Flyers / Oilers '87 Finals Game 5 Highlight Video (5 of 7)

[havoc00]

I wish hockey was still like this, thanks a lot to the owners and gary bettman FU

[iLoveMEsomeME81]

I have to say this every time I watch this: this is the greatest goaltending performance I have ever seen in my life from Ron Hextall.

[DaveTV2]

I would love to see someone show me a better goaltending performance! I don't think there has ever been a goalie who faced the quantity and quality of chances he faced in this series. That is not to mention the adversity of both being down 3-1 in the series and by 2 or three goals in almost every game. Imagine all that and being a rookie AND doing it in the Stanley Cup finals AND playing as many games he did (NHL record at the time)?

As I said, I would love to see someone show me one better.

[phillyguy672]

This was the greatest stanly cup finals ever !!!! this brought back soooo many great childhood memories !!! hearing gene harts voice brings tears to my eyes !!! game 6 was the best at the spectrum !!!

[philluso]

In terms of music selection, this is probably the best video of all seven. Yet, I still can't put my finger on the music you used. Can you list the 'soundtrack' so to speak?

[DaveTV2]

Thanks. I am not sure which I like the best. I feel they all work pretty well. I did give it a lot of thought in trying to fit the music to the mood of what was happening. Editing them together was a bit tricky to say the least!

To answer your question this video is a combination of [in order] "You Go, We Go" from the Backdraft soundtrack, "Ben" from the National Treasure Soundtrack, "Bumblebee" from the Transformers soundtrack and "The Miracle" from the Miracle soundtrack.

[jayhawk88z]

impeach Gary Betman ASAP

[iLoveMEsomeME81]

did gene hart ever describe a save??? jesus!!

[clauncher]

Mike Keenan ever have hair?

[iLoveMEsomeME81]

can you please post more Hextall from his first stint in Philly? I'd love to see anything that you have. Thanks, -Joe

[GenerationXFiles]

Yes I am planning on it and I will. One problem was that I filled my Hard Drives with all the footage and files for all 7 videos of the 87 finals and have not archived it yet. Good news is I just got me a shiny new Quad core 3.2 GHz Mac Pro with 2.5 TBs of HD space and 8GB of RAM so I should be good for a while. I just have to find the time between actual paying work!

Stay tuned though. I will!

[DaveTV2]

Joe,

BTW, GenerationXFiles is me. I just realized I was logged into my other account when I replied to you a couple of days ago. Just in case you were wondering or did not figure that out for yourself! Sorry for the confusion.

[Crawford1987]

Dave, what music/soundtracks did you use for games 5 and 6?

[IhateGary]

Another heart attack display was in game 2 of the '74 cup when Clarke got the game winner in OT. Watching road games with Gene Hart, and later PRISM home games, is just an amazing part of childhood in the 70s and 80s.

[IhateGary]

Gene Hart was the greatest hockey announcer ever - case closed.

[DaveTV2]

Two moments I just can't get enough of is 1. When he sounds like he is going to have a heart attack when Messier knocks down Hetxall's clearing attempt at the end of game six and 2. His statement made at the end of that game "Years to go, in '95 and 2000. As long as this league exists. Those who have seen this series will say you should have seen the one in '87 with the Oilers and Flyers."

He could not have captured the series and it's place in history any better than that. SOOOOO True!

[landrykkb]

@DaveTV2 1987 was Hextall`s best year,plain and simple!

[DaveTV2]

@landrykkb Was that in response to something specific I said or just a general statement. I certainly would not disagree with that but I have responded to those who say things like "Hextall only had one good year". That is certainly not true and I do bring up years like 95-96 where he had better numbers statistically (although the change in the game makes them comparable). and his SP was the best in his career at .913.

[landrykkb]

@DaveTV2 It was mostly a general statement and my opinion on Ron Hextall.I wasn't dissing him by any means and he certainly gave the Flyers a chance to win this Stanley Cup.

[DaveTV2]

@landrykkb Nice! Well then we are in complete agreement. Didn't think you were dissing him. Just wanted to make sure it was not in response to something specific I said.

[OilersCanadasTeam]

I meant to say that the Flyers would have won the Cup in both 85 and 87 had they met any team other than the Oilers in the finals. The Flames? They were a joke until 1988 or 1989. The Jets were weak. And the Norris Division was the biggest joke in the NHL for years on end until Steve Yzerman revived the Red Wings in the late 80s, early 90s. The Flyers should have won the 1980 Cup too if they weren't so unlucky. Duane Sutter's goal should have been disallowed because the play was offside.

[Crawford1987]

With the series against the Isles, there's no guarantee that the Flyers would have won that series, even if that goal didn't count. Remember, the Isles were a dynasty that decade, so it's not like the Flyers lost to a one-year wonder.

The Flyers have just had really bad luck since winning the Cup in 1975...they ran into dynastic teams each time they returned to the Finals (76, 80, 85, 87, and 97). One could probably say that the Flyers could have had 5 cups, had they been luckier, but oh well.

[DaveTV2]

I don't disagree with you. After all there are no guarantees in sports. That said the deciding game would have been played in the Spectrum which everyone knows was a very difficult and intimidating place to play. In regards to them being a dynasty, they certainly did become one. But so often those teams get there and lose before going on to win it all. The Oilers lost to the Iles before winning all theirs. We will never know but it makes for a fun discussion.

