay Caufield
- 20 Jamie Leach
- 24 Troy Loney
- 25 Kevin Stevens
- 29 Phil Bourque
- 34 Dave Michayluk
- 43 Jeff Daniels*
- 45 Mike Needham*
- 68 Jaromir Jagr
- 92 Rick Tocchet
Defencemen
- 2 Jim Paek
- 3 Grant Jennings
- 5 Ulf Samuelsson
- 6 Jeff Chychrun
- 22 Paul Stanton
- 23 Kjell Samuelsson
- 28 Gordie Roberts
- 32 Peter Taglianetti
- 55 Larry Murphy
Goaltenders
- 1 Wendell Young
- 31 Ken Wregget
- 35 Tom Barrasso
Non-Players[]
- Morris Belzberg (Owner)
- Howard Baldwin Sr. (Owner/President)
- Thomas Ruta (Owner)
- Donn Patton (Vice President-Chief Financial Officer)
- J. Paul Martha (Vice President-General Council)
- Craig Patrick (Vice President/General Manager)
- Bob Johnson (Coach)
- Scotty Bowman (Head Coach/Director of Player Development-Recruitment
- Barry Smith (Asst. Coach)
- Rick Kehoe (Asst. Coach)
- Pierre McGuire (Asst. Coach)
- Gilles Meloche (Goaltending Coach/Scout)
- Rick Paterson (Asst. Coach)
- Steve Latin (Equipment Manager)
- Charles "Skip" Thayer (Trainer)
- John Welday (Strength-Conditioning Coach)
- Greg Malone (Head Scout)
- Les Binkley (Scout)
- Charlie Hodge (Scout)
- John Gill (Scout)
- Ralph Cox (Scout)
Engraving Notes[]
- Mike Needham* did not play in any regular season games for Pittsburgh (played in the minors), but played in five playoff games (one playoff game in the conference finals, but not in the Finals).
- Jeff Daniels played in two regular season games for Pittsburgh, spent the rest of the regular season in the minors, but was recalled during the playoffs. Their names were engraved on the Stanley Cup, even though they did not qualify.
- Ken Priestlay played in 49 regular season games and was sent to the minors at the trade deadline, but rejoined the team late in the playoffs. Priestlay was also included on the Stanley Cup even though he played in the minors during the playoffs. Pittsburgh included a record 31 players on the Stanley Cup in 1992.
- Bob Johnson, head coach of the Penguins in the 1990–91 NHL season & for their 1991 championship, died on November 26, 1991 of cancer. The NHL allowed the 1991–92 Penguins to have his name engraved on the Cup.
Pierre McGuire, Les Binkley, John Gill, Charlie Hodge & Ralph Cox were with the team as Scouts in the 1990–91 season, but their names were not included on the Stanley Cup that year. All five members have two Stanley Cup rings with Pittsburgh.
The team doctor, Charles Burke won cups with Pittsburgh in the 1991-92 season, but his name was left off.
Aftermath[]
The Penguins won a league record 17 straight games en route to the Presidents' Trophy in the 1992-93 season despite Mario Lemieux missing much of the season to Hodgkin's lymphoma, but they lost in the conference semifinals to the New York Islanders.