LA Kings’ Goalie Coach Bill Ranford on Leading the Oilers to Stanley Cup Success

(Photo credit: oilers.nhl.com)

When Jonathan Quick won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2012, he became the third member of the Los Angeles Kings organization to win the coveted playoff MVP award. The other two: then-assistant general manager Ron Hextall and goaltending coach Bill Ranford.

Albeit in a losing effort, Ron Hextall won the Conn Smythe in 1987 after leading the Philadelphia Flyers to within one game of winning the Stanley Cup, falling short to the powerful Edmonton Oilers. Three years later, Bill Ranford won the award, leading the Oilers to their fifth Stanley Cup victory, celebrating his own coming-out party en route.

This month marks the 30th anniversary of the Oilers’ fifth — and most recent — Stanley Cup victory. In celebration of said victory, I had the pleasure of speaking with Bill Ranford, who was an integral part of his team’s ultimate win, taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy as a result.

The New No. 1 in Town

While he had already had a few seasons under his belt, including appearances in four postseason contests, Bill Ranford entered the 1990 playoffs facing a new challenge.

With Grant Fuhr sidelined with a shoulder injury, the Oilers turned to Ranford as their playoff starter. Of course, having played 56 games during the regular season — a career-high at the time — Ranford was feeling more confidence than pressure as the calendar turned to spring.

“Did I put any extra pressure on myself? I’m sure I did at the time but I tried not thinking about it too much,” Ranford admitted. “I had just come off a pretty good regular season and felt good about my game going in.

“You always want to prove yourself, so there was a little bit of pressure put on myself going in. This was my opportunity with the injury to Grant Fuhr. I had the opportunity to make a name for myself, prove that I could play at the highest level in the playoffs.”

Ranford and the Oilers did not get started on the right foot.

Their opening-round opponents, the Winnipeg Jets, got the better of the Oilers right off the bat.

In Game 1, the Jets gave Ranford a night to forget as the netminder allowed six goals on 30 shots. Winnipeg won 7-5.

“The Oilers had never really lost to Winnipeg in a series,” Ranford began. “We were confident that way but after the poor Game 1 I had personally, I knew I had to rally back and prove to my teammates that I could be the guy and compete.”

And rally back Ranford did as he stopped 23 of 25 shots in Game 2 for a 3-2 Edmonton win. As the series shifted to Winnipeg, the Jets found their groove, winning Games 3 and 4 to jump out a 3-1 series lead.

After being eliminated by the Kings early in the 1989 playoffs, the Oilers were on the verge of suffering consecutive first-round exits for the first time since joining the NHL in 1979. In spite of their situation, though, the Oilers remained confident.

“I think we started to play better as the series went along and even when we were down three games to one, I still think we felt confident because our game was getting better, we still had a chance to come back in the series even though [the 3-1 series comeback] had only been done, I think, two or three times ever up to that point.”

After edging the Jets in Games 5 and 6 to force a seventh game, Ranford was stellar in the decider, stopping 26 of 27 shots to help the Oilers complete the series comeback with a 4-1 win.

Next up, the aforementioned Kings, with Ranford’s former Oilers teammate, Wayne Gretzky leading the way.

A Royal Rematch

While the Oilers were certainly riding high after their first-round comeback against the Jets, the Kings didn’t exactly enter the second round with a whimper either.

Off the heels of a major upset, the Kings had eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames in six games in the opening round. To suggest that the silver-and-black were ready for round two would be a huge understatement. After all, they had eliminated the Oilers the previous spring in seven games and were poised to do it again.

Ranford and the Oilers, however, had other ideas.

In preparation for Game 1, Ranford was focused on avoiding a similar start to the Winnipeg series. In response, the Oilers netminder was perfect, making 25 saves en route to a 7-0 whitewash of the Kings. The Oilers continued their dominance in Game 2, winning by a 6-1 count.

As for Ranford’s struggles early on in the Winnipeg series, he made up for it against Los Angeles, carrying a shutout for the first 103:45 of the second round.

When the series shifted to California for Games 3 and 4, the Kings found their offense. Ranford, though, was clutch, shutting the door late in both games, giving the Oilers 5-4 and 6-5 victories to sweep the red-hot Kings.

