Cavaliers win

[ChrisBabcock]

Has any other major professional sports team won a championship while switching coaches mid-season? Actually, as I type this, I just thought of the 1961 Oilers. Any others?

[BD Sullivan]

Has any other major professional sports team won a championship while switching coaches mid-season? Actually, as I type this, I just thought of the 1961 Oilers. Any others?

Early in the 1981-82 NBA season, the Lakers replaced Paul Westhead with Pat Riley and won the title that year. Two years earlier, Westhead had replaced Jack McKinney after 14 games after the latter had been severely injured in a biking accident and the Lakers went on to win the title that year.

At the collegiate basketball level, Michigan's Bill Frieder announced that was taking the Arizona State head coaching job just as the 1988-89 regular season was ending. He was almost immediately fired by Bo Schembechler and Frieder's replacement, Steve Fisher, led Michigan to the NCAA title

In May 2003, Jeff Torborg was fired by the then-Florida Marlins after 38 games in a 16-22 record. Jack McKeon took over and the Marlins won the World Series.

In February 2009, the Pittsburgh Penguins replaced the fired Michel Therrien with Dan Bylsma and the Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup.

[JohnH19]

Has any other major professional sports team won a championship while switching coaches mid-season? Actually, as I type this, I just thought of the 1961 Oilers. Any others?

Also the 1971 Canadiens and 2016 Penguins.

[Steviek]

Has any other major professional sports team won a championship while switching coaches mid-season? Actually, as I type this, I just thought of the 1961 Oilers. Any others?

Also the 1971 Canadiens and 2016 Penguins.

1978 Yankees.

[Mark L. Ford]

Has any other major professional sports team won a championship while switching coaches mid-season? Actually, as I type this, I just thought of the 1961 Oilers. Any others?

While the eve of preseason isn't the same as mid-season, the Detroit Lions suddenly had to switch to a new coach when Buddy Parker decided to quit in August 1957, and George Wilson ended up guiding the Lions to the NFL Championship Game win.

[JohnH19]

Badger Bob Johnson coached the 1991 Penguins to a Stanley Cup championship and then was struck down with brain cancer shortly before training camp opened. He remained as involved as he could before he passed away in November but Scotty Bowman took over behind the bench and led the Pens to another Cup.

[Reaser]

the Sharks, finally in a Stanley Cup series after 25 years of futility and near misses get roundly beat by the Penguins.

Yup, this one was disappointing. Since we inexplicably have never had an NHL team in Seattle - yet we've won the Stanley Cup unlike some cities/states that currently have NHL teams, including places that call themselves the "State of Hockey" - I had to choose a favorite team outside the Great State of Washington. I'm only a fan of WA teams unless we don't have one so then I root for the team closest to us. Which would be Vancouver but despite Bure being my favorite hockey player when I was a kid, the Canucks were never were going to be my favorite team. San Jose is the closest based in America so when they were an expansion team they became 'my' NHL team.

I've had the starter jacket, had all the trading cards, and for 20+ years I ONLY use the Sharks as my team with Gretzky's NHL All-Star Hockey (Rod Hockey) - I let others choose from the other 7 or so teams I have for that legendary game.

Only NHL game I've ever been too was when I went to watch 'my' Sharks. Though I've been to WCHL games and a bunch of WHL games (miss my Rockets).

Along with the disappointment of the Sharks losing, i was also disappointed they messed up the Conn Smythe. How exactly did it not go to Letang?

[JohnH19]

Hey Matt, I actually thought it should have gone to Martin Jones who was clearly the best and most valuable player in the series. Off the top of my head, the losing goaltender has won the Conn Smythe trophy three times; Roger Crozier in 1966, the great Glenn Hall in 1968 and Ron Hextall in 1987.

[Reaser]

Hey Matt, I actually thought it should have gone to Martin Jones who was clearly the best and most valuable player in the series. Off the top of my head, the losing goaltender has won the Conn Smythe trophy three times; Roger Crozier in 1966, the great Glenn Hall in 1968 and Ron Hextall in 1987.

Giguere, too.

I just think that they messed it up regardless and I would have been fine with anyone that you can make an actual case for (e.g. Jones).

All I could think about after they announced it - other than not only did they get it wrong, they got it very wrong - was that Letang was awesome all playoffs and in the Cup he had:

Game 1 Game winning assist.
Game 2 Game winning assist in OT.
Game 4 Game winning assist.
Game 6 Game winning and Cup winning goal.

Pretty hard to beat a point in all 4 winners. Not to mention his play off of the stat sheet and throughout the playoffs.

Speaking of Crozier, whatever happened to his award? I used to think it was kind of cool there was like a 'triple crown' of goaltender awards. Then it just disappeared.

[luckyshow]

The last Cleveland pro basketball championship was in 1962. In 1962 the Cleveland Pipers of the new American Basketball League, won the championship. They had one of the best players in this new league, Dick Barnett. Bevo Francis was also on the team. The league was an Abe Saperstein project. The Pipers were owned by George Steinbrenner.

The league only lasted this one 1961-62 season. It was a precursor to the ABA.