Great Teams, Great Games PDF

HOCKEY BLAST Pro Hockey Board Game gives you the chance to replay some of pro hockey's most memorable teams, with the "Great Teams, Great Games" card sets! Each set provides the participating teams from six memorable Cup championship series. Pro hockey's greatest players come to life again on your table top! Here's a run-down of the teams included in the original “Great Teams, Great Games” hockey set...

1955-56 Montreal vs. Detroit: The fabulous Montreal powerhouse of the 1950s is represented here by the 1955-56 team, which finished with 45 wins in 70 games, dispatched New York in the semi-finals and faced defending champion Detroit for the title. In game one, "The Rocket" scored four times, including three goals in the second period, and Montreal opened the series a 6-4 win. Goals were scarce for Detroit after that--they got only six more in the final four games, and Montreal won the series 4-1. It was Montreal's sixth consecutive appearance in the Cup finals, and the first of five straight championships.

1966-67 Toronto vs. Montreal: The 1966-67 season featured a strong performance from Chicago, which finished 41-17-12. But the first-place finishers were eliminated in the semi-finals by a cagey Toronto team that saved its best hockey for the post-season. The oldest team EVER to win a Cup, Toronto put a club on the ice whose average age was 31. Its trio of goalies averaged 36 years! This was the last Cup final of the "Big Six" era, as expansion would double the size of the league the following season. Montreal was the opponent, and won game one easily, 6-2, but would only win once more in the series. The pivotal game was a double overtime 3-2 win for Toronto in game four, one of the most exciting playoff hockey games ever played. Toronto has not won another Cup championship since this one--the longest drought of any current team.

1971-72 Boston vs. New York: A classic (and rare) match-up of teams with the the two best records in pro hockey, both from the East Division. It was New York's first Cup appearance since 1950, and they got there by knocking off defending champion Montreal in the quarter-finals, followed by a sweep of a very tough Chicago team. Boston featured the league's goals, assists and points leaders, and its top defender. Players from both squads dominated the league's All-Star team. Game one saw Boston charge to a 5-1 lead, only to see New York fight back to tie, 5-5. A late Boston goal, however, salvaged the win. New York won games three and five, but Boston's erstwhile goalie delivered a shutout in game six, bringing the Cup back to Boston for the second time in three years.

1976-77 Montreal vs. Boston: Considered by some to be the best team in pro hockey history, Montreal overwhelmed the rest of the league in piling up a 60-8-12 regular season record, en route to an appearance against Boston in the Cup final. Boston sported the league's second-best record and featured a roster dotted with future hall-of-famers, but was no match for the Montreal juggernaut. Montreal opened the series with a flurry of goals and a 7-3 victory, and followed that up with a shutout win in game two, 3-0. Seeking to avoid the sweep, Boston sent game four into overtime tied at 1-1, but Montreal's star left winger netted the game winner to give his club the Cup.

1983-84 Edmonton vs. New York: This was a significant Cup series on many levels. It featured two high-scoring post-expansion teams who had faced each other a year earlier for the league championship. New York swept that series four games to none--its fourth consecutive league championship. This re-match series started out with Edmonton stealing a road win on a defensive gem, 1-0. New York responded with a 6-1 pounding to tie the series. It was all Edmonton after that, though, as the upstarts--led by "The Great One"--won the final three games by a combined 19-6 margin. Edmonton became the first team from the former rival pro league--absorbed five years earlier--to win the established league's championship, and the first team west of Chicago to win the Cup since the 1920s.

1990-91 Pittsburgh vs. Minnesota: A remarkable "Cinderella" series, featuring a Minnesota club that barely made the playoffs--with a losing record--and then proceeded to turn the league on its ear by posting three consecutive series upsets in the Cup's preliminary round. First came a four games to two decision over division champion Chicago, which entered the playoffs with the league's best record. Then they faced the league's second-best team, St. Louis, and won that series as well. With the hockey world's attention fixed, Minnesota upset Edmonton for the Conference championship and a berth in the Cup series against Pittsburgh. After taking a shocking two games to one lead, the clock suddenly struck midnight for Minnesota, and Pittsburgh's crushing 8-0 game six win was the Cup-clincher. Pittsburgh's "Super Mario" was the star player of the series, scoring 12 points in five games.

The "Great Teams, Great Games"  PDF sells for $14, over 250 individual player cards, in team colors, delivered instantly upon checkout--you print on your own card stock, trim and play.

Experience hockey history on your game table with the "Great Teams, Great Games" Cards for HOCKEY BLAST Pro Hockey Game!