European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 15, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday May 1.5, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 25 Stanley cup strange but True stars is. Peri by Joe Lapointe the new York times there is a sense of giddiness and disbelief in Pittsburgh Ami Minnesota this week As the penguins and the North stars prepare to meet in the championship round of the National hockey league playoffs. The Best of seven games final series m the Stanley cup tournament will begin wednesday night at the Pittsburgh civic Arena where a Man now wears a shark costume and fans wave cardboard Tail fins while the speaker system plays the shriek theme from before face offs at the downtown a Igloo a an Elvis Presley imitator dances on the staircases to amplified tunes of the King. After game 2 Friday night the series will move next sunday and tuesday to the met Center in a suburb of Minneapolis Bloomington minn., where fans begin the game night activity with tailgate picnics before singing chanting and Yelling for three hour bursts inside the building. Before face offs at the met. Young cheerleaders run to and fro to perform their choreographed routines. All this hoopla May seem a trifle too co Liege basketball ish for the puck Wise sophisticates of Montreal and Edmonton or even for the hard boiled Balcony dwellers of Chicago stadium and Boston Garden who Are accustomed to modest Success. But for fans in the steel City and the twin cities this years final matchup combines a dreamlike Quality w Ith an unvarnished party atmosphere. One of the Best cup tournaments in Many years is concluding with a fresh matchup that few experts saw coming. A people were saying we weren to even going to make the playoffs and now we re playing for the Stanley Bob Johnson the Pittsburgh coach told the associated press after the penguins beat the Bruins 5-3, saturday night to take that semifinal series in six games. For almost a Quarter Century both the penguins and the North stars have been among the Teagues ugly ducklings. Success was minimal fan support was inconsistent financial problems arose from time to time and the owners of both teams occasionally considered closing up shop. Even this season both teams struggled in the Bottom half of their divisions hoping to Salvage the respectability of a playoff berth. But both teams finished the regular season with a Strong month of March. The penguins barely won the mediocre Patrick division and the North stars finished fourth in the stronger Norris. The penguins then eliminated the penguins Mario Lemieux holds the Wales trophy aloft after Pittsburgh ousted Boston. Devils the Washington capitals and the Bruins. The North stars stunned Chicago and St. Louis the top two teams in the regular season before eliminating Edmonton the defending Champion. The penguins have the Home ice advantage. They finished the regular season seventh Over All. Far ahead of 16th-place Minnesota. But this series is hard to figure. Don Cherry a former nil coach who works As a commentator for Canadian television told his audience saturday night that this years final will he something special. A i know some of you people Back in Canada Are saying a two american teams a but this is going to be a Dandy folks Quot said Cherry. A two teams on a Roll. A lot of firepower on both of them. It s going to be interesting which fans Are the loudest. This could be this years matchup Wilf Mark the first time in a decade that a to Canadys will not be played before the finals opening face offs. The last time two . Teams met in. The finals was m 1981, when the islanders beat the North stars in live games. A a a. A. -. Both of this year s finalists entered the league in 1907 in the no la a expansion. The penguins have never before made it to the final round. They missed the Plav oils in seven of eight years before this Spring. In 1970, they made it to the play of Semit Mals. �?T1 he made the smals Only in 1981. 1 he penguins once went bankrupt Ami their doors were padlocked. They went so far As to change their colors trom Light Blue and dark Blue to Black and Gold to try to capture some of the Good will Gen crated by the Steeles and the pirates during their glory years m football and baseball. In the Early l9n0s,.the penguins Drew on the average fewer than 10,000 customers a game. T he viability of the Tran cd Csc was in doubt until Mario Lemieux arrived in 1984. Minnesota s financial troubles Are More recent. I ast Spring George and Gordon Guild the Brothers who were then the owners threatened to move the team and said they do business ill what is traditionally one of the most hockey aware markets in the county. Noun Given bought the team last summer and struggled to sell seats Toi most of the season. I he North stars ave Iago attendance was less than 8,000, lowest in the league. They also will be changing i heir color scheme next season from Green and Gold to Basic Black. The North stars clinched the Campbell conference final on Friday night with a 3-2 Victory in Edmonton finishing that series in five games. In the Wales con Fen ence Linal the penguins who lost the first two to Boston won the next four. In saturdays game Pittsburgh fell behind 2-0, in the second period pulled ahead by 3-2 in the third then broke a 33 tie on Mark Keechi s goal with 4 minutes 20 seconds left in the game. When Boston pulled goalie Andy Moog in the final minute Lemieux scored an empty net goal. Kevin Stevens of Pittsburgh said the. Team never lost Confidence even when it lost the first two games in Boston. A you could see it in everybody s eyes a lie said. A you could see it in Mario a Lemieux who has never played in a Stanley cup final and his teammates were unusually emotional saturday Niolu As they displayed the conference trophy for their fans. A a to watch the big Guy after carrying this team for so Many years getting a Chance to carry that trophy Over his head it was an unbelievable sight a said Phil Bourque of the penguins. A and now we want the bigger , North stars Eye cup Pittsburgh up a perhaps the biggest obstacle the Pittsburgh penguins and Minnesota North stars lace in their Stanley cup final series is avoiding the trap of feeling Happy just to be there. The penguins and North stars have plenty reason to he already satisfied. Both joined the nil in us to it expansion and they have no Stanley cups and one appearance in the finals Between them in 24 get in it. Minnesota was bounced in five games by the new h Oral it Landers 10 years ago in its trip to the finals. So even the losers can feet Happy with to net season. Hut the winners will Likely be the tem a Quot just to getting this far. I he penguins Are slight favourites m me Cesi i seven series which opens wednesday night in Pitts run. A the goal has t been completed yet. Said penguins Lett Wing Kevin Stevens who leads the team playoff goals. A this team is never satisfied. That a the biggest thing about this team. If we were satisfied we would t be Here right the penguins missed the playoffs last year and made it Only once in eight seasons before this year. The North stars finished 15th among 16 playoff teams and Are mine to become the third team to win the cup with a losing record and the first since the 1949 Toron. To Maple Leafs. The penguins however finished first in the Patrick Ion and seventh Overall. They battled Back to defeat Boston in Fiji games after dropping the first two for the Wales conference Crown. The North stars won the Campbell Mie in five games Over the defending Champion Edmonton oilers for their third straight series upset. Bobby Smith the North stars leading scorer the last time Thev made it to the cup finals scored the winning goal against Edmonton. A when i said we would be the biggest Success Story in sports in one year 1 was wrong a Minnesota owner Norm Green said of his boast at the Start of the season. A it Only took us about eight before decking Edmonton the North stars Rook on the Chicago and St. Louis a the teams with the most regular season Points. The penguins expect Minnesota to play a Strong defensive game since wide open play would favor Pittsburgh. A your goal scorers Are going to have to gel used to getting checked a said Pittsburgh defens Eman Gordie Roberts a member of Minnesota a 1980-81 team. A but we re not a one dimensional team like a team like St. Louis was. We be got a lot of different ways we can
