I feel the same way about that Florida- Pittsburgh series in 96. Such a disappointment and a Colorado-Pittsburgh series would have been ten times better. But then I also remember that it was the FLORIDA PANTHERS and even with Francis hurt they should have beaten them but couldn’t adapt and score enough. So Oens deserve some blame too. Plus EJ for some stupid reason started Barrasso instead of Wregget who was the better goaltender at that point. Such a frustrating series.
- Sams_Dog
In no way was Wregget the better goaltender. Barrasso always was. However, Barrasso did give up an indefensible goal from the red line in game 7. You know wed have been all over Fleury for that, so to be fair Im blasting Tommy for that one. It was the worst goal he ever gave up. But for the total picture, Barrasso was by far the better puck handling goaltender, which is exactly what was needed in that series.
Flash back to your other point, which was spot on. Francis was hurt, and the Penguins inability to figure out how to score--whether because of the injury or because of the awful boring trap--was the reason they lost that series.
Its a real shame the NHL couldnt get out of its own way in the 90's. We lost 2 golden opportunities to see marquee players go head to head in a Stanley Cup Finals...In 1993 it could have been Mario vs Gretzky (instead we got Montreal vs 99) and in 96 it could have been Avs vs Pens... No matter who would have won those series, hockey fans in general would have been the winners...instead they lost...