# 1979 Stanley Cup Finals

The 1979 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1978–79 season, and the culmination of the 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs. The New York Rangers challenged the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, who made their fourth straight appearance. It was New York's first foray into the Finals since 1972. The Canadiens would win the best-of-seven series, four games to one, to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup championship.
This was the first of six consecutive Finals involving a team from the New York metropolitan area. The next five Finals would be contested by the Rangers' crosstown rivals the New York Islanders, 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 in Major League Baseball. The aforementioned Islanders are the only team to accomplish it since. This was also the last Stanley Cup Finals until 2013 where both teams were from the Original Six. An Original Six club would not reach the Finals again until Montreal won their next championship in 1986.

## Paths to the Finals

Montreal defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 and the Boston Bruins 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 4–1 and the New York Islanders 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 1968. After the game Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer, and Ken Dryden retired, while head coach Scotty Bowman left the Canadiens to join the Buffalo Sabres, 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 1976, they coached against each other, though Shero was with the Philadelphia Flyers.
* Montreal won series 4–1

## Team rosters
### Montreal Canadiens

| No. | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
| 1 | Michel Larocque | G | L | 27 | 1972 | Hull, Quebec |
| 3 | Brian Engblom | D | L | 24 | 1975 | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| 5 | Guy Lapointe | D | L | 31 | 1969 | Montreal, Quebec |
| 6 | Pierre Mondou | C | R | 23 | 1975 | Sorel, Quebec |
| 8 | Doug Risebrough | C | L | 25 | 1974 | Guelph, Ontario |
| 10 | Guy Lafleur | RW | R | 27 | 1971 | Thurso, Quebec |
| 11 | Yvon Lambert | LW | L | 28 | 1971 | Drummondville, Quebec |
| 12 | Yvan Cournoyer (C) | RW | L | 35 | 1963 | Drummondville, Quebec |
| 14 | Mario Tremblay | RW | R | 22 | 1974 | Alma, Quebec |
| 15 | Réjean Houle | RW | L | 29 | 1969 | Rouyn, Quebec |
| 17 | Rod Langway | D | L | 22 | 1977 | Formosa, Taiwan |
| 18 | Serge Savard | D | L | 33 | 1966 | Montreal, Quebec |
| 19 | Larry Robinson | D | L | 27 | 1971 | Winchester, Ontario |
| 20 | Cam Connor | RW | L | 24 | 1978 | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| 21 | Doug Jarvis | C | L | 24 | 1975 | Brantford, Ontario |
| 22 | Steve Shutt | LW | L | 26 | 1972 | North York, Ontario |
| 23 | Bob Gainey | LW | L | 24 | 1973 | Peterborough, Ontario |
| 24 | Gilles Lupien | D | L | 25 | 1974 | Lachute, Quebec |
| 25 | Jacques Lemaire | C | L | 33 | 1967 | LaSalle, Quebec |
| 27 | Rick Chartraw | D | R | 24 | 1974 | Caracas, Venezuela |
| 28 | Pierre Larouche | C | L | 23 | 1977 | Taschereau, Quebec |
| 29 | Ken Dryden | G | L | 31 | 1964 | Hamilton, Ontario |
| 30 | Pat Hughes | RW | R | 24 | 1975 | Calgary, Alberta |
| 31 | Mark Napier | LW | L | 24 | 1975 | North York, Ontario |
| 33 | Richard Sévigny | G | L | 22 | 1979 | Montreal, Quebec |

