The 1979 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

's (NHL) 1978–79 season, and the culmination of the 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs. The

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...

challenged the defending champion

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, who made their fourth straight appearance. It was New York's first foray into the Finals since . The Canadiens would win the best-of-seven series, four games to one, to win their fourth consecutive

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

championship. This was the last Stanley Cup Final until

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

where both teams were from the Original Six, and the first of six consecutive Finals involving a team from the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

. The next five Finals would be contested by the Rangers' crosstown rivals the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conferenc ...

, who would win the first four of those series to forge a dynasty matching that of the Canadiens. By defeating the Rangers, the Canadiens completed the rare accomplishment of winning four consecutive titles in a North American league competition consisting of at least sixteen teams, and remain the only team based outside the New York metropolitan area to do so. Prior to the Canadiens' dynasty, the feat had been achieved only twice before, both times by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

. The aforementioned Islanders are the only team to accomplish it since.

Paths to the Finals

Montreal defeated the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

4–0 and the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making ...

4–3 (highlighted by the "too many men on the ice" game seven overtime win) to advance to the Final. New York defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2–0, the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

4–1 and the

4–2 to make it to the finals.

Game summaries

The Canadiens won the Cup in five games, winning it on home ice for the first time since . After the game Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer and

Ken Dryden Kenneth Wayne Dryden (born August 8, 1947) is a Canadian politician, lawyer, businessman, author, and former National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was a Liber ...

retired, while head coach Scotty Bowman would leave the Canadiens to join the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, alon ...

, which would mark the end of the Canadiens' dynasty. Montreal Canadiens scored 46 total points during the Stanley Cup finals, while the New York Rangers scored 26 points in the finals. This Final marked the second time in four years that Bowman and Fred Shero coached against each other. In , they coached against each other, though Shero was with the

Team rosters

Montreal Canadiens

New York Rangers

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1979 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens acting captain Serge Savard by NHL President John Ziegler following the Canadiens 4–1 win over the Rangers in game five. The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup 1978–79 Montreal Canadiens

Members of Montreal Canadiens 1976 to 1979 dynasty

*''Players'': Rick Chartraw, Yvan Cournoyer, Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey, Doug Jarvis, Guy Lafleur, Yvon Lambert, Guy Lapointe, Michel Larocque, Jacques Lemaire, Doug Risebrough, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Steve Shutt, Mario Tremblay *''Non players'': Jacques Courtois, Sam Pollock, Jean Beliveau, Scotty Bowman, Claude Ruel, Eddie Palchak, Pierre Meilleur, Ron Caron, Floyd Curry

Broadcasting

The Stanley Cup Finals were produced by CBC, who carried the game in Canada and were shown in the United States on the NHL's syndicated package. Dan Kelly called the play-by-play for Games 1, 3, 4, and 5 entirely.

Danny Gallivan Daniel Leo Gallivan (April 11, 1917 February 24, 1993) was a Canadian radio and television broadcaster and sportscaster. Early life Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Gallivan was an avid athlete and was a baseball pitcher on the St. Theresa's parish ...

and Kelly split play-by-play for Game 2 only. Gary Dornhoefer served as color commentator for Games 1 and 5,

Gerry Pinder Allan Gerald "Mouse" Pinder (born September 15, 1948 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 353 games in the World Hockey Association and 223 games in the National Hockey League. He played for ...

served as color commentator for Game 2 only,

Bobby Orr Robert Gordon Orr (born March 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest of all time. Orr used his ice skating speed, scoring, and play-making abilities to revolutionize the pos ...

served as color commentator from Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile,

Dick Irvin Jr. Dick Irvin Jr. (or III), (born March 4, 1932 in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian retired sports broadcaster and author. In 1988, the Hockey Hall of Fame presented him with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, for his contributions to hockey broadca ...

served as color commentator for the entire Finals. He also served as studio host in Montreal, Dave Hodge in New York City, and

Howie Meeker Howard William Meeker (November 4, 1923 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian professional hockey player in the National Hockey League, youth coach and educator in ice hockey, and a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament. He became best ...

served as studio analyst. ABC was contracted to televise game seven. Since the Finals ended in five games, the contract was void.

References

;Bibliography * * {{Navboxes, list1= {{Stanley Cup Finals {{1978–79 NHL season by team {{Montreal Canadiens {{New York Rangers {{The NHL Network (1975–79) {{Hockey Night in Canada

Stanley Cup Finals Montreal Canadiens games New York Rangers games Finals Sports competitions in Montreal 1970s in Montreal

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...

Sports competitions in New York City

1970s in Manhattan Madison Square Garden