May 25, 1991: The Pittsburgh Penguins win their 1st Stanley Cup, taking Game 6 of the Finals against the Minnesota North Stars by a whopping 8-0, at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington. Few teams have ever been so badly battered in their own house in a postseason game as the Stars were.
Mario Lemieux and Jaromír Jágr win their 1st Stanley Cup. So does longtime Hartford Whaler star Ron Francis. So does Korean-born, Toronto-raised Jim Paek, who scores in this game. He was the 1st person of Korean descent to play in the NHL, and the 1st native of Asia to win the Cup.
Joe Mullen wins his 2nd, having also won with the 1989 Calgary Flames. Paul Coffey, the former Edmonton Oilers star, wins his 4th. And Bryan Trottier, formerly of the New York Islanders, wins his 5th.
Their coach, Bob Johnson, was known as Badger Bob, having previously led the University of Wisconsin, whose teams are known as the Badgers, to 3 National Championships. He thus became the 1st coach to win an NCAA title and an NHL title. But over the Summer, he was diagnosed with cancer, and died the following November 26. Scotty Bowman was brought in, and he led the Penguins to win the 2nd of back-to-back Cups.
Technically, this game gave Pittsburgh titles in all 4 sports: The Pirates had won 5 World Series, the Steelers had won 4 Super Bowls, and the Pittsburgh Pipers had won the 1968 American Basketball Association Championship, led by Connie Hawkins. However, the Pipers were gone after 1972, and the city has only had an NBA team in the league's 1st season, 1946-47, the Pittsburgh Ironmen. Their best player was Press Maravich, later the father and coach of Pistol Pete.
As for the Stars, they will be moved to Dallas just 2 years later. By the time they finally win the Cup in 1999, only 1 player from this team will still be there: Mike Modano.
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May 25, 1991 was a Saturday. Football was out of season. There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs: The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons, 113-107 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Michael Jordan scored 33 points. The Bulls were about to end the Pistons' 3-year reign as Eastern Conference Champions, and their 2-year reign as NBA Champions, and begin a run of 6 titles in 8 seasons.
And these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. This was a back-and-forth game, including the Yankees scoring 2 runs in the 9th inning and the Orioles 1. Steve Farr was the winning pitcher, in relief of Pascual Pérez. Don Mattingly and Cal Ripken hit home runs.
* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-2 at Shea Stadium. Ken Hill outpitched Wally Whitehurst. Howard Johnson hit a home run.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-6 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Orlando Merced hit a home run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Barry Bonds went 1-for-4.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Montreal Expos, 6-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Tribe scored 2 runs in the 9th to come from behind. Robin Yount went 2-for-4. Paul Molitor went 0-for-4 with a walk.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 11-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. George Brett went 2-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. It was 1-1 after 9 innings. Scott Coolbaugh hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning, and scored 2 more runs. The Astros pulled one back in the bottom of the 10th, but got no closer. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-5 with an RBI.
* The California Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Kirk McCaskill pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, Mark Eichhorn allowed a hit in the 8th, and Bryan Harvey pitched a perfect 9th. Dave Winfield went 1-for-4.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. José Canseco hit a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-6 at the Kingdome in Seattle. In the top of the 11th, Gary Pettis singled home 2 runs, and Juan González hit a 2-run homer. In the bottom of the 11th, Jay Buhner hit a 2-run homer, but the M's got no closer. Ken Griffey Jr. also homered for them.
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