A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| 1970–71 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 9, 1970 – May 18, 1971 |
| Number of games | 78 |
| Number of teams | 14 |
| TV partner(s) | CBC, CTV, SRC (Canada) CBS (United States) |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Gilbert Perreault |
| Picked by | Buffalo Sabres |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Boston Bruins |
| Season MVP | Bobby Orr (Bruins) |
| Top scorer | Phil Esposito (Bruins) |
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs MVP | Ken Dryden (Canadiens) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | Montreal Canadiens |
| Runners-up | Chicago Black Hawks |
The 1970–71 NHL season was the 54th season of the National Hockey League. Two new teams, the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks made their debuts and were both put into the East Division. The Chicago Black Hawks were moved to the West Division. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup by beating the Black Hawks in seven games in the finals.
League business
The NHL added two expansion teams in Buffalo and Vancouver.
At the beginning of the season, the Oakland Seals were renamed California Golden Seals.
From this season through the 2002–03 season, teams wore their white (or yellow) jerseys at home and their colored jerseys on the road.
Teams
| 1970-71 National Hockey League | ||||
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | Boston Bruins | Boston, Massachusetts | Boston Garden | 14,994 |
| Buffalo Sabres | Buffalo, New York | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium | 10,449 | |
| Detroit Red Wings | Detroit, Michigan | Detroit Olympia | 15,000 | |
| Montreal Canadiens | Montreal, Quebec | Montreal Forum | 19,000 | |
| New York Rangers | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 17,250 | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Toronto, Ontario | Maple Leaf Gardens | 16,316 | |
| Vancouver Canucks | Vancouver, British Columbia | Pacific Coliseum | 15,570 | |
| West | California Golden Seals | Oakland, California | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena | 15,000 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago, Illinois | Chicago Stadium | 16,666 | |
| Los Angeles Kings | Inglewood, California | The Forum | 16,005 | |
| Minnesota North Stars | Bloomington, Minnesota | Metropolitan Sports Center | 15,000 | |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Spectrum | 14,620 | |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Civic Arena | 12,580 | |
| St. Louis Blues | St. Louis, Missouri | St. Louis Arena | 17,776 | |
Regular season
For 1970–71 the NHL went to a balanced schedule, with each team playing each other team six times, three at home and three on the road, without regard to divisional alignment. Nevertheless, playoff qualification was determined entirely by divisional standings, with the top four teams in each division qualifying.
This season saw a marked increase in goal scoring, especially by the Boston Bruins, who shattered scoring records as they set the mark for most goals by a team (399) by nearly a hundred over the previous record holder. They also set records for most victories (57) and points (121). Phil Esposito set records for most goals in a season with 76 and for most points with 152. Defenceman Bobby Orr won his second consecutive Hart Memorial Trophy and set a new record for assists with 102. The Bruins also had the four league leading scorers, the first time in history this was achieved (the only other time being by the Bruins in 1974), and seven of the top eleven leading scorers, the only time in NHL history this has ever been achieved. They had 6 of the top 8 scorers in the league. Furthermore, the Bruins set marks for the highest scoring single season marks at every position: center (Esposito), left wing (Johnny Bucyk with 116), right wing (Ken Hodge with 105) and defence (Orr), as well as for a forward line (Esposito centering Wayne Cashman and Hodge).
Boston won the East Division championship in a runaway. In the West Division, the powerful Chicago Black Hawks had been moved there partially to accommodate the expansion Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks (both of which were placed in the East Division) but more in an effort to provide greater balance between the divisions. Chicago broke St. Louis' stranglehold over the division, winning handily over the Blues and advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Montreal Canadiens, who missed the playoffs in 1969–70, appeared to be sinking once more. Players did not like Claude Ruel's dictatorial rule as coach, and Ralph Backstrom and John Ferguson retired. Ruel resigned and Al MacNeil took over. Both Ferguson and Backstrom returned, but Backstrom was later traded to Los Angeles for draft choices.
The Vancouver Canucks played well at first and were around the .500 mark at mid-season. Then Orland Kurtenbach was injured and the team sagged.
On October 29, Gordie Howe became the first player to record 1,000 assists in a 5–3 win over Boston at the Detroit Olympia.
Detroit introduced a fine rookie goaltender, Jim Rutherford, who had bright moments despite the Red Wings last place finish. However, they suffered their worst defeat in franchise history January 2, when Toronto crushed them 13–0. Sid Abel, the team's general manager, asked owner Bruce Norris if he could dismiss coach Ned Harkness. Told that he could not, Abel resigned. Norris then elevated Harkness to general manager and Doug Barkley was named coach. Detroit took a tumble to the basement of the East Division after that.
On March 12, Boston's Phil Esposito broke Bobby Hull's record for goals by a player in a season at 7:03 of the first period on Denis DeJordy of Los Angeles at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Then, at 15:40 he became the first player to score 60 goals. The Bruins won 7–2.
Buffalo had a star, Gilbert Perreault, who on March 18 broke Nels Stewart's (and Danny Grant's, and Norm Ferguson's) rookie record with his 35th goal in a 5–3 win over St. Louis. He went on to finish the season with 38.
Billy Taylor and Don Gallinger, now middle-aged, were finally forgiven for their gambling in 1948 and were reinstated to the NHL. However, they did not return to the NHL.
