The Series
This series marked the first time that two former World Hockey Association teams played against each other for the Stanley Cup since they merged with the NHL in 1979. As a result of the new scheduling formula that was implemented before the 2005–06 NHL season, the Hurricanes and the Oilers did not meet during the regular season.
These were also the first ever Finals contested by two teams that had both missed the playoffs the previous season (assuming one skips the unplayed 2005 Stanley Cup playoffs). Even more interestingly, it would also prove to be the first Finals contested by teams that would both go on to miss the following years' playoffs. Prior to these Finals, only the 1938–39 Chicago Black Hawks had ever missed the playoffs one year, then played in the Stanley Cup Final (win or lose) the following season, and then missed the playoffs again the season after that. Both the Hurricanes and Oilers have now accomplished this dubious feat.
Hurricanes Head Coach Peter Laviolette joined Ron Wilson as the only people to have head coached in an Olympics and Stanley Cup Finals in the same year, having coached the American ice hockey team during the Torino Olympics. Both would coach in either one in 2010; Wilson coached the American ice hockey team to silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics, while Laviolette would coach in the Stanley Cup Finals with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Read more about this topic: 2006 Stanley Cup Finals
Famous quotes containing the word series:
“Every day the fat woman dies a series of small deaths.”
—Shelley Bovey, U.S. author. Being Fat Is Not a Sin, ch. 1 (1989)
“Rosalynn said, “Jimmy, if we could only get Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat up here on this mountain for a few days, I believe they might consider how they could prevent another war between their countries.” That gave me the idea, and a few weeks later, I invited both men to join me for a series of private talks. In September 1978, they both came to Camp David.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)