After leading the Oilers to four Stanley Cups in five years, Gretzky was traded to the Kings in August 1988. The following spring, No. 99 lead the Kings to their aforementioned opening-round victory against Edmonton, causing many to question whether the Oilers could win without the Great One.

I asked Ranford how crucial his club’s win against the Kings was in 1990.

“The Kings were a big stepping stone for us just from a psychological standpoint and probably a bit personal with Wayne Gretzky going to L.A. the previous summer,” Ranford noted. “So, I think that this was the first opportunity and a statement for our guys who were part of the first four Stanley Cups to prove that they could win without Wayne leading the way. So, I think that was the biggest hurdle in that situation: just proving to ourselves that we could [win the Stanley Cup] without Wayne because he was such a great player and such a big part of those Cup wins.”

For any critics who thought the Oilers were no longer contenders without Gretzky, they may not have considered that many of the figures from Edmonton’s previous Cup wins were not only still with the club but just as formidable, including Hall-of-Famers Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and Glenn Anderson.

“Different guys had to step up in different ways after Wayne left, so it was a big stepping stone for us,” Ranford continued. “There’s no doubt about that.”

Back to the Finals

After getting past the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the Campbell Conference Final, the Edmonton Oilers were back in the Stanley Cup Final. As for Bill Ranford, while he already won a Stanley Cup with the Oilers in 1988, it was in a backup role behind the aforementioned Grant Fuhr. 1990 would mark his first Cup Final as a starter, and it was against his former team, the Boston Bruins — the same team the Oilers defeated in the ‘88 Final.

I asked Ranford whether he saw facing his old team as added motivation to win.

“I don’t know if there was any extra motivation because I had already been through that in ‘88 when I got traded and we beat them in the Finals,” admitted Ranford. “So, I think that aspect of the motivation was gone.”

For Ranford, it was about doing what he had done all postseason: proving that he was a reliable No. 1 goaltender. Only this time, hockey’s Holiest prize was on the line.

“[The 1990 Final] was more personal for myself to prove that I could play at this level,” Ranford said.

The Edmonton netminder remembered that between defeating Chicago and facing off against the Bruins, the Oilers were pressed for time, flying straight from the Windy City to Beantown as a result.

“I remember when we won the third round in Chicago, we didn’t go back to Edmonton,” Ranford reflected. “We jumped on a plane and headed directly towards Boston and they had been dominating through the playoffs.”

After finishing the regular season with a league-best 101 points, the Bruins struggled in their opening-round series, needing seven games to slip past the Hartford Whalers. From there, the B’s were flying, needing just nine games to get to the Final. It appeared as though the Bruins’ 18-year championship drought was about to end.

“By the time we got to Boston, everything we read in the papers there and when the reporters talked to us, it was basically that we might as well give the Bruins the two wins and go back to Edmonton and try your luck,” Ranford said. “So, that was extra motivation for us as a group and Mark Messier was one of our big leaders and the one thing that he said from experience was, ‘When we get to Edmonton, let’s not give them any ammunition to put up on the bulletin board. Let’s just be humble. We’re happy to be here and they’re a great team.’ But, in the back of our minds, we had a job to do and we wanted to make sure to steal at least one of the two games in Boston.”

A Long, Hot Night

While the first game would traditionally set the tone for the remainder of a series, Game 1 of the 1990 Stanley Cup Final turned into a battle of attrition.

Despite entering the Final as underdogs, the Oilers opened the scoring, jumping out to a 2-0 lead after two periods. The Bruins came alive in the third, though, as captain Ray Bourque scored twice to even the score, sending Game 1 to overtime.

And that’s when this game went down in history.

With neither side giving an inch, Game 1 went into three overtimes. In normal circumstances, this would be exciting playoff hockey. In a situation where a game this long was played in a pre-air-conditioned building, though, playing for hours in the sweltering Boston Garden to determine a winner was, to put it mildly, an exhausting ordeal.

“Well, that was obviously the biggest struggle: the heat of the building,” Ranford remembered. “The last time we would have eaten was 12 hours by the time the game ended. I think it ended around 1 o’clock in the morning or later. I even remember them bringing in pizzas and anything to get just a little bit of food into our systems and somehow the windows in the visiting dressing room we welded shut. We couldn’t even open the windows. Just all of the typical, interesting mind games that went on in a playoff back then in some of the older buildings. So, it was a struggle. I’m not going to lie.”

