Recipe for Success - how hockey teams can win the Stanley Cup competition

Hockey Digest, May, 2001 by Karl Samuelson

Want to cook up a Stanley Cup champion? Combine a few key ingredients, put them on ice, and serve

LIFE IN CANADA DURING THE 19th Century was intimately tied with that of Great Britain. The vast dominion inherited its legal, social, political, and educational system from the mother country, and although the vast territory achieved nationhood in 1867, it retained a formal link through the queen's representative, the governor general of Canada.

The most famous noble peer was Lord Stanley of Preston, who served as governor general from 1888 to 1893, before returning to England to become the lord mayor of Liverpool and the first chancellor of the University of Liverpool. Lord Stanley was an enlightened nobleman who dedicated himself to philanthropic work on both sides of the Atlantic. But little known to him at the time, his most historical achievement came in 1893 when he donated a trophy--the Stanley Cup--as an award for Canada's top-ranking amateur hockey club and ultimately the symbol of hockey supremacy in the NHL.

The original silver-plated bowl cost Lord Stanley 10 guineas--the equivalent of $50 at the time. The oldest trophy in the annals of professional sport in North America--and the only one emblazoned with the names of every member of every championship team--the Stanley Cup grew over time to its present height of 35 inches with a 54-inch base. The majestic 32-pound trophy leaves an indelible impression upon anyone fortunate enough to witness its brilliance.

"It's a great-looking trophy, the best in all of sports," says Los Angeles Kings defenseman Mathieu Schneider, whose name is engraved on the hardware as a member of the 1993 Montreal Canadiens. "I remember the first time I saw it. You're in awe. There are such great names on the Cup, but there are also names of other players you didn't expect to see, and there they are with their names on the Stanley Cup."

"It's very special to see and it's extra special to touch," Schneider says. "After we won it, I had a party one night at my house. We had a lot of my friends from high school who took pictures holding it, and it was simply amazing to see their reactions around the Cup. My high school coach came up to see it and his eyes shone when he saw the Cup. It's a piece of history. You might think that once you've won it, you would be satisfied, but after you've won the Cup, you want it again. All you can think about is getting it back."

While the Stanley Cup is the most regal trophy in all of sports, winning it is the most difficult. The eventual champion must win 16 playoff games, often against its most bitter rivals. The playoffs have been dubbed a whole new year ... the real season ... a war on ice. It's a time when ordinary players can become heroes and stars can emerge as immortals.

A few key ingredients are shared by all NHL champions. What follows is our six-part recipe for Stanley Cup success:

1. Start with a superstar

The Stanley Cup playoffs have afforded opportunity for good players to become great and great players to become immortal. Many have earned stellar reputations for their ability to come through in the postseason. Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, Joe Sakic, and Steve Yzerman all come to mind. But one player stands supreme with his shining performance in playoff competition: Maurice Richard.

"The Rocket" led the Canadiens to eight Stanley Cups during his incredible career from 1942-1960. Some players won acclaim by scoring dramatic game-winning goals in the playoffs--Richard did it 18 times. Few players have scored a hat trick in a playoff contest--Richard scored seven of them.

"There has never been anyone like `the Rocket,'" says three-time All-Star Jerry Toppazzini, who retired from the NHL in 1964. "I checked him for years, and whether it was an overtime goal, a game-tying goal, or game-winners, he was the best. He simply did it all in the playoffs. Richard was something to behold."

Richard's prodigious power enabled him to score game-breakers with two defensemen draped over his back.

"His record speaks volumes, but it was the way he scored that was so incredible," says former Montreal star Jean Beliveau, Richard's teammate on five Cup winners. "You could see the fire in his eyes. Maurice enjoyed scoring so much, and often after putting one in he would end up in the corner with two players still hanging on to him. He is far above everyone else in scoring important goals in the playoffs."

2. Add a dash of dare

The race for the Stanley Cup brings out the best in athletes and coaches alike. Nothing better illustrates this reality than a calculated risk taken by Philadelphia Flyers coaching legend Fred Shero and a clutch play made by tough guy Dave Schultz on May 9, 1974, which resulted in the biggest goal in Flyers history.

"We hadn't won at the Boston Garden in years so we knew we had to win a game there if we had any chance of winning the Cup," Schultz recalls. "It was Game 2 in Boston, 10 minutes into overtime, and I hadn't seen the ice since the middle of the third [period]. A Bruins fan yelled out, `Put Schultz out there so we can win!' Freddie heard the fan and a few seconds later called to the bench, `Schultz, Clarke, and Flett.'