| 1989 Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| * – overtime periods | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Calgary: Olympic Saddledome (1, 2, 5) Montreal: Montreal Forum (3, 4, 6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Calgary: Terry Crisp Montreal: Pat Burns | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | Calgary: Lanny McDonald, Jim Peplinski Montreal: Bob Gainey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | May 14–25, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Al MacInnis (Flames) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Doug Gilmour (11:02, third, G6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Flames: Doug Gilmour (2011) Al MacInnis (2007) Lanny McDonald (1992) Joe Mullen (2000) Joe Nieuwendyk (2011) Mike Vernon (2023) Canadiens: Guy Carbonneau (2019) Chris Chelios (2013) Bob Gainey (1992) Larry Robinson (1995) Patrick Roy (2006) Coaches: Pat Burns (2014) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Networks | Canada: (English): CBC (French): SRC United States: (English): SportsChannel America | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | (CBC) Bob Cole, Harry Neale, and Dick Irvin Jr. (SRC) Richard Garneau and Gilles Tremblay (SportsChannel America) Jiggs McDonald and Bill Clement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1989 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1988–89 season, and the culmination of the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens, the top two teams during the regular season. This was the second time in the decade after 1986 that the Canadiens and Flames met in the Finals. The 1989 series remains to date the last time that two Canadian teams faced each other for the Stanley Cup.
The Flames defeated the Canadiens in six games to win their first and only Stanley Cup. The winning goal in game six was scored by Doug Gilmour. They became the first team to win a Stanley Cup after relocating, as they had begun life as the Atlanta Flames in 1972. Since then, four more teams have accomplished this feat: the New Jersey Devils (formerly the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies), the Colorado Avalanche (formerly the Quebec Nordiques), the Dallas Stars (formerly the Minnesota North Stars), and the Carolina Hurricanes (formerly the New England/Hartford Whalers). The Flames later reached the Finals again in 2004, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning; they had gone that entire span without a single playoff series victory. This was also the second-to-last of eight consecutive Finals where either the Flames or their provincial rival Edmonton Oilers represented Alberta in the Stanley Cup Finals and the second-to-last of nine consecutive Finals in which either the Flames or their Western Canada rivals represented that area in the Stanley Cup Finals, as 1982 featured the Vancouver Canucks, the Flames' rivals in Western Canada. Both Calgary and Montreal were the only two teams to win the Stanley Cup in the 1980s other than the New York Islanders and the Edmonton Oilers. This was the first time since 1975 that the Cup was won by a team other than the Canadiens, the Islanders, or the Oilers.
This was the Canadiens' first defeat in a Cup Finals since 1967. Montreal later won the Finals again in 1993, their most recent Finals victory. The defeat was Patrick Roy's only Cup Finals where he was not on the winning side; he went on to win the 1993 Cup with the Canadiens and the 1996 and 2001 Cups with the Avalanche.
The 1989 Finals featured two coaches making their first appearances, as Calgary's Terry Crisp faced Montreal's Pat Burns. For Crisp it was his only appearance, while Burns returned one more time in 2003 where he led the Devils to their third Cup. In the interim between their two matches both teams had replaced their coaches; Crisp was hired to replace Badger Bob Johnson after his departure following the 1987 season while Burns took over for 1986 Cup winning coach Jean Perron after his 1988 firing. For Crisp, this was his third Stanley Cup championship in his career. He had already won two as a player with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1974 and 1975. Following the series, Bob Gainey, Rick Green, and Lanny McDonald retired, while long time defenceman Larry Robinson signed with the Los Angeles Kings, where he played the final three years of his career.