June 9 might be the busiest day, historically, for the month. This date in National Hockey League history includes some memorable Stanley Cup coronations, with one legend retiring and another joining the league. Let’s hop aboard the THW time machine to relive all the best memories this date has to offer.
A Big Day for Roy and Ray
Patrick Roy won three Conn Smythe Trophies, for being the most valuable player of the postseason, during his career, and he received two of them on this date. On June 9, 1993, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 to win the Stanley Cup in five games. Paul DiPietro scored the first and last goal of the game, while Kirk Muller scored the game-winning goal early in the second period. John LeClair and Lyle Odelein both had a pair of assists.
Roy made 18 saves to win the second Stanley Cup of his career. He was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for the second time with the Canadiens for going 16-4 with a .929 save percentage (SV%) and 2.13 goals-against average (GAA) in the playoffs.
Eight years later, Roy won the fourth and final Stanley Cup of his Hall of Fame career. On June 9, 2001, the Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 3-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The most remembered moment was captain Joe Sakic quickly giving the Stanley Cup over to Ray Bourque, who won his first championship in the final game of his 22-season career.
Alex Tanguay scored twice, including the eventual game-winning goal, and added an assist on the third goal. Joe Sakic had a goal and an assist, as well. Roy made 25 saves in the win and was awarded the third and final Conn Smythe Trophy of his career. The 35-year-old netminder went 16-7 with .934 SV%, 1.70 GAA, and four shutouts during the 2001 postseason.
A Memorable Day in the Windy City
The Chicago Blackhawks have been a very busy franchise on this date throughout the years. On June 9, 1965, they drafted defenseman Pat Stapleton from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL Intra-League Draft. He went on to score 41 goals and score 327 points in 545 career games with the Blackhawks. His 286 assists are still seventh-most among defensemen in team history.
The Blackhawks traded goaltender Bob Janecyk and their first, third, and fourth-round picks in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft to the Kings, on June 9, 1984, in exchange for the third overall pick and a fourth-rounder. The Blackhawks used that first-round selection to draft Eddie Olczyk.
In a fun bit of trivia, the Kings used the fourth-round pick obtained in this trade to draft future Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine. He scored 47 goals and 94 points in 23 games during his senior year at Billerica Memorial High School in Massachusetts.
On June 9, 1988, the team fired coach Bob Murdoch after just one season and replaced him with Mike Keenan, who the Philadelphia Flyers had recently fired. Keenan would lead the Blackhawks to the 1991 Stanley Cup Final.
However, the biggest reason why Blackhawks fans hold June 9 in their hearts happened in 2010. The Blackhawks beat the Flyers 4-3, in overtime of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, to win their first championship in 49 years. Scott Hartnell tied the game with just 3:59 left in regulation as the Flyers tried to force a seventh game back in Chicago. Just over four minutes into overtime, Patrick Kane scored one of the most memorable overtime goals in recent history.
For a few moments, Kane was the only person in the entire arena who knew that his shot from just above the goal line went into the net. He skated down the ice to celebrate with goaltender Corey Crawford as the referees made the Cup-clinching goal official.
Captain Jonathan Toews was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy after scoring seven goals and 29 points during the Blackhawks’ 22-game run to their first Stanley Cup since 1961.
One Legend Leaves, Another Enters
Canadiens legendary center Jean Beliveau announced his retirement on June 9, 1971. This decision came less than a month after Beliveau won his 10th Stanley Cup championship. His name is all over the Canadiens’ record book. He is fourth all-time in games played (1125), third in goals (507), second in assists (712), and second in points (1216).
It wasn’t all bad news on this date because this was the same day the team hired Scotty Bowman as their new head coach, replacing Al MacNeil. Bowman led the Canadiens to five Stanley Cup championships in his eight seasons behind the bench, including four in a row between 1976 and 1979.
Odds & Ends
On June 9, 1965, the Boston Bruins selected 25-year-old goalie Gerry Cheevers from the Maple Leafs during the NHL Intra-League Draft. Cheevers went on to win Stanley Cups with the Bruins in 1970 and 1972. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wayne Gretzky won his second straight Hart Trophy, on June 9, 1981, for being the NHL’s most valuable player. He scored 55 goals and 164 points in 80 games for the Edmonton Oilers during the 1980-81 season.
