In Stanley Cup Final, Oilers’ Fuhr Has Stood Up Well in Goal

EDMONTON, Canada —  Goalie Grant Fuhr of the Edmonton Oilers is one of only three black players in the National Hockey League.

Fuhr, a soft-spoken Canadian who rarely gets excited on or off the ice, tends to downplay the racial issue.

“It’s no big deal,” he said. “The guys don’t treat me any differently because I’m black. I think you’ll see more black players in the league in a couple of years, because there are some good ones in the minors.”

What is a big deal is that Fuhr, 23, has become a standout for the defending Stanley Cup champions, and has been exceptional for them in the final series against the Philadelphia Flyers, having sparked the Oilers to within a victory of their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

Fuhr is a candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy, which goes to the most valuable player in the playoffs.

But Fuhr, who has a history of being passed by when it comes to awards, probably will lose out to high-scoring teammate Wayne Gretzky or Oiler defenseman Paul Coffey. The award winner is selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Assn.

Whoever wins the award, Gretzky and Coffey appreciate what Fuhr has done for the Oilers.

“Grant is the most underrated goalie in the league,” Gretzky said. “We know that if we break down, he’s going to make the big save for us. I’ve never seen a goalie like him. He never points the finger at anyone.”

Said Coffey: “I don’t think Grant gets the recognition he deserves. He’s definitely meant a lot to us.

“He’s unflappable. He’s got a great personality for a goalie. A lot of goalies I’ve been around are uptight before games. You can’t be around them or touch their equipment. But Grant is cool.”

Fuhr said that he doesn’t have any problems with nerves before a game.

“I’ve never thrown up before or after games,” Fuhr said. “I never take a game that hard. It’s too much fun for that. I just try to go out there and have fun. You can’t take anything that seriously.”

The Oilers ended the 1984-85 regular season with their worst slump of the season and seemed to be ripe for an upset when they opened the playoffs last month against the Kings.

The Kings played well enough to beat the Oilers, but Fuhr kept coming up with spectacular saves and the Oilers wound up winning the series in a three-game sweep. Fuhr was voted the No. 1 star in all three games of the series against the Kings.

“He single-handedly beat L.A.,” Oiler Coach Glen Sather said. “He got the team going when we weren’t playing well. Grant was the reason we beat L.A.”

Fuhr has started all 17 of the Oilers’ playoff games, and has a 14-3 record with a 3.11 goals-against average. If there were an iron-man award for the playoffs, Fuhr would probably win it. Andy Moog, Fuhr’s backup, has played just 20 minutes in the playoffs.

Fuhr played perhaps his best game of the playoffs against the Flyers in the fourth game of the Stanley Cup series Tuesday night. He stopped Flyer center Ron Sutter on a first-period penalty shot, then made a spectacular save on a second-period breakaway by right wing Rick Tocchet.

Sutter didn’t use any fancy moves against Fuhr on the penalty shot, and Fuhr slapped the puck away with his stick.

“I just stood there and waited for him to shoot,” Fuhr said of the penalty shot. “He didn’t try to fake me out, he just shot down the middle because he likes to shoot between my legs. He probably out-thought himself.”

Flyer Coach Mike Keenan said he had told Sutter to put the shot down the middle. Sutter has refused to comment about the penalty shot.

“Ronny was going between Fuhr’s legs on the penalty shot, but Fuhr came up with an important save,” Keenan said.

Keenen said that his scouting reports had shown Fuhr vulnerable down the middle.

“Fuhr is playing better than we expected,” Keenan said. “You don’t win a Stanley Cup without excellent goaltending, and he’s done an excellent job in the nets.”

Sather said that Fuhr’s save on the penalty shot was the play of the game. The Oilers, after trailing, 3-1, midway through the first period, scored four goals and beat the Flyers, 5-3.

“It turned the game around,” Sather said. “If Sutter would have scored that goal, we might not have caught them.”

