1993
is the Year of the Championship that didn't happen - but definitively should have occurred.

The Boston Bruins were the BEST TEAM IN THE LEAGUE - even better than the one they had been in 1990 when they had actually won first place overall in the season's final standings!

Not only did they have Cam Neely at his peak, they boasted a line-up chock-full of lionhearted leaders and deserving champions such as Dave Poulin, Ray Bourque, Glen Wesley, Adam Oates, Steve Leach, Vladimir Ruzicka, Dave Reid, Ted Donato, Don Sweeney, Peter Douris, Glen Murray, Bryan Smolinski, Brent Ashton, Gord Murphy, Brent Hughes, Steve Heinze, David Shaw, Gordie Roberts, Tim Sweeney, Joe Juneau, Jim Wiemer, Jozef Stumpel, Andy Moog, John Blue and Dmitri Kvartalnov (Special K!)

They had finished with 109 points atop the old Adams Division - seven points better than the hated Habs. They had only five fewer wins than the team that had finished first overall; the pesky Pittsburgh Penguins, the powerhouses of the day (which had replaced the Edmonton Oilers in that role, for a time)

But they were robbed three times in OVERTIME in their first round playoffs match-up with lowly Buffalo - the only triumph those sneaky Sabres could ever claim in their entire existence in the NHL - save for that period of time when they built themselves into a contender - only to unravel in the Finals and lose, as they always should have!

But that is another story...

 

1993 turned into a travesty - as all the top contenders (Boston, Pittsburgh, Edmonton as well) lost to lowly teams that had no business stealing victory from their superiors - but, somehow, they did just that.

And then what happened?

All those losers reverted back to just what they truly were: losers - but at the wrongest of times. Buffalo, the NY Islanders and L.A. Kings all wound up losing to... the hated Habs.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmontreal... argh!!!

Some so-called experts among the observers of the day said that "the Canadiens saw a door opening and courageously went forward and passed through it!"

HA!!!

THE TRUTH is that they faced all the teams that hadn't any business being there - faced none of the true contenders against whom they would have LOST... And even then, they had to rely on stealing victory IN OVERTIME AS WELL, as their goalie stole goals from the (meek, but still very real) opposition. Hell, they established a "record" then - Montreal won the most games in OVERTIME that year on their way to the CUP. All that the so-called "record" tells you is that they WON IT THROUGH THE BACKDOOR - AGAINST THE WEAKEST TEAMS ON TOP OF THAT! Each game was so close, it could have gone either way! And they could have (should have - would have easily) lost to LOSERS who got by on a fluke themselves to reach that round in the first place!

Montreal has been CURSED ever since, at least - 1993 was their last STOLEN CUP.