The 2025 Stanley Cup Final is only the third instance in the past four decades where the same two teams are facing off in the championship series for the second straight season. Looking back at the previous two occurrences, the similarities are striking, especially when focusing on the presence of the world`s best player.
In 2024, the Florida Panthers established a commanding 3-0 lead in the Cup Final against the Oilers, only for Edmonton to fight back and force a decisive Game 7. Ultimately, in that crucial home game, the Panthers secured the victory with a 2-1 score.
Now, twelve months later, the Oilers and their captain, Connor McDavid, are aiming for redemption. This situation mirrors those faced by Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins sixteen years ago, and Wayne Gretzky`s Oilers team forty years prior in 1984.
Crosby`s Penguins were defeated by the seasoned Detroit Red Wings in 2008 during the young team`s initial appearance in the final. Pittsburgh returned in 2009, dropped the first two contests in Detroit, but then managed to win four of the subsequent five games, including a memorable 2-1 road triumph in Game 7.
The Oilers of the early 1980s made their first trip to the final in 1983 and were decisively beaten by the dynastic Islanders, who claimed their fourth consecutive championship with a sweep that year. However, the following year`s rematch was entirely different, with Edmonton dominating. After the teams split the initial two games on Long Island, the Oilers won the next three contests – all on home ice, thanks to the 2-3-2 format – by a combined score of 19-6.
This led to Gretzky and his teammates celebrating their first Cup victory.
A clear historical parallel is the fact that two generational superstars – Crosby and Gretzky – each earned their first championship ring during their second consecutive appearance in the final series. Although they were in their early twenties at that point in their careers, unlike McDavid who is in his late twenties, the established pattern is evident.
Is there another potential historical echo? Despite their phenomenal performances, neither Crosby nor Gretzky were awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy the first time their teams won the championship. In both cases, the award for the playoff MVP went to their exceptional teammates – Mark Messier in `84 and Evgeni Malkin in `09.
Tristan Blackwood