Format the following passage properly, for storytelling purposes. Keep it as written, don't change a single word, but improve grammar where necessary.

A heavyweight clash--and how appropriate that I should be writing about it on the day of the fiftieth anniversary of one of the greatest to ever take place, the legendary "Thrilla in Manila" that pitted undefeated champion George Foreman against former champion Muhammad Ali. To this day it is still seen as one of the most thrilling boxing matches of all time, and one of the career milestones of the man who is unanimously regarded by most experts as "The Greatest" to ever lace up a pair of gloves. From wanting to get payback on a boy who stole his bike at a state fair in Louisville when he was 13 years old, to becoming the first man to win the lineal heavyweight championship of the world three times. Just as Ali and his trainer Angelo Dundee figured out how to outwit the fearsome Foreman, by allowing him to wear himself down from a sustained assault--he overestimated his own knockout power based upon his defeats of Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, the only men at that point to defeat Ali as professionals, and did not account for the fact that Ali not only had an iron chin but the will to weather sustained attacks without folding under the pressure--so too did the St. Louis Blues allow the defending champs of the Western conference, the Detroit Red Wings, to take shots to the point of exhaustion. With an underrated great in Curtis Joseph showing up in rare form, just about every Red Wing got a chance to take a shot at his net, and none of them were able to penetrate a defense so stoic, so perplexing as to challenge the greatest conundrums ever conceived. Offensively, the Blues were met with a difficult assignment, as Detroit's own defense proved nearly as impossible to penetrate. In fact, St. Louis was not able to get on the board until a mere three seconds remained in the second period. They would add a second goal in the third period, and with Detroit never able to get anything past Joseph, the Blues emerged with a 2-0 victory. Curtis Joseph may well have been the Ali of the Blues in this performance not so much for any talking he did--as with many hockey players, he had a keen sense of humility and dignity--but by virtue of his sheer tactical brilliance. The Red Wings took a whopping 85 shots at the Blues' net and Joseph finished with a perfect 100% success rate against Detroit's feared offense, while Vitali Karamnov and Jeff Norton held up the offensive end of the deal for the Blues, combining for two goals and two points, ten shots on the goal and not a single second spent in the penalty box. (On a side note, while few will remember Karamnov today, Norton gained a bit of notoriety for himself as he is one of two defenders Mario Lemieux skates between [the other being Rich Pilon] in a bronze statue unveiled at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania back in 2012; as of the time of writing, this venue is now known as the PPG Paints Arena.) Next up for the Blues was a 'defense' against the New York Islanders, who finished their 1994-95 campaign as the second-worst team in the Eastern conference, but still several wins better than the Ottawa Senators. However, there was still a beacon of hope working in their favor: the Senators were not long removed from having had a brief, but glorious, 'reign' as champions. At the same time, examining how the Oilers--the closest Western equivalent to the Islanders--had fared against St. Louis seemed to suggest that if they brought the highest echelon of performance that they were capable of, the Islanders stood a legitimate chance to recapture some of the magic of the late 70s/early 80s dynasty and themselves emerge with an unlikely 'championship.' Though the Blues crushed them 4-0 and 5-1 in their two meetings in St. Louis, the Oilers were able to beat them 6-5 and 3-2 (the former in regulation, the latter in overtime) when Edmonton's Northlands Coliseum served as the host venue. Refusing to be fazed by the rowdiness of the Kiel Center crowd, the Islanders got off to a 2-0 start, not allowing a goal from their opponents until 1:29 remained in the second period. New York would add two more goals in the third period and came away with a 4-1 victory...and just like that, the 25th-ranked team in "NHL '96" had beaten the team ranked 4th, in another stunning outcome. Tommy Söderström--an Elitserien legend who won the Swedish championship with Djurgården in 1989, 1990, and 2000--went 84 for 85 on saves, for a 98% success rate against the Blues' potent offense. Kirk Muller, who had been a piece of the Canadiens' 1993 championship team, finished with two goals (and two points) while taking 14 shots on the goal and only being penalized once (for two in the box). Mathieu Schneider, another piece of the '93 Habs, contributed another goal (and earned a point for himself) while taking six shots on the goal and also avoiding the box completely. Next up for the Islanders were the Chicago Blackhawks, one of only three teams in 1994-95 to have a better regular season record on the road than they did at home. The 'Hawks were also just behind the Blues in the Western conference, seeded 4th in the postseason to their 3rd. Despite the fear factor that can come with facing a proven road winner, the Islanders were again able to show flashes of the dominance that had made them at one time--and to this day--the most recent NHL team to win four consecutive championships, though none of the players from that classic dynasty were still on the team by 1995. Leading 2-0 until 16:34 remained in the third period, the Islanders would add two more goals after Chicago got on the board, and emerged with a 4-1 victory. Eight goals for against two allowed, across a team's last two games, is nothing too shabby to say the absolute least. Steve Thomas, who is perhaps better known for getting towel-snapped by Patrick Swayze in "Youngblood" than for anything he ever did on the ice in the NHL, had a performance to remember when he scored two goals and earned an assist (for three points), while taking twelve shots on goal and being penalized twice (for four in the box). Soderstrom once again finished with a 98% success rate, achieving 79 of 80 possible saves. The sole goal for Chicago was scored by future Hall of Famer Jeremy Roenick, who earned a point while taking eighteen shots on goal, and himself being penalized for four in the box. The Kings, one of those aforementioned three teams to do better on the road than at home in 1994-95, were next up for the Islanders. Keeping in mind that the great Wayne Gretzky was a component to the L.A. offense, the Islanders had to fight a little bit harder than they may have liked, but survived to take a 4-3 victory, and extend their unlikely 'championship' streak to three straight victories. Soderstrom's accuracy dropped to 96%, but he still achieved 75 saves of a possible 78. L.A.'s most outstanding scorer was Jari Kurri, a former five-time Stanley Cup champion (all with the Edmonton Oilers) who made it to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001; he finished with two goals (and two points) while taking 14 shots on the goal and never seeing the box. For the Islanders, the leading scorer was Darius Kasparaitis, a hard-hitting defenceman who surprisingly stayed out of trouble, only going to the box once (for two minutes). He finished with a goal and assist (for two points) while taking 17 shots on the goal. Coming up next for the Islanders: a challenge from the tough Philadelphia Flyers.