Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday.
In the midst of the Stanley Cup Final, Stan compares Connor McDavid's bid to be on his first NHL championship team with that of Montreal Canadiens forward John Ferguson. Wing for the Canadiens' immortal Jean Beliveau, Ferguson detailed to Fischler the challenge of reaching the Final and then being on a Cup-winner for the first time in the spring of 1965.
While Connor McDavid already has established himself as an iconic figure in the National Hockey League's pantheon of heroes, he has yet to achieve his goal of leading the Edmonton Oilers to the ultimate Stanley Cup victory.
"Nobody," declared McDavid, "wants the Stanley Cup more than I do."
Now with three games of the 2025 Cup Final having been played, McDavid is three victories from sipping Cup champagne. His next battle against the defending champion Florida Panthers will be in Game 4 at Amerant Bank Arena in Florida on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
For Montreal Canadiens left wing John Ferguson, his trail to the Stanley Cup began in earnest after they lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the 1964 playoffs. Just one season later, "Fergie" was a potent force when the Canadiens became champions. He would play on five Stanley Cup winners in an eight-year NHL career.
In interviews with me for his autobiography, "Thunder and Lightning," Ferguson detailed the challenges faced before actually delivering the big prize to Montreal.
What was the first sign that your team had the goods?
"We finished first among 'The Original Six' in the 1963-64 season but lost to Toronto in the playoffs. During that summer, we added tough defenseman Ted Harris but otherwise had basically the same team as the one that finished first. To get The Cup we knew we had the personnel and the motivation. But we needed our captain Jean Beliveau to have a big scoring year and, most of all, our goaltending had to come through."
Who did you have in goal?
"We had little Charlie Hodge who had won the Vezina Trophy in the previous year. Charlie had a good glove hand, was solid and showed us enough to be our number one man between the pipes. But there always seemed to be some doubts about Charlie. That's why management had Gump Worsley as backup. I remember a headline in Weekend magazine: HODGE HAS THE SPOTLIGHT -- BUT GUMP STILL IN THE WINGS. That headline would prove prophetic when it came down to Game 7 of the 1965 Final."
How good was your team over the regular season in 1964-65?
"It was weird. We finished second, four points behind Detroit, and yet our top scorer was defensive ace Claude Provost; and he was sixth in NHL scoring with Ralph Backstrom down in 10th. Beliveau wasn't even among the leading scorers. But the good news was that we faced fourth-place Toronto in the opening playoff round after we had finished nine points ahead of the Leafs. The bad news was that they had won six straight playoff series over three years."
What was the Toronto-Montreal rivalry like?
"Very intense. One night I was in a restaurant having dinner when one of the Leafs came in for a bite. The second I saw him, I got up and walked out. I didn't want to be in any restaurant with a Leaf. My coach Toe Blake felt the same way. Once in Toronto, Blake had a rip in his socks and asked the trainer for a fresh pair. The trainer foolishly gave Toe a pair with a Maple Leaf crest on it. 'No way I'm putting those on,' Blake roared. He went around barefoot the rest of the day."
Describe how you beat Toronto.
"We knew we had to ignore Maple Leafs coach Punch Imlach since he was one of the best needlers in the league. He tried goading us, but we ignored him. Meanwhile, we won the first two games at The Forum, 3-2 and 3-1, then lost the next two at Maple Leaf Gardens, 3-2 in overtime and 4-2. But we rebounded for a 4-2 victory at home and wrapped up the series in Toronto, 4-3, in overtime. That put us in the Cup Final against Chicago."
How good were the Black Hawks?
"They had won the Cup in 1961 and had stars like Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Pierre Pilote and Moose Vasko. But the real deal was Glenn Hall in goal. He had invented a new style where he'd drop to his knees in an inverted 'V' formation which covered the crease end to end. Some called it 'the butterfly' and it was very effective. I considered Hall the best goalie in the six-team league."
What was coach Toe Blake's strategy in the final round?
"At first, it looked easy. We beat Chicago in the first two games at home and our Jean Beliveau led the way. Coach Blake had Big Jean opposite Chicago's top center Mikita and Jean held him in check during the Forum games. Blake said that Beliveau was playing better than when his Habs won five Cups in a row. Jean's two-way game was out of this world. But things changed in Chicago."
What turned it around?
"Up until then, Gump Worsley was playing solid goal for us but he got knocked out of Game 3 by a Bobby Hull blast. Charlie Hodge replaced Gump and we lost 3-1. Then, in the next game Chicago put five past Charlie and we went down 5-1 and the series was tied two wins apiece. But Hodge found his game back at the Forum and blanked the Hawks, 6-0. We were a win away from my first Cup for Game 6 at Chicago Stadium and led 1-0 heading into the third period. But the crowd got the Hawks going. They scored twice, sending us back to Montreal for the decisive Game 7 -- and one of the gutsiest coaching decisions."
What happened?
"Nobody could figure which goalie Toe would pick. After all, Charlie had shut out Chicago in Game 5 so there was every reason to believe he'd be back for Game 7 at The Forum. Even Gump was convinced of that and was sitting with his wife before the game when he got word: 'You're starting tonight!' We were already suiting up when Worsley walked in."
How did you feel?
"I wanted this Stanley Cup more than anyone else in the room. If I was nervous, it didn't take long for me to get rid of the butterflies. Just fourteen seconds after the opening face-off, Beliveau beat Hall and from then on we played like a team possessed. Five minutes later, Big Jean set up our second goal and now it was up to Gump to do the rest. When he beat Chicago's Cammy Henry on a clean breakaway, I felt that we were in and when the final buzzer went off; there it was, 4-0 for the good guys!"
How did it feel winning your first Cup?
"Apart from ecstatic, I couldn't help but reflect that my years of hard work in the minors had paid off. I realized in those euphoric moments while sipping champagne from Stanley that had I not had people fighting for me as I grew up in Vancouver, none of this would have been possible."
Then, a pause: "I also recalled a World War II song that my Dad had liked so much: 'This Is Worth Fighting For.'"
