May 24, 1980: The New York Islanders win their 1st Stanley Cup. It was the conclusion of their 8th season of play, and after close calls in the Playoffs in 1975, '78 and '79, they went all the way. The reached the Finals by beating the Los Angeles Kings 3 games to 1, the Boston Bruins 4-1, and the Buffalo Sabres 4-2.
In the Finals, they faced the Philadelphia Flyers, who had won the Cup in 1974 and '75, lost in the Finals in '76, and, earlier in the 1979-80 season, with a few holdovers from their Cup-winning teams including Captain Bobby Clarke, set a North American major league sports record by going 35 games unbeaten: Won 26, tied 9, lost exactly none. They had swept the Edmonton Oilers 3-0, beaten the New York Rangers 4-1, and beaten the Minnesota North Stars 4-1. They had also beaten the Islanders in the 1975 Playoffs.
In Game 1 of the Finals, Islander Captain Denis Potvin scored in overtime to give the Isles a 4-3 win at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Flyers made them pay dearly for that, pounding them 8-3 in Game 2.
On May 17, the Nassau Coliseum, having already hosted the Nets in the ABA Finals in 1974 and '76 (the team now in the NBA, and in New Jersey, winning both), hosted its 1st Stanley Cup Finals game, and the Isles won 6-2. They won Game 4 5-2. The series went back to Philly for Game 5, and the Flyers won it 6-3.
Game 6 was crucial for the Isles: As was the case with the Flyers in '74, facing the Boston Bruins, they did not want to lose Game 6, and give themselves the task of going on the road in Game 7 against the far more experienced team that already knew how to win.
Reggie Leach opened the scoring for the Flyers, but Potvin soon equalized. A little over 2 minutes later, Clark Gilles made a drop pass to Butch Goring, and the instant replay showed that it was offside. But referee Leon Stickle missed this, and Goring passed to Duane Sutter, who scored at 14:08 of the 1st period, giving the Isles a 2-1 lead.
This was not enough to stop the Flyers, as Brian Propp scored at 18:58, and the game went into the 1st intermission at 2-2. Mike Bossy scored midway through the 2nd period, and Bobby Nystrom did so with 14 minutes left, and it was 4-2 Islanders. But within 6 minutes and 2 seconds of the 3rd period, Bob Dailey and John Paddock scored for the Flyers, and the game was tied. It went to overtime.
At 7:11 of overtime, Nystrom scored the most important goal in Islander history, past Pete Peeters. The New York Islanders had won the Stanley Cup. A franchise had grown up.
This is the only color photo I could find involving the goal.
Hail the Champions: 1, backup goaltender Glenn "Chico" Resch; 3, defenseman Jean Potvin; 4, defenseman Bob Lorimer; 5, Captain and defenseman Denis Potvin, Jean's brother; 6, defenseman Ken Morrow; 7, defenseman Stefan Persson; 8, left wing Garry Howatt; 9, left wing Clark Gillies; 10, center Lorne Henning; 11, center Wayne Merrick; 12, right wing Duane Sutter; 14, center Bob Bourne; 16, center Steve Tambellini; 17, left wing Alex McKendry; 19, center Bryan Trottier; 22, right wing Mike Bossy; 23, right wing Bobby Nystrom; 24, defenseman Gord Lane; 26, defenseman Dave "Bam Bam" Langevin; 27, left wing John Tonelli; 28, right wing Anders Kallur; 31, goaltender Billy Smith and 91, center Robert "Butch" Goring.
The most familiar photo: Henning celebrating with Nystrom.
The Flyers and their fans were outraged. They were sure that this goal was offside as well. The instant replay was inconclusive, but if they'd gotten the earlier call right, the game never would have gone to overtime: The Flyers would have won 4-3, and forced a Game 7 in Philadelphia. Instead, it was 5-4, and the Islanders were World Champions.
Did Stickle really cost the Flyers the title? He had already been an NHL referee for 11 seasons, and had previously worked the Stanley Cup Finals in 1977 and 1978. Each was a victory by the Montreal Canadiens over the Boston Bruins.
What's more, in spite of his apparent mistakes, the NHL continued to assign Stickle to big moments: The Stanley Cup Finals again in 1981, 1984 and 1985. The Canada Cup in 1981 nd 1984. And Rendez-vous '87, the Canada vs. Soviet Union "summit series" that took the place of that year's All-Star Game.
He kept officiating until he retired after the 1997-98 season, and Game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals remains the only game, out of the 2,069 regular-season and 206 postseason games at which he officiated in 28 years, that anybody complains about him for.