As much as each team wanted to win that night, the Oilers’ netminder disclosed that players just wanted a goal to be scored, regardless which team it came from.

“It got to a point where you had to fight off the demons of not caring who won because you were so exhausted,” admitted Ranford. “That was probably the biggest thing that we were trying to fight off: to play that a long of a game and to lose it would have been heartbreaking. We just kept digging in and from my standpoint, just focus on trying to make the next save. Every time it went down to the other end, I just said, ‘Please, please, let’s just score and put this out of our misery.’ So, it was a long night.”

Believe it or not, there was another factor at play besides the heat that evening.

“The other thing people forget about was stoppages due to the fog,” Ranford added. “So, there were a lot of stoppages and the lights even went out, too. So, there were many things that went on in that first game that extended the game even longer. There were one or two fog delays where they had to get both teams on the ice and just skating around to get the fog to lift. It was a longer game than people realize.”

Ranford, in spite of the heat, fog, exhaustion and the sheer longevity of the contest, somehow managed to stay focused, making 50 saves. Then, finally, with just under five minutes remaining in the third period, Edmonton’s mid-season acquisition, Petr Klima ended it, scoring the winner between the legs of Bruins’ netminder Andy Moog to end what is, to this day, the longest Stanley Cup Final game in playoff history.

Hoisting Lord Stanley’s Mug

The Oilers followed the opening-game marathon up with a convincing 7-2 win in Game 2. Then, after losing Game 3 in Edmonton, the Oilers won Game 4 by a 5-1 count, backed by a solid 24-save performance by Ranford.

In Game 5 back in Boston, Ranford was even better, making 24 saves en route to a 4-1 win, clinching the Oilers’ fifth Stanley Cup in seven years.

While some may have suggested that the 1990 Edmonton Oilers successfully stepped out of Wayne Gretzky’s shadow following their Stanley Cup victory, Ranford admits that he never saw it that way.

“By the time we got to that point, all that we were really focused on was winning,” he said. “But I’m sure for the guys that had been with Wayne for the first four to prove that they could win one without him probably meant more to them than it did for me. I was just happy to have had a bigger role in winning.

Having played in his first postseason as a starter, taking over for the more experienced Grant Fuhr, few could blame Bill Ranford for feeling pressure entering the 1990 playoffs. Especially after an opening game to forget against the Jets before falling behind three games to one, it may have seemed that Ranford was feeling the pressure. The Oilers’ netminder, however, to his tremendous credit, not only hung in there but upped his game, including a convincing sweep of Gretzky and the Kings and later, getting past the heavily-favoured Bruins in the Final.

“You can’t even describe it,” he emphasized of winning the Stanley Cup. “The feeling of winning your first is amazing but when I won my second and I had a bigger impact on the outcome, it’s probably one of the most amazing feelings I’ve had in my lifetime.

“It’s something you’ll never forget when you have that situation. It’s a camaraderie that’ll last for a lifetime, the guys you played with. By the time you win it all, it ends up taking so long to win it — two-, two-and-a-half months before it’s finally over — it’s a bond for life with that group of guys.”

The Cherry on Top

While it may be one of the NHL’s most prestigious awards, the Conn Smythe Trophy is a different award in the sense that it is an individual honour presented following the ultimate team tournament. The Conn Smythe Trophy is nonetheless very deserving to whoever is named the recipient.

In the 1990 playoffs, strong cases could have been made for Edmonton captain Mark Messier to win the award, finishing tied in the playoff lead with 31 points with teammate Craig Simpson. Simpson was another choice, leading the playoffs with 16 goals. Heck, albeit in losing efforts, cases could have been made for Andy Moog or Cam Neely, who lead the Bruins with 28 points during the postseason.

When it was all said and done, though, Ranford was named the 1990 Conn Smythe winner, becoming the fourth goaltender in the previous eight years to win the award.

