This Day in Hockey History – May 3, 2004 – The Eliminator’s Third Elimination

How does a player earn a cool nickname? For Martin Gelinas, all he had to do was score three postseason overtime game-winners that each sent his opponents off to summer vacation. His third such goal was scored on May 3, 2004, when his Calgary Flames booted the first-place Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference semi-final. Not only did he set a record for most overtime game-winners during playoffs, but he also began to be called “The Eliminator” or “The Closer.”

Gelinas gained some recognition even before playing in an NHL game. In 1988, no sooner had he been drafted then he was traded by the Los Angeles Kings to the Edmonton Oilers as part of the package for Wayne Gretzky. It was to Gelinas’s advantage as the Oilers won the Stanley Cup at the end of the following season. He was then traded to Quebec in June 1993 only to be claimed on waivers in January 1994 to join the Vancouver Canucks in a failed attempt on the Cup.

The Carolina Hurricanes picked up Gelinas in a trade at the beginning of 1998. Their first ever run at the Stanley Cup was helped by Gelinas’s first overtime series-winner. In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final, on May 28, 2002, Gelinas’s goal brought the score to 2-1 as the Hurricanes eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs. Having made it to the Stanley Cup Final, Carolina was nearly swept by Detroit. Rather than renewing his contract as a free agent, on July 2, 2002 Gelinas signed with the Flames.

The Calgary Flames failed to make the playoffs in his first two seasons with them, just as they had the five seasons before that. Finally, at the end of the 2003-04 season, Calgary finished twelfth (with 94 points) and found themselves in a postseason facing teams that had placed in the top ten.

For the Western Conference quarter-final, Calgary needed all seven games and a bit of overtime to overcome the eighth-place Canucks. On April 19, their captain, Jarome Iginla, scored twice in regulation, only for Vancouver’s Matt Cooke to answer. Just 1:25 into overtime, Iginla assisted as Gelinas scored his second overtime series-ender. It had been 15 years since the Flames had won a playoff series.

Advancing to the semi-final, Calgary was predicted to lose to the first-place Detroit Red Wings. Surprisingly, the Flames led the series by winning all the odd-numbered games, including Game 5 with just one goal. It came down to Game 6, played at Calgary’s Saddledome on May 3rd for 19,289 fans. By the end of regulation, no one had scored despite 38 shots by the Wings and 44 by the Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff earned his second consecutive shutout for 148:33 total. According to Captain Iginla, “He’s been the best goaltender in the league all year. And he proved why again tonight.”

Overtime ticked by until 19:13, when the Flames decided they were not going to miss out on the opportunity to end the series at home. Iginla took a shot on net, but the puck “was stopped in a scramble.” Then Craig Conroy tried, resulting in a loose rebound. Gelinas, “drifting lonely as a cloud at the left of the net, had a whole acre of hemp to shoot at.” As he himself explained, “It was a wide-open net and I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss it. I whacked at it pretty hard to make sure it went in.” He did indeed succeed in sending the puck by goalie Curtis Joseph. Humbly, Gelinas commented, “It was a great team game. I’m just happy to be in the right place. They had more skill, but we worked extremely hard and it paid off.”

Gelinas was the first NHL player to complete three playoff series by scoring in overtime. Teammate right winger Chris Clark complimented, “It’s unbelievable what he’s done – in the past, tonight, a couple of weeks ago. He’s our closer. We bring in the lefty.” As the center on the ice at the time of the winning goal, Conroy mused, “I don’t know what we’re going to call Gelly now. The Closer. The Eliminator. But we’ve got to find a new nickname for him.” After all, he pointed out, “He’s eliminated two teams, he’s closed them out.”

But Gelinas and the Flames weren’t finished yet. Advancing to the Western Conference Final, their opponents were the third-ranked San Jose Sharks. This time, Calgary started with an overtime victory and held the lead by winning every road game. Again, it ended in Game 6 (on May 19), and again Gelinas pulled out the win. After Iginla scored a power-play goal in the first period, Gelinas only needed to score in the second period to ensure the 3-1 victory. A decade later Gelinas said, “You just have to get there. But I had that burning desire. I mean, I bleed red for this city. … I wanted to show what I was capable of doing.” He certainly did as he became the second NHL player to clinch three series during one playoff year.

Thanks to Gelinas’s three series-winners, the Flames made it to the Stanley Cup Final. It looked as though Gelinas had repeated his Game-6 knock-out special when a puck deflected off his skate and seemed to cross the goal line before being kicked out. This would have broken the tie to give the Flames the victory in both the game and the series. Unfortunately for them, the referees failed to signal goal or review the tapes (which later seemed to show that the entire puck did not conclusively cross the line). The Tampa Bay Lightning won in double overtime and proceeded to win Game 7 and the Cup.

At the end of the postseason, Gelinas had eight goals of the 23 total he scored during the postseason throughout his career. Of these 23, six were game-winners and half of those the series-winners during overtime.

Additional Sources:

• Mike Commito, Hockey 365: Daily Stories from the Ice (Toronto: Dundurn, 2018), kindle edition.
• https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-centennial-martin-gelinas-made-playoff-history/c-289203126
• Jason Fekete, “Yeeeeee-Haw!” Calgary Herald, 4 May 2004, p. A1.
• “Flames Extra,” Calgary Herald, 4 May 2004, pp. D1-D6.
• https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/gelinma01.html