Customer Reviews

NHL Original Six Series - The New York Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup Champions

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Clearly 5 stars for the overall quality and packaging of this set (even includes Mark Messier Night as a bonus.) However, I take away a star for the games not being completely uncut (e.g., the end of Game 6 vs. Devils - the skirmish between Anderson & Nichols is edited out.) A relatively minor point perhaps since no game time is lost, but this is still annoying and totally unnecessary. Regardless, a nice and overdue DVD addition to any hockey fan's library--especially Rangers fans! Also, die-hard Ranger fans beware: some games are taken from the ESPN feeds, so no Sam & J.D. Although it is interesting to see and hear these games via a different lens and commentary, I was a bit disappointed in this production choice for some of these games.

Mark Messier swore he would give everything he had to bring the Stanley Cup back to New York. In 1994, Messier captained the historic Stanley Cup winning New York Rangers team after guaranteeing the team's Game 7 victory of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New Jersey Devils, and facing off against the Vancouver Canucks in the Cup Finals that went all seven games. The team led by Messier and coached by Mike Keenan, included future hall of famers and role players including Brian Leetch, Adam Graves, Mike Richter, Alexi Kovalev, Sergei Zubov, Kevin Lowe, Alexander Karpovtsev, and Jeff Beukeboom; all of whom played extremely important roles in the team's victory. This DVD collection features all the games from the Eastern Conference Finals and the Cup Finals; and every magic moment in between: Stephane Matteau's game winning goal against the Devils, Richter stoning Canucks sniper Pavel Bure in a penalty shot, and Messier hoisting up the Cup with a fan holding a sign saying "Now I Can Die in Peace". It's indeed one of the greatest moments in NHL history, and for Rangers fans, well, you already know that this is a must own.

This week, while being home from work, I was able to view the entire 7 game series against the Devils. I haven't seen the final series yet. I enjoyed the entire series although I was a bit disappointed in a number of things regarding this DVD set. Unfortunately for Rangers fans, they use ESPN broadcasts for all but 1 game. The other game they use a Canadian Cable channel broadcast. I'm pretty sure these games were broadcast on the Rangers regular MSG network and that is what should be on these disks. Sam Rosen and John Davidson far surpass the announcer combinations on these disks. I also would have loved to hear the different calls of the Matteau goal at the end of Game 6, especially the famous Howie Rose radio call (Matteau!! Matteau!! Matteau!). There were definite technical difficulties with blurry footage for during some of the games which was very annoying. Plus, I wish they could have included some interviews of former players with their remembrances of each game as well as some pregame and postgame thoughts and interviews. Those would have been a fantastic addition to this series. Those things hold down the number of stars I give to this collection. Otherwise, it was a terrific way to relive the Rangers - Devils series.

First of all, just because this info is missing in the listing, here are the details on the broadcast crews:

NJ-NYR series
Game 1--ESPN 2 w/ Sean McDonough and Brian Engblom.
Game 5--CBC w/ Chris Cuthbert and John Garrett
The rest are ESPN with the annoying Gary "he did it! he did it!" Thorne and Bill Clement.

Van-NYR series
The Final is thankfully all MSG Network feed with Sam "it's a powerplay goal" Rosen and John Davidson. Being a Canuck fan this was heaven not having to listen to the dreadful Bob "where are the Make Belief players?" Cole and Harry "is the bar open?" Neale.

All games axe the commercials and intermissions. the pic quality varies from amazing to the odd times, esp. the ESPN ones, where it's a tad off.

The jackets to each DVD have the scores and stats on them so if you do want to watch this fresh and don't remember the scores of each game, be forewarned. You will learn the score if you glance at the jackets.

Other than that, you know the hockey is great although much of the NJ-NYR series is, to be honest, frankly dull when NJ do the trap especially the overtimes where not much happens. Plus as you watch games 1 thru 5 and even two periods into game 6, you wonder how the NYR ever won this series. The Final is far more entertaining hockey by a country mile.