[OilersCanadasTeam]

The Islanders were never as strong as the Canadiens 76-79 or Oiler 84-90. Lets face it, the Isles didn't the Canadiens in the playoffs at all during their dynasty. Plus you look at the horrible competition that the Isles faced in 81 and 82 playoffs, well I don't know how you can consider them elite like the Habs or Oilers. The Isles were a good dynasty at best. As for the 80 finals, it would have been tough for the Islanders to win game 7 in Philly if that Sutter goal didn't count.

[OilersCanadasTeam]

The Isles would have had tremendous problems with the Canadiens in either the 80, 81, 82 or even 83 playoffs. The Habs were easily the best defensive team. The Isles were fortunate to not meet them in the playoffs. The Islanders were also lucky not to meet the Oilers in the 82 final but I doubt the Oil would have been much of a threat at that point with all their inexperience. Ironically the Isles didnt win their first Cup by beating a defending champion, like the 76 Habs and 84 Oilers did.

[landrykkb]

@OilersCanadasTeam But the Islanders still were due for a championship run,regardless of who they beat for their 1st Cup.

[landrykkb]

@OilersCanadasTeam Well...the Isles actually weren`t expected to beat the Oilers when they swept them for their last Cup win.

[landrykkb]

@OilersCanadasTeam Then again,the Habs obviously weren`t even good enough to get past the first round in 3 out of those 4 years the isles ruled the roost,so it`s foolish to assume the Isles would have been no match for them.

[DaveTV2]

I don't disagree with that either. Both those teams were better in their respective heydays.

In the end that is all I was saying is that it would have ben very tough for them to win that game in Philly. Can you "guarantee" it? Of course not. but you can make a pretty damn good assumption what would have happened to the Iles facing the Flyers in their own barn with the fans on top of them. But we will never know. Just more Philly bad luck!

[OilersCanadasTeam]

The Oilers would have won the game and the Stanley Cup had Hextall not played so brilliant. The Oilers were a better team that the Flyers in both 85 and 87. And its safe to say that if the Flyers had met anybody else in the finals those years they would have would the Cup guaranteed. They had the best team in the East (Wales Conference) and had depth galore.

[OilersCanadasTeam]

The Flyers didn't score the first goal of the game until game 7 in Edmonton. Thats what hurt them the most in the series. But in this game 5, the Flyers rallied twice and won. They took advantage of their scoring opportunities while the Oilers didn't. Maybe the Oilers were too confident going into this one. They seemed to have a lot of good scoring chances but couldn't bury them. They thought it was going to be routine against the Flyers. Not exactly.

[landrykkb]

@OilersCanadasTeam Up until this series,facing elimination against the Oilers often meant you were done like dinner.

[theroopsmith]

That 87 team was no joke, they got to game 7 the hard way, every single series they'd played, the Rags, the Isles and the Habs were classics in their own right, it's a damn shame they lost. This game is one of my favorites ever played and I memorized the ESPN tape I had of it, you had end to end action, gate crashing, screening, fighting for position in front of the crease, the Oilers finesse vs. the Flyers muscle, everybody played balls out every shift. I miss these days. They're long gone. :(

[iLoveMEsomeME81]

Oh man that will be great. Im 26 now so my memories of Hextall's first stint here are fuzzy. I remember his second stint as if it were yesterday. Nothing beats watching young, angry, aggressive Hextall.

[DaveTV2]

Yea, it is amazing how quickly that team really took on the attitude and persona of the goalie let alone a ROOKIE goalie. I think they needed someone like him after the loss of Lindbergh. I love the interview with Dave Poulin where he talked about Hextall's influence on the team. He said "the bad boys were bad again"

He definitely brought that swagger and attitude back to the team the second time around as well. They should not have traded him in the first place!

[iLoveMEsomeME81]

I can't tell you how long I have been waiting for flyers footage from 86-87 through 88-89. I'm a huge Ron Hextall fan, and I love seeing video of his first stint with the Flyers. This is just awesome. Thanks.

[DaveTV2]

Stay tuned. I have a LOT more coming. I was going through all my tapes cataloging what I have and seeing what would be worth posting when I got side tracked with making these videos. Once I am done with seeing what I have I will begin posting more frequently.

[iLoveMEsomeME81]

Mike Emrick: Best Hockey Announcer Ever.

[Crawford1987]

I disagree...that goes to Gary Thorne, in my opinion. Doc just doesn't sound as passionate as Thorne does...despite the fact that Gary Thorne hasn't announced in 4 years, due to the NHL on Versus. I like Doc's voice though..

[iLoveMEsomeME81]

I've been waiting for this. This is great! One thought...Gene Hart was grossly overrated as an announcer.

[DaveTV2]

Glad I could help! Now I just hope that WB or whomever has the home video rights to the NHL would put the series out on DVD.

I have to disagree with you about Gene Hart though. I like Mike Emrick as well, but for the Flyers Gene was great. You could always sense emotion of the game though his voice. He was certainly a homer but you could always tell he enjoyed great goals no matter where they came from and could sense the excitement in him when they would happen as well. I still miss him.

[DaveTV2]

Now Bobby Taylor I could do without. He is Steve Coats for the 80's. I can't stand when announcers are SUCH homers that they can't ever seem to look at things impartially. Steve Coats drives me insane because he is SUCH a homer and is so loud about it. He adds nothing to the telecast. They need to replace him... with Bill Clement maybe.