The Pittsburgh Penguins franchise was forever changed on June 9, 1984, when they selected Mario Lemieux with the first pick of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft.
Lemieux scored 690 goals and 1,723 points and won two Stanley Cups during his Hall of Fame career in Pittsburgh. The 1984 Draft included multiple Hall of Famers like Roy (third round, Canadiens), Brett Hull (sixth round, Calgary Flames), and Luc Robitaille (ninth round, Kings).
The Vancouver Canucks beat the New York Rangers 6-3 on June 9, 1994, in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. The big road win kept the Canucks’ season alive and forced a Game 6 back in Vancouver. They held a 1-0 lead going into a crazy third period. They extended the lead to 3-0 after Geoff Courtnall and Pavel Bure scored in the first 2:48 of the frame.
Less than a minute later, Doug Lidster got the Rangers on the board. His goal was quickly followed by tallies from Steve Larmer and Mark Messier to tie the score and send Madison Square Garden into an absolute frenzy. The state of euphoria lasted for just 29 seconds until Canucks defenseman Dave Babych broke the tie. Courtnall and Bure both scored again, just 44 seconds apart, to restore the Canucks’ three-goal advantage.
June 9, 1997, was a very busy day in the front offices around the NHL. George McPhee was named the new general manager of the Washington Capitals, and Larry Pleau took the same title with the St. Louis Blues. McPhee, the current president of the Vegas Golden Knights, remained as the Capitals’ general manager until 2014.
One of his first orders of business was to hire Ron Wilson as the team’s new head coach, which he did on this date. Two other new head coaches were also named as Darryl Sutter was hired by the San Jose Sharks and Jim Schoenfeld took the Phoenix Coyotes job.
The Detroit Red Wings beat McPhee and the Capitals 2-1 on June 9, 1998, in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Joey Kocur and Nicklas Lidstrom both scored in the first period to lead the way to victory.
Kevin Lowe was named the new general manager of the Oilers on June 9, 2000. The move came four days after he stepped down as the team’s head coach. Lowe replaced Glen Sather, who had won five Stanley Cups and had been the Oilers’ since 1980.
The Devils beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-0 on June 9, 2003, in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, to win their third championship in the last nine seasons. In just his fourth career playoff game, Mike Rupp scored the game-winning goal and assisted on the other two. This was New Jersey’s 12th home win of the 2003 postseason, setting a new NHL record.
Martin Brodeur became the first goaltender in NHL history to record seven shutouts in a single playoff year. He had three shutouts in the Final, which tied the league record. However, it was his counterpart, rookie netminder Jean-Sebastian Giguere, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy. He was just the fifth player to ever win the award despite his team losing the Final.
On June 9, 2014, the Kings beat the Rangers 3-0 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final to take a 3-0 stranglehold on the series. Jeff Carter scored the only goal Los Angeles needed with 0.8 seconds left in the first period before Jake Muzzin, and Mike Richards added on to the lead. Goaltender Jonathan Quick made 32 saves to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard.
The Sharks fought off elimination on June 9, 2016, by beating the Penguins 4-2 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. Five of the six combined goals were scored in the first period. The Sharks got goals from Brent Burns and Logan Couture to go up 2-0 before the game was even three minutes old.
The Penguins stormed back with goals by Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin just 22 seconds apart. Melker Karlsson’s goal late in the period proved to be the game-winner. Goaltender Martin Jones settled down and stopped all 40 shots he faced after giving up the Hagelin goal.
Despite getting blown out 6-2 and ultimately eliminated by the Islanders in Game 6 of Round 2 on June 9, 2021, Patrice Bergeron tied Peter McNab for the most goals in franchise history in elimination games with nine. He is contemplating retirement right now after winning his fifth Selke Trophy, which now leads all skaters in NHL history.
Happy Birthday to You
A total of 20 players who skated in at least one NHL game were born on June 9. Among the most notable are Grant Marshall (49), Jeff Zatkoff (35), Jason Demers (34), Zach Hyman (30), Jake Bean (24), Drew O’Conner (24), Michael DiPietro (23), Sasha Chmelevski (23) and Barrett Hayton (22).