Said Oiler left wing Mike Krushelnyski: “Grant Fuhr has just been excellent. He’s saved our hides more than once. A couple of games, if it weren’t for him we’d have given up 12 or 13 goals. He’s just been fantastic.

“He turned the game around yesterday with his save on the penalty shot.”

The Oilers, with a 3-1 lead, can keep the Cup in Edmonton by winning Game 5 here tonight at 6 (PDT) at the Northlands Coliseum. The Oilers have won a league-record 15 consecutive playoff games on their home ice.

“It’s not over yet,” Fuhr said of the series. “We’ve got to play better to win it.”

When the series started, the Flyers were thought to have the edge in goaltending because Philadelphia goalie Pelle Lindbergh had won more games than any other goalie in the NHL during the 1984-85 regular season.

But the Oilers have chased Lindbergh in the last two games, and Fuhr is still standing tall, having won three straight games.

The Flyers say that Lindbergh has been taken out because he has become dehydrated in the summer-like weather that had prevailed during the finals. This is the latest finish ever for a Stanley Cup series.

Before it began, Keenan asked that water bottles be put on top of the nets. The Oilers, however, refused. The water bottle issue has became a bit of a joke, with Sather now suggesting that buckets of chicken be put on top of the nets.

Fuhr said he hasn’t been bothered by dehydration. “I get water when a delayed penalty is called,” Fuhr said. “It gives me a chance to go to the bench and get a drink. It certainly is warmer during the playoffs as you approach summer. But it hasn’t been any problem for me.”

Fuhr led the NHL with 30 wins during the 1983-84 season and helped the Oilers win the Stanley Cup, but he didn’t get a single All-Star vote.

He finished the 1984-85 regular season with a 26-8-7 record and a 3.87 goals-against average. He played in the the 1985 All-Star game in Calgary, but he was overlooked in the voting for the Vezina Trophy, which goes to the top goalie in the NHL. Lindbergh and Buffalo goalie Tom Barrasso are the Vezina finalists. The name of the winner will be announced next month.

Fuhr said he doesn’t mind being passed over for awards.

“As long as we win, that’s the main thing,” he said.

His trademark is a brightly colored sunburst on his goalie mask.

Asked about the mask, Fuhr said: “A guy in Toronto designed it for me. It had to be bright because I like bright things.”

But Fuhr is hardly flashy off the ice. He’s a small-town boy at heart. Although his teammates drive expensive cars, Fuhr cruises around Edmonton in a Chevy Camaro.

Fuhr grew up playing hockey in in Spruce Grove, a small town in Alberta just 12 miles from Edmonton.

His father, Bob, works in the sales department for an armored car company.

“My dad still plays a little bit of hockey,” Fuhr said. “I was a goalie right from Day 1. I enjoy it.”

Fuhr played for the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League from 1979 to 1981 and was selected by the Oilers in the first round of the 1981 draft.

The Oilers have the highest scoring team in hockey, with sharpshooters Gretzky and right wing Jari Kurri.

Fuhr said that playing against Gretzky in practice helps him to prepare for games,

“I feel that by going against the players on this team that it certainly helps to make both me and Andy better goaltenders,” he said.

Stanley Cup Notes If the Oilers win the Stanley Cup tonight, Edmonton police and fire department officials have asked the citizens to tone down their celebration. There was a near riot when the Oilers won the Cup last year, with crowds swarming the downtown area well into the early morning hours to party. Officials say they may turn fire hoses on the crowd if things get out of hand this time. . . . The Flyers held an optional practice Wednesday afternoon with 10 players taking part. Flyer Coach Mike Keenan said that he may start backup goalie Bob Froese in place of Pelle Lindbergh, but said he won’t make a decision until just before the game. “Mike never tells us who is starting,” Froese said after practice. “It’s been his policy all season. We just have to make sure we’re ready.” . . . Center Tim Kerr, the Flyers’ leading scorer who sat out the fourth game with a sprained right knee, is still doubtful for Game 5.