How Long It's Been: The Edmonton Oilers Won the Stanley Cup

It's been hard to think about sports during the Coronavirus lockdown. The NHL regular season was entering its closing stretch. Had the season played to its intended conclusion, and the standings at the time of the shutdown held, the Edmonton Oilers, led by young superstar Connor McDavid, would have had the 5th seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. Their chances of winning the Stanley Cup weren't great, but it would hardly have been implausible.

On May 24, 1990, 30 years ago today, the Oilers won the Stanley Cup. They beat the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at the Boston Garden, and won the Finals by the same margin. They had also beaten the Bruins in 5 games in 1990, but that's because the power went out at the Garden in Game 4. The Oilers won all 4 of the completed games.

The 1990 Cup was won with Glen Sather as only the general manager, not also the head coach, as he was with the Cups of 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988. John Muckler was now the head coach. His team included future Hall-of-Famers Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri and Grant Fuhr, although Fuhr had been replaced as starting goaltender by Bill Ranford. Also on this team, with notable NHL resumes, were Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish, Adam Graves, Esa Tikkanen, Kelly Buchberger, Craig Simpson, Martin Gelinas, Petr Klima and Reijo Ruotsalanien.

Wayne Gretzky had been traded away after 1988; Paul Coffey, 1987. Winning this Cup without them, and with Fuhr as backup, was a tremendous achievement for the others who had been there since the start, including Messier, Kurri and Anderson.

Since then, though, the Oilers have struggled. The remnants of the dynasty got old. The Oilers reached the Conference Finals in 1991 and 1992, but lost to the Minnesota North Stars and the Chicago Blackhaws, respectively. Some of the players went on to win another Stanley Cup, as the New York Rangers built an "Oilers East" and won the Cup in 1994. (Right, let's not talk about that. Let's move on.)

From 1992 to 2005, they won just 2 Playoff series. Then they made a remarkable run in 2006, getting into the Playoffs, and defeating the Detroit Red Wings, the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks, before losing a tough Stanley Cup Finals in 7 games to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Then they missed the Playoffs for 12 of the next 13 years, coming into this season. They did make the Playoffs in 2017, beating the Sharks, before losing to the Ducks in the next round.

It's been 30 years since the Oilers won the Cup. How long has that been?

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The NHL had just begun a wave of expansion. The San Jose Sharks had been granted entry into the League for the 1991-92 season. Soon, the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning would be brought in for 1992-93; and the Florida Panthers and the Anaheim Ducks (until 2006 officially named "the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim") for 1993-94.

The Nashville Predators were added in 1998, the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999, and the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild for 2000. The Vegas Golden Knights were added for 2017, and a Seattle team has been announced for 2021. (Whether the Coronavirus closures will delay that remains unknown.)

The Wild were added because the Minnesota North Stars were moved to Texas in 1993, becoming the Dallas Stars. In 1995, the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche. In 1996, the original Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix, and are now known as the Arizona Coyotes. In 1997, the Hartford Whalers moved to Greensboro, North Carolina, and became the Carolina Hurricanes, moving to Raleigh for 1999. In 2011, the Thrashers moved, becoming the new Winnipeg Jets.

The Oilers left their home, the Northlands Coliseum, for the new Rexall Place in 2016. In fact, the only NHL teams playing home games in the same buildings as in 1990 are the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, and the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome -- and both teams are now looking to build new arenas.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, the New Jersey Devils, the Nords/Avs, the Stars, the Lightning, the Whalers/Canes, the Los Angeles Kings, the Washington Capitals and the St. Louis Blues had never won the Stanley Cup. The New York Rangers hadn't won it since 1940, the Detroit Red Wings since 1955, the Chicago Blackhawks since 1961, and the Boston Bruins since 1972. The Pens, the Kings, the Devils, the Nords/Avs, the Caps, the Whalers/Canes, the Ducks, the Lightning, the Senators, the Sharks, the Predators and the Knights had never made the Finals.

All of those facts were then true. Now, none of them are.

Hockey legends Syl Apps, Milt Schmidt, Red Horner, and Murray Murdoch of the 1928 and 1933 Stanley Cup-winning Rangers were still alive. Guy Lafleur, the last remaining of the defining players of my childhood, had just retired.

Martin Brodeur was in high school. Zdeno Chara was 13 years old; Henrik Zetterberg 9; Henrik Lundqvist 8; Marc-Andre Fleury 5; Alexander Ovechkin and Jonathan Quick 4; Evgeni Malkin and T.J. Oshie 3; Sidney Crosby, Carey Price, Claude Giroux, Jonathan Towes and Brad Marchand 2; Sergei Bobrovsky and Patrick Kane a year and a have; P.K. Subban had just turned 1; Braden Holtby was 8 months old; Steven Stamkos was 3 months old; and John Tavares, Ryan O'Reilly, Artemi Panarin, Taylor Hall, Jordan Binnington, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Nicho Hischier and Jack Hughes weren't born yet.