### New York Rangers

| No. | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
| 1 | Wayne Thomas | G | L | 31 | 1977 | Ottawa, Ontario |
| 3 | Dave Farrish | D | L | 22 | 1976 | Wingham, Ontario |
| 4 | Ron Greschner | D | L | 24 | 1974 | Goodsoil, Saskatchewan |
| 5 | Carol Vadnais | D | L | 33 | 1975 | Montreal, Quebec |
| 6 | Bobby Sheehan | C | L | 30 | 1979 | Weymouth, Massachusetts |
| 8 | Steve Vickers | LW | L | 28 | 1971 | Toronto, Ontario |
| 10 | Ron Duguay | C | R | 21 | 1977 | Sudbury, Ontario |
| 11 | Ulf Nilsson | C | R | 29 | 1978 | Nynäshamn, Sweden |
| 12 | Don Maloney | LW | L | 20 | 1978 | Lindsay, Ontario |
| 14 | Don Murdoch | RW | R | 22 | 1976 | Cranbrook, British Columbia |
| 15 | Anders Hedberg | RW | L | 28 | 1978 | Örnsköldsvik, Sweden |
| 16 | Pat Hickey | LW | L | 25 | 1973 | Brantford, Ontario |
| 17 | Ed Johnstone | RW | R | 25 | 1974 | Brandon, Manitoba |
| 18 | Walt Tkaczuk | C | L | 33 | 1967 | Emsdetten, West Germany |
| 19 | Nick Fotiu | LW | L | 26 | 1976 | Staten Island, New York |
| 23 | Lucien DeBlois | RW | R | 21 | 1977 | Joliette, Quebec |
| 24 | Pierre Plante | RW | L | 27 | 1978 | Valleyfield, Quebec |
| 25 | Mario Marois | D | R | 21 | 1977 | L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec |
| 26 | Dave Maloney (C) | D | L | 22 | 1974 | Kitchener, Ontario |
| 27 | Mike McEwen | D | L | 22 | 1976 | Hornepayne, Ontario |
| 30 | John Davidson | G | L | 26 | 1975 | Ottawa, Ontario |
| 77 | Phil Esposito | C | L | 37 | 1975 | Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario |

## 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

### Players
#### Centres

* 6 Pierre Mondou
* 8 Doug Risebrough
* 21 Doug Jarvis
* 25 Jacques Lemaire
* 28 Pierre Larouche

#### Wingers

* 10 Guy Lafleur
* 11 Yvon Lambert
* 12 Yvan Cournoyer (Captain)
* 14 Mario Tremblay
* 15 Rejean Houle
* 20 Cam Connor
* 22 Steve Shutt
* 23 Bob Gainey
* 30 Pat Hughes
* 31 Mark Napier

#### Defencemen

* 3 Brian Engblom
* 5 Guy Lapointe
* 17 Rod Langway
* 18 Serge Savard†
* 19 Larry Robinson
* 24 Gilles Lupien
* 27 Rick Chartraw

#### Goaltenders

* 29 Ken Dryden
* 1 Michel Bunny Larocque
* 33 Richard Sevigny(spare dressed in finals)††

### Coaching and administrative staff

* Jacques Courtois (President), Sam Pollock (Director)
* Irving Grundman (Vice President/General Manager), Jean Beliveau (Vice President - Director of Cooperate Affairs)
* William Scotty Bowman (Head Coach), Claude Ruel (Director of Player Development)
* Al MacNeil (Director of Player Personnel), Morgan McCammon (Director)
* Ron Caron (Asst. General Manager/Director of Communication), Eddy Palchak (Trainer)
* Pierre Meilleur (Asst. Trainer)

### Stanley Cup engraving

* †Yvan Cournoyer played only 18 regular season games. He missed the rest of the season due to a back injury. His name was still put on the cup, even though he did not qualify. Serge Savard served as interim captain while Cournoyer was injured.
* ††Richard Sevigny's name was engraved on the Stanley Cup, before he played his first NHL game. He was dressed in the finals when Michel Larocque was injured in pre-game warm-up for game two. Sevigny joined Montreal full-time, the next season after Ken Dryden retired.
* #26 Dan Newman played 16 regular season games, but did not qualify to be on the cup. He was dressed for one game in the quarterfinals, but did not play
* Floyd Curry changed roles from Assistant Manager to Director of Scouting. Name was left off the Stanley Cup.
* American Rod Langway was born in Taiwan. This makes Langway first and only player to win the Stanley Cup born in Taiwan (Republic of China).

### 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 and split game 2 with Danny Gallivan. Gary Dornhoefer served as color commentator for Games 1 and 5, Gerry Pinder served as color commentator for Game 2 only, Bobby Orr served as color commentator from Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, Dick Irvin Jr. served as color commentator for the entire Finals and hosted the games in Montreal, Dave Hodge and Howie Meeker hosted the games in New York City. ABC was contracted to televise game seven. Since the Finals ended in five games, the contract was void.