Which doesn't mean he didn't make a mistake or two during the game in question. But you should also consider that the linesmen missed the Gillies-Goring offside as well. And linesmen are supposed to look out for offside.
Then there's the Flyers' reputation: If they hadn't done the things that got them nicknamed the Broad Street Bullies from 1969 onward, maybe they would have gotten the benefit of the doubt on close calls. Many times, the Fly Guys dug their own graves. That's no excuse for getting calls wrong, but it is, however flimsy, an explanation.
Then there was the goaltending situation. In both 1974 and 1975, Bernie Parent won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goaltender of the year, and the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff Most Valuable Player. Those are the only 2 seasons in which the Flyers have ever won the Stanley Cup. He was a 5-time All-Star, and in spite of a career that wasn't as long as it should have been, he was listed as 63rd on The Hockey News' 1998 list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
In 1979, Parent suffered a freak injury, when a stick went through the right eyehole of his mask. He was only 34 years old, but the damage to his eye was such that he had to retire. The Flyers have gone through a lot of goalies since, including Pete Peeters in the 1980 Finals, Pelle Lindbergh in '85, Ron Hextall in '87 after Lindbergh's death in a drunk-driving crash, the tandem of Hextall and Garth Snow in '97, and Brian Boucher in 2010. None of them have been able to protect the net like Parent. Few goalies ever have. But in 42 years, they're still looking for that Cup-worthy goalie.
But even if Peeters had saved Nystrom's shot, and the Flyers had gone on to win Game 6, there would still have been a Game 7. Yes, it would have been at The Spectrum. But from 1975 to 1980, the Islanders had already won 20 Playoff games on the road, including 7 that year. And this was before they had the label of "Champions," let alone that of "Dynasty."
Had this series gone to a Game 7 in The Spectrum, there's no guarantee that the Flyers would have won it. You think the Islanders were going to be intimidated by the Philly crowd? They weren't intimidated by Ranger fans, or Boston fans, or Montreal fans. Compared to that, Philly fans were going to be a piece of cake.
The Islanders were better. Did Leon Stickle make mistakes? Sure, he did. Is he a reason why the Flyers lost the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals? Certainly. Is he the biggest reason why? No.
In 1988, the Flyers established a team Hall of Fame. Paul Holmgren was the only player on the 1980 Flyer Finalists who did not also play on the earlier Flyer Finalists of 1974, '75 or '76; or the later Flyer Finalists of 1985, '87, '97 or 2010.
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May 24, 1980 was a Saturday. Football was out of season. The basketball season had ended 8 days earlier, with the NBA Finals, and Philadelphia had lost that, too: The 76ers lost in 6 games to the Los Angeles Lakers. At least the Flyers didn't get clinched on at The Spectrum: The Sixers did.
A full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-2 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Ruppert Jones hit a home run in support of Luis Tiant. Yes, both were Yankees that season. Reggie Jackson did not play.
* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Shea Stadium. Mike Jorgensen hit a home run in support of Pat Zachry, but the winning run was driven in by Elliott Maddox with a single off Rick Camp in the bottom of the 10th. Camp would appear in Met history again.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Rookie sensation "Super" Joe Charboneau hit a home run in support of Rick Waits. Carl Yastrzemski did not play.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 5-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt had an RBI triple, Pete Rose went 0-for-3 with a walk. No one knew it yet, but this was a fitting preview of what is still one of the best League Championship Series ever played.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray hit a home run in support of Jim Palmer.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-9 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Jack Clark hit 2 home runs, Mike Ivie 1. Willie McCovey, in his last season, drew a walk as a pinch-hitter. Willie Stargell and Dave Parker hit home runs for the defending World Champion Bucs. But it was a double by light-hitting Jim Wohlford that won the game for the Giants in the top of the 15th inning.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. George Foster hit a home run, and Johnny Bench went 1-for-2 with a walk, in support of Frank Pastore, who pitched a 2-hit shutout.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Bryan Edmund "Moose" Haas pitched a 4-hit shutout, the Brew Crew's 2nd straight shutout of the Twins. Paul Molitor hit a home run, and Robin Yount went 1-for-4.
* The San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the California Angels, 6-5 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). George Brett went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Rod Carew went 2-for-4 with a walk.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 15-7 at the Oakland Coliseum. Mickey Klutts, once the Yankees' most touted prospect, never panned out for them, but hit a home run for the A's in this game. Rickey Henderson, then a rookie, went 1-for-5 with a walk and an RBI, but no stolen bases.
* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-4 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
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