Current Oilers coach Dave Tippett was playing for the Hartford Whalers. Barry Trotz of the Islanders was a scout for the Washington Capitals. Mike Miller of the Knicks was an assistant coach at Western Illinois University. David Quinn of the Rangers was out of the game, recovering from a long illness. Alain Nasreddine of the Devils, Aaron Boone of the Yankees, Jacque Vaughn of the Nets, Chris Armas of the Red Bulls and Ronny Deila of NYCFC were in high school. Adam Gase of the Jets was 12 years old. Luis Rojas of the Mets and Joe Judge of the Giants were 8. Walt Hopkins of the Liberty was 5.

The Oilers dethroned their Alberta arch-rivals, the Calgary Flames, as Cup holders. The Detroit Pistons were about to repeat as NBA Champions. The Oakland Athletics had won the last World Series, and the San Francisco 49ers had won the last 2 Super Bowls. The Heavyweight Champion of the World was James "Buster" Douglas, who had shocked the world by knocking Mike Tyson out 3 months earlier.

The Olympic Games have since been held in America twice, France, Spain, Norway, Japan, Australia, Greece, Italy, China, Canada, Britain and Russia. The World Cup, which had recently been held in Italy, with Germany winning it (as they did this year), has since been held in America, France, Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa and Brazil.

There were 26 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The idea that corporations were "people" and had the rights thereof was considered ridiculous -- but so was the idea that a person could legally marry a person of the same gender. No Justice then on the Supreme Court is still on it today.

The President of the United States was George H.W. Bush. His son George W., having failed spectacularly in business, had recently (with more than a little help from his "friends") bought baseball's Texas Rangers. Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, their wives, and the widows of Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy were still alive. Bill Clinton was about to be elected to a 5th term as Governor of Arkansas. Barack Obama was President... of the Harvard Law Review.

The Governor of New York was Mario Cuomo, whose son, current Governor Andrew Cuomo, was Chairman of the New York City Homeless Commission, reporting to Mayor David Dinkins. Also reporting to him was current Mayor, then City Hall aide, Bill de Blasio. The Governor of New Jersey was Jim Florio. Current Governor Jim Murphy was in his early years at Goldman Sachs.

The Premier of Alberta, the Oilers' home Province, was Don Getty. Current Premier Jason Kenney was president of Canadian Taxpayers, a group similar to the people whining about Governor Florio's necessary tax hike. The Mayor of Edmonton was Terry Cavanagh. Current Mayor Don Iveson was about to turn 11.

There were still living veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Philippine Campaign, the Mexican Revolution, the Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War. There were still living survivors of the Johnstown Flood of 1889, the fire aboard the General Slocum in the East River in 1904, and the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was about to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Francis, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was a bishop in Buenos Aires in his native Argentina.

The Prime Minister of Canada was Brian Mulroney. The head of state for Canada, and Britain, was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed -- but Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was about to lose her job to John Major, due to her support of an onerous poll tax. There have since been 5 Presidents of the United States, 5 Prime Ministers of Canada, 5 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 3 Popes.

England's Football League had recently been won by Liverpool for a record 18th time -- but they haven't won it since. (No, they have not been declared so for this season. The season may yet play out, in which case, they almost certainly will win the title.) Manchester United had won the FA Cup, their 1st trophy under manager Alex Ferguson, who said he was determined to beat Liverpool and "knock them off their fucking perch." It would take until 1993, but he would do it.

Major novels of 1990 included Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy, Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard, The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum, and The Burden of Proof by Scott Turow. The last of these became a TV miniseries the next year, while the rest all became major feature films.

Stephen King was working on Needful Things. George R.R. Martin, frustrated that his screenplays and teleplays were getting cut, or dropped completely, decided to return to fantasy novels, and began the process that led to Game of Thrones. J.K. Rowling was on a long train trip from Manchester to London, when she got the idea that would become the Harry Potter series.

Major films of the Spring of 1990 included Back to the Future Part III, Total Recall, I Love You to Death, Miami Blues, Wild Orchid, Bird On a Wire, Cadillac Man, and Warren Beatty's misguided attempt to revive Dick Tracy. Steven Spielberg was directing Hook, a story of a grownup Peter Pan (played by Robin Williams) returning to Neverland, and George Lucas helped him out on it.

TV series that were beginning near the end of the 1989-90 season included Twin Peaks, In Living Color and Wings. Recently ended were the new version of Mission: Impossible (essentially, a "Next Generation" of the original), Miami Vice, Mama's Family, ALF, My Two Days, 227, Falcon Crest, and, with the biggest twist in TV history, Newhart.

