Ed. Note: The Oilers were a dominant team all season, but their worst stretch came at an inopportune time as they drew closer to the playoffs. The team went through a period of time in February and March in which they had just two wins in 10 games.

Carroll: I remember that stretch very well, because we didn't play very well going into the playoffs. But things eventually settled down. We had a little bit of a scare against LA with some close games. That stretch was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to the team because it made everybody a little more aware and appreciate what hard work and winning can bring.

I certainly remember that stretch, because there were a lot of guys worried.

Huddy: You'd always go through rough patches. I remember we lost five in a row one time and had to get things going. Sometimes it's a wake-up call that you're not going to be able to win - like the streak at the start - every game. You're going to have some ups and downs and you're going to try to control those.

Gretz always used to say, 'Never lose two in a row,' but you get through points of the season where things happen. Maybe you get some injuries, travel through the cities on back-to-backs, there's a lot of things that go into it. We're in the playoffs and other teams are battling to get into the playoffs so they have more jump. You're just not ready for those games, you get down and you can't come back. It's always a good wake-up call that you're going to lose hockey games. You just have to fight through those and turn it around.

Fuhr: You learn. Every year you learn what you have to do a little bit better. It was the natural progression. We knew we had to be a little better defensively, and we had the personnel to do it. That's what we learned: That we had to be just that better.

You go through streaks where you're not winning. You may still be playing good hockey, but you're not winning. That happens. Every team goes through it, every year. It's just a matter of whether it is the right time or the wrong time. Ours would happen in certain spots, but would never happen going into the playoffs.

Lowe: It's such a difficult League to run the table. I can't even imagine the Canadiens, who lost eight games one year. I always think those difficult periods are lessons. You need those repeatedly, to remind you how hard it is. There are often times when you're on good teams and you're winning games when you shouldn't be winning them, and then you go on a prolonged losing streak where you actually now deserve to lose them, then you start playing better but aren't winning. You really have to buckle down and you learn to do that so the formula for winning because easy again.

When it happens late in the season, it's more of a recent memory that you know how quickly things can fade.

Ed. Note: The Oilers opened the Stanley Cup Playoffs with nine consecutive wins, not losing until Game 3 against the Chicago Blackhawks. They'd lose two in a row to their opponent, before closing out the series with 10-5 and 8-2 wins in Game 6 and 7.

Then came the Final, which brought with it some comical moments ahead of Game 1. The team had several days off before heading to Philadelphia to face the Flyers, and much of the team went to Las Vegas. Before Game 1, on their way from the airport to the hotel, their bus broke down on the side of the road.

They were rusty... and it showed in a 4-1 loss. Starting on the road didn't help either...

Napier: Thinking back, the first two rounds, I don't think we lost a game. We beat LA and then Winnipeg. Then we ran into the Hawks, and the first two games against the Hawks, I think we blew them out both games. I don't think we thought it was going to be easy, but they sure surprised us in Game 3 and Game 4 in Chicago. It kind of gave us a wake-up call that we had to really bear down, especially going into Game 6 in their building. You never want to go to Game 7. I think we played a really good game in Game 6 to beat them in there.

May 21, 1985

Philadelphia, PA

Moog: I remember the bus from the airport to the hotel prior to Game 1 broke down and we were all standing on the side of the road with a broken-down bus.

Fuhr: It was just one of those things that happened. That's just the way the world works. It's one of those things where you just go about your business. There's nothing you can do about it. You don't really worry about it.

Hughes: As you progress through, everybody has done the same thing to get to that (Stanley Cup) Semifinal and Final. They've all been tested too. You know for Chicago to get where they did, they had beat some good teams to get there, they were going to be competitive. Philly as well. Philly had a great year that year. They played a little bit more of a physical type of game, and tried to play that type of game with us, but there was only so many things you could do back then.

Huddy: We had to start in Philly and we lost that first game. I think that part of it was just everything that had happened before. Just the layoff. We were fortunate to be able to win in four or five games then everything was set up for TV and how long the series went.

Through the years, there was a lot of time where we did have five, six or seven days off in between series. You can only practice for so much. It was good on one hand because you could give some guys a break and let injuries heal up but if the other team was coming out of a longer series, they've got some momentum and a jump on you. That's what happened against Philly. They had the momentum at that time and it took us a little bit to get going.

Napier: The Final in Philly, the first game was a bit of a wake-up call for us. It was hot, the ice wasn't very good and nobody made any excuses, but I don't think we played very well.

Moog: I remember they beat us really good. They pumped us. It was a tough game but they were at the top of their game.

They were pretty stacked, too. As far as a team was concerned with star talent up and down the lineup. The backend they had with (Brad) McCrimmon and Mark Howe was just unbelievable. Then go down through the group, they had Brian Propp and Dave Poulin, Tim Kerr. They were loaded with talent. There was no shortage of star power in that final. Pelle Lindbergh, who won Goalie of the Year that season. He was Mr. Everything for them that year as well. It was a star-studded Final. There were lots to write about and lots to pay attention to because there were superstars on both.

Coffey: The Philadelphia Flyers were a great team. I think that was Coach Mike Keenan's first year. He had a really good group of young guys. Different guys that came and offered some zip to the game but of course they had Mark Howe and their other guys up front were phenomenal. That was a series we had to win. I remember losing the first game then waking up the next morning and the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer had the parade route. We had sat out nine days prior to that.

Lowe: Slats read us the riot act. I think we had 11 days off in between the Semis and the Finals. We had, I want to say three or four days completely off - which is unheard of in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Some guys went to Vegas (the week before). I know part of Slats' speech that night after the game was, 'Guys are pissing around, screwing around. You brought this on yourself.'

Carroll: The part I remember the most about that was Glen didn't get that way very often. When he did, he usually had good reason.

Gretzky: Glen was pretty upset. He was pretty adamant that myself and No. 7 weren't very good in Game 1, and lit a little fire under our rear ends.

Glen never said anything he didn't mean. We didn't play well. The entire team was bad. Paul and I were probably at the head of that group. We rebounded in the next four games and played extremely well.

Carroll: The top end of that team always responded to Glen, as they did there. We won the next four games. I don't think they were all that close either.

One of the pluses Glen had was he knew when to press the buttons and when to let us run. He was the master at it.

Huddy: The one thing about Slats was he knew the right buttons to push to get guys fired up for the next game. He was a master at doing that and knew how to handle it. To come out and lose that first game, everybody was disappointed and again, we needed a little bit of a wake-up call. He was a master at pushing buttons and getting us going.

Lowe: I think we were just rusty, honestly. Then we buckled down and finished it off.

Fuhr: Sometimes I think it's easier starting on the road because there's not the pressure of being good at home. At home, you have to play good and almost pretty hockey. Whereas on the road, you can play ugly and get away with it. It's a little easier starting on the road.