The bonus DVD on the Cup run has plenty of clips of both the NYR and Van runs to the Final as well as a ton of great I've never seen before behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. They also toss on the Messier Retirement Night (sponsored by Kleenex, as Mike Richter says).

First of all, I'm a Rangers fun. I was looking forward to Messier's 2 disc "collectors" version promoted since last year, which was released this year as a 1 disc rehash. What a disappointment.
Then this Rangers 1994 15 disc set.
As other reviewers mentioned, this is edited game coverage of Conference finals against NJ, and Stanley Cup finals against VAN.
I take one star away because of this cuts.
Once I started to watch the set, I noticed the video quality of several segments are poor in Game 5 and 7 against NJ.
I take another star away.
Then the Game 2 against VAN, what terrible footages in 3rd period! Momentary black outs. Worst one lasting about one second.
I can't believe they release this kind of poor footages for hefty price.

As a die hard Ranger fan, I want NHL production or WB to replace those defective footages and send to us without charge.

Looking at all of the reviews for this set its clear to see that New Jersey Devil Fans and New York Ranger fans obviously dont like each other very much and that is fine as rivalry's are what give sports the drama that makes an ordinary game not so ordinary.

With that being said, any New Jersey Devil fan coming on here making fun of this set is an absolute moron. Making comments like sure watch this as you have nothing else to watch just reaks of jealously. Maybe when or if you have a 15 DVD set commemorating one of your seasons you wont feel so obligated to bash other teams. I am not even a big Ranger fan as I live in Detroit and you can only guess which team I root for. However I remember this series as I watched every game and I not only remember what an amazing run it was for New York I can also see the historical significance of the 1994 series. Does it deserve to have a 15 DVD set to commemorate it, Absolutly. Do other seasons besides 1994? Absolutly and hopefully this is just the beginning of these sets as I can pick 4 or 5 years of the top of my head that would deserve sets like these. 90-91 Penguins, 91-92 Penguins, 92-93 Candians, 86-87 Oilers, 00-01 Avalanch and lets not forget the one that needs it the most 96-97 Red Wings - First Cup Win in 42 Years :-)

So let rivalry's be rivalry's but to bash this DVD set only shows your ignorance to NHL history and to the sport itself. 94 was an amazing season of hockey period regardless of which team you root for and the Rangers run to the cup was definitly one for the books and deserves a set like this. So congrats to all of you Ranger fans, this is by far one of the best commemorative sets that you can buy for any sport. I plan on purchasing this for myself if I can find a good deal on it, 85 bucks is a little pricey for me at the moment but for 15 DVD's is definitly a good price.

So to sum this up, great set, great team and great idea for future sets. Hopefully w see more soon!!

GotMyOrangeCrush

Quite possibly the best $[..] I've ever spent. I came across this by accident but immediately knew I had to have it. I just got it today and am watching game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals with the 2OT winner by Matteau. I remember sitting at home watching this game when I was in 4th grade. Its great watching and hearing Gary Thorne & Bill Clement saying some old-time names like Esa Tikkanen, Mike Gartner, Craig MacTavish, and Jeff Beukeboom. Absolutely love the DVD. Any true Rangers fan must have this!!!! I only wish I could have the Championship hat again...I wore it so much it turned brown because it never left my head.

As a massive Rangers fan, I was so happy to receive this as a birthday gift. With 15 DVD's crammed full of the conference and Stanley cup series, it is something that I have not been able to switch off. People have made comments about the broadcast quality, but you must remember that this is from a time when the technology was not as good as it is now and that over the 30 hours, the occasional glitch pales into insignificance.

I've collected other hockey DVD's from other teams as well - notably the Red Wings original six series - and it's great we get packages like this. More please!

I bought this for my 10 year old nephew who is obsessed with hockey and the Rangers. He loves it, as does my brother who is 43 and has the same love for both. Also, this was very reasonably priced. If you buy it elsewhere it can be priced for over $75.00.

My father loved this for his 60th birthday. I could only give it four stars because I'm a Devils fan. The old man loves his Rangers and thoroughly enjoys this DVD set everytime he sits down for a hockey fix.