Michael Keaton was reaping the benefits of the previous year's Batman film, Christopher Reeve was still thought of as Superman, Lynda Carter was still thought of as Wonder Woman, and Nicholas Hammond was still the most recent live-action Spider-Man. Timothy Dalton had played James Bond in the previous year's Licence to Kill, but quit, and legal wrangling kept the 007 franchise in limbo for a while. So was Doctor Who, recently canceled with the last and Seventh Doctor having been Sylvester McCoy.

Jerry Seinfeld was known, but no one had yet heard of George Costanza, Elaine Benes and Cosmo Kramer. Or of Deadpool, Buffy Summers, Fox Mulder, Ross Geller & Rachel Greene, Bridget Jones, Xena, Carrie Bradshaw, Jed Bartlet, Tony Soprano, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Rick Grimes, Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan, Don Draper, Katniss Everdeen, Walter White or Richard Castle.

Madonna's "Vogue" was the Number 1 song in the country, making it the 2nd Number 1 single in the last 6 months to rhyme Marilyn Monroe with her one-time husband Joe DiMaggio in the lyrics, after Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire." Joel was about to become the 1st concert performer to sell out Yankee Stadium without being a postgame show, doing so a day after Nelson Mandela sold the place out, something the Yankees, having a rare awful season, didn't do all year.

Paul McCartney was touring for his album Flowers In the Dirt. Bob Dylan had recently released his album Oh Mercy. Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses married Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers, then they quickly got divorced. The Stone Roses had their famous Spike Island concert.

Public Enemy released Fear of a Black Planet. Ice Cube released AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted. En Vogue released their debut album, Born to Sing. Green Day released their debut album, 39/Smooth. Wilson Phillips released their self-titled debut album. So did Johnny Gill.

Kris Jenner was in the process of divorcing Robert Kardashian, so she could marry 1976 Olympic hero Bruce Jenner. None of the children of any of the 3 of them was famous yet. Kanye West and Shakira were 13 years old; Sean Murray and Stana Katic 12; Katie Holmes, Heath Ledger and Pink 11; Cote de Pablo 10; Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Hyden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Natalie Portan, Chris Evans and Beyonce 9; Britney Spears, Sienna Miller, Cobie Smulders, Hayley Atwell, Kirsten Dunst, Cory Monteith and Elisabeth Moss 8; Matt Smith, Anne Hathaway, Henry Cavill and Andrew Garfield 7; Emily Wickersham 6; Katy Perry and Scarlett Johansson 5; Lady Gaga, Robert Pattinson and Lea Michele 4; Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Naya Rivera and Rose Leslie 3; Rhianna 2; Emma Stone and Daniel Radcliffe 1; Taylor Swift 9 months, Kristin Stewart and Emma Watson 5 months; and Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Arian Grande, Justin Bieber, all of the members of One Direction, and all of the Modern Family kids hadn't been born yet.

Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $1.96 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 25 cents, and a New York Subway ride $1.15. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.22, a cup of coffee $1.49, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $5.23, a movie ticket $4.23, a new car $15,045, and a new house $150,100. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed that day at 2855.55.

The World Wide Web was about to debut, but hardly anybody would know about it for a while. Mobile phones were still the size of the original Star Trek series' communicators. The Hubble Space Telescope had been launched, but it wasn't working, and would need to be repaired by a later shuttle mission. The 1st digital camera was sold in the U.S. The leading home video game system was the Sega Genesis. The birth control pill was long-established, but there was, as yet, no Viagra.

In the Spring of 1990, Saddam Hussein was still considered America's ally. Violeta Chamorro was elected President of Nicaragua, ending that country's civil war. Another civil war starts in Yugoslavia, with a riot at a match between soccer powers Red Star Belgrade (Serb) and Dinamo Zagreb (Croat). Latvia and Estonia declared independence from the Soviet Union. The Tamil Tigers massacred 600 unarmed police officers in Sri Lanka. The Scandinavian Star, a ferry, caught fire en route from Norway to Denmark, killing 158 people. And an earthquake killed 50,000 people in Iran.

In North America, Presidents Bush and Gorbachev met for a Summit in Washington, and signed a treaty to end the production of chemical weapons and begin destroying their respective stocks. Protests were held on Wall Street against corporate greed and in favor of pro-environment policies, and at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington in favor of more progress in AIDS research -- and I attended both. Junk bond financier Michael Milken pleaded guilty to fraud. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched. The theme park Universal Studios Orlando opened. And the Meech Lake Accord, designed to keep Quebec in Canada, expires when the Provinces of Manitoba and Newfoundland refused to approve it before the deadline.

Greta Garbo, and Sammy Davis Jr., and former boxing champion Rocky Graziano died. Kristen Stewart, and Emma Watson, and Paul George were born.

May 24, 1990. The Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup, their 5th in the last 7 years. They have never won another.

Will they win one in the next few years? They have Connor McDavid, but they will need more than him. Stay tuned.