“I’m not going to lie: it was the cherry on top,” the Brandon, Man., native admitted. “But the thing about the Conn Smythe Trophy is that, yes, it’s an individual award but you can’t win it unless you have the support of your teammates. So, it’s an interesting one. As much as you’d like to take credit for it personally, it still is somewhat of a team trophy because without the support of your teammates, you can’t win it. They got to pick somebody and that year, I was fortunate enough that it was me that was picked for it and it’s something that– you see that trophy and your name’s on it and nobody can ever take that away from you. I think that’s probably the biggest thing about it but it really is also a team trophy because I know I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the guys in front of me.”

Teaching Future Generations

In addition to his two Stanley Cup victories, Ranford would go undefeated in the 1991 Canada Cup, leading Canada to the tournament win while earning first-team all-star honours. Ranford would represent Canada again in 1994, helping his country win gold for the first time at the tournament since 1961.

Ranford retired in 2000 but by 2004, transitioned into the coaching ranks, being hired by the WHL’s Vancouver Giants as their goaltending coach.

Ranford would help guide the Giants to an Ed Chynoweth Cup victory (WHL championship) in 2006 and while he left for Los Angeles shortly thereafter, helped prepare the Giants for their Memorial Cup win in 2007.

In 2006, Ranford would return to the NHL, joining the Los Angeles Kings as their next goaltending coach.

Joining a club which had mightily struggled between the pipes, Ranford helped not only stabilize the Kings’ goaltending situation but strengthened it. From Jonathan Bernier to Erik Ersberg, the Kings, under Ranford’s tutelage, became much better in goal. Yet, as the Kings were being built into playoff contenders, it was the solid, consistent play of one particular goaltender that made the Kings a force to be reckoned with for the first time in ages.

Jonathan Quick had quickly established himself in Los Angeles, helping the Kings return to the playoffs in 2010. Just two years later, Quick, pushing a 29th-ranked offense into the playoffs on the regular season’s final weekend, would guide the only eighth-seed in NHL playoff history to upsets of the conference’s top three seeds before helping the Kings win their first-ever Stanley Cup.

As for Quick, he was phenomenal. His 16-4 record to go in hand with his unthinkable 1.41 GAA and .946 save percentage made him an easy choice for the 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy, winning the award 22 years after his goaltending coach did.

I asked the 1990 Conn Smythe winner how his expertise helped Quick lead his team to Stanley Cup victory but also to win the Conn Smythe.

“That’s one of the benefits I had: having been there,” Ranford said. “I had gone to the Final and had all the experience of going to the Stanley Cup Final. I was able to help not only with Jonathan Quick but other guys who had never experienced anything like that. I was able to basically talk about the ups and downs of a playoff series and the emotions that go with it. So, I think that’s where I was a benefit to others. Then winning as a coach and as a player, the only thing I can say that’s different is– I’m never going to knock the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup — but the biggest issue with being a player versus a coach is that as a player, I felt I could control my own actions and control what happens on the ice. As a coach, as soon as the puck is dropped, it’s somewhat out of your hands. Sitting back there sometimes was probably [more nerve-wracking] as a coach than when I played because it was out of my hands.”

Drafted in the third round (52nd overall) by the Bruins in 1985, Ranford would go on to play 15 seasons in the NHL. When he retired in 2000, Ranford had suited up for five NHL teams, including a pair of stints with both the Bruins and the Oilers — the latter he finished his playing career with. Along the way, Ranford earned a total of 240 wins, 15 shutouts and a 3.21 goals-against average.

To turn a successful playing career into a successful coaching career is not a feat that everyone can accomplish. Bill Ranford has and as much as he established himself during his player career, the 53-year-old has blossomed into a bona fide coach, helping mold the careers of Jonathan Quick, Martin Jones, Jack Campbell as well as future stars like Cal Petersen.

While it may come at the dismay of their club, fans of the Los Angeles Kings have certainly forgiven Bill Ranford — assuming forgiveness is warranted — for helping to sweep their team 30 years ago en route to the Edmonton Oilers’ fifth Stanley Cup victory. Ranford would lead the Oilers to eliminate the Kings again in the ‘91 and ‘92 playoffs but that is certainly a small price to pay for fans of the silver-and-black. After all, for the majority of his coaching career, Bill Ranford has overwhelmingly contributed to the Los Angeles Kings’ vast success — contributions that have made a lasting impact and ones that, like the former netminder’s accomplishments in 1990, will be remembered for a very long time.

 

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