Final standings
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 78 | 57 | 14 | 7 | 399 | 207 | +192 | 121 |
| 2 | New York Rangers | 78 | 49 | 18 | 11 | 259 | 177 | +82 | 109 |
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 42 | 23 | 13 | 291 | 216 | +75 | 97 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 37 | 33 | 8 | 248 | 211 | +37 | 82 |
| 5 | Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 24 | 39 | 15 | 217 | 291 | −74 | 63 |
| 6 | Vancouver Canucks | 78 | 24 | 46 | 8 | 229 | 296 | −67 | 56 |
| 7 | Detroit Red Wings | 78 | 22 | 45 | 11 | 209 | 308 | −99 | 55 |
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 78 | 49 | 20 | 9 | 277 | 184 | +93 | 107 |
| 2 | St. Louis Blues | 78 | 34 | 25 | 19 | 223 | 208 | +15 | 87 |
| 3 | Philadelphia Flyers | 78 | 28 | 33 | 17 | 207 | 225 | −18 | 73 |
| 4 | Minnesota North Stars | 78 | 28 | 34 | 16 | 191 | 223 | −32 | 72 |
| 5 | Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 25 | 40 | 13 | 239 | 303 | −64 | 63 |
| 6 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 78 | 21 | 37 | 20 | 221 | 240 | −19 | 62 |
| 7 | California Golden Seals | 78 | 20 | 53 | 5 | 199 | 320 | −121 | 45 |
Playoffs
Format change
Due to three straight years of non-competitive finals (where the West Division winning St. Louis Blues were swept all 3 years by an established East Division club); the NHL changed the match-ups for the semifinals by having the winner of the series of the 1st vs. 3rd East Division teams play the winner of the 2nd vs. 4th West Division teams. Similarly, the other semifinal series pitted the winner of the 1st vs. 3rd West Division teams against the winner of the 2nd vs. 4th East Division teams.[2] Combined with the transfer of the Chicago Black Hawks into the West Division (which previously consisted only of expansion teams), the Stanley Cup Finals series was expected to be more competitive. The realignment and change in playoff format brought the desired results in that each Stanley Cup Finals for the next three years was either between two East Division teams or Montreal vs. Chicago, where no Finals were sweeps. Until realignment in 1974–75 when the original six and expansion teams were more thoroughly mixed, the Philadelphia Flyers were the only West Division/1967 expansion team to reach a Cup final (they won).
A significant controversy arose before the playoffs. With 4 games to play, the Minnesota North Stars were in 3rd place with a record of 28–30–16 for 72 points while the Philadelphia Flyers were in 4th at 26–33–15 for 67 points. Minnesota then lost their final four games while the Flyers went 2–0–2 to jump ahead of Minnesota in the final standings by 1 point. It was widely rumored that Minnesota did so to avoid playing the far superior Chicago Black Hawks, since at this time in the playoffs the first place team played the third place team and the second played the fourth. Nothing was proven against the North Stars (who defeated their first round opponents, St. Louis, four games to two, while the Flyers were swept by the powerful Black Hawks), but the format was changed the next year to the 1 vs. 4/2 vs. 3 format that prevailed thereafter.
Playoff bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Boston | 3 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Montreal | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Montreal | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | St. Louis | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Minnesota | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Montreal | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Chicago | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Chicago | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Philadelphia | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Chicago | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 3 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Toronto | 2 | ||||||||||||
Quarterfinals
(E1) Boston Bruins vs. (E3) Montreal Canadiens
The Boston Bruins finished first in the league with 121 points. The Montreal Canadiens finished third in the East Division with 97 points. This was the fifteenth playoff series between these two teams with Montreal winning twelve of the fourteen previous series. They last met in the 1969 Stanley Cup Semifinals which Montreal won in six games. Boston won five of the six games in this year's regular season series.
The Montreal Canadiens were matched against the Boston Bruins, and in one of the most extraordinary upsets in hockey history, Ken Dryden was hot in goal for the Canadiens as they ousted the Bruins in seven games. Game 2 featured what many perceive as one of the greatest comebacks in NHL history. With the Bruins leading 5–2 heading into the third period, the Canadiens, who had trailed 5–1, scored 5 goals in the final session to win 7–5. The prominent Canadian sports journalist Red Fisher lists the Canadiens' comeback has the 8th most memorable moment in his over 49 years of covering hockey. In game 4, Bobby Orr became the first defenceman to get a hat trick in a playoff game when Boston won 5–2.
| April 7 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–3 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 03:57 – pp – Bobby Orr (1) | ||||||
| John Ferguson (1) – pp – 01:34 | Second period | 09:41 – Wayne Cashman (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 08:47 – Fred Stanfield (1) | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 39 saves / 42 shots | Goalie stats | Gerry Cheevers 30 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| April 8 | Montreal Canadiens | 7–5 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Yvan Cournoyer (1) – 03:32 | First period | 04:34 – Bobby Orr (2) 05:43 – Ted Green (1) | ||||||
| Henri Richard (1) – 15:33 | Second period | 02:49 – pp – John McKenzie (1) 06:31 – Wayne Cashman (2) 08:41 – Derek Sanderson (1) | ||||||
| Jean Beliveau (1) – pp – 02:58 Jean Beliveau (2) – 04:22 Jacques Lemaire (1) – 09:59 John Ferguson (2) – 15:23 Frank Mahovlich (1) – 18:40 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 31 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Eddie Johnston 30 saves / 37 shots | ||||||