The 1972 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1971–72 season, and the culmination of the 1972 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. It was the Rangers' first appearance in the finals since 1950. The Bruins were making their first appearance since their victory in the 1970 Finals. It was the second Boston-New York Final series, the other being the 1929 Finals.
| 1972 Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location(s) | Boston: Boston Garden (1, 2, 5) New York City: Madison Square Garden (3, 4, 6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Boston: Tom Johnson New York: Emile Francis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | Boston: Vacant New York: Vic Hadfield | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | April 30 – May 11, 1972 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Bobby Orr (Bruins) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Bobby Orr (11:18, first, G6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Bruins: Johnny Bucyk (1981) Gerry Cheevers (1985) Phil Esposito (1984) Bobby Orr (1979) Rangers: Eddie Giacomin (1987) Rod Gilbert (1982) Brad Park (1988) Jean Ratelle (1985) Glen Sather (1997, builder) Coaches: Emile Francis (1982) Tom Johnson (1970, player) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Networks | CTV (Canada) CBS (United States) (Games 1, 4, and 6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | (CTV): Danny Gallivan and Dick Irvin Jr. (in Boston), Bill Hewitt and Bob Goldham (in New York) (CBS): Dan Kelly, Jim Gordon, and Harry Howell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Bruins defeated the Rangers in six games to win their second Stanley Cup in three years. This was only the second Stanley Cup Finals contested by New York in which the Rangers hosted all of their home games. The first such Final, held in 1929, had lasted only two games. All other previous Finals contested by the Rangers had partly or entirely coincided with an annual circus formerly held at Madison Square Garden, compelling the Rangers to play Finals games at neutral sites and/or at the venues of their opponents.
This was the last time the Bruins won the Stanley Cup until 2011.
Paths to the Finals
editBoston defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 and the St. Louis Blues 4–0 to advance to the final.
New York defeated the defending champion Montreal Canadiens 4–2 and the Chicago Black Hawks 4–0 to set up an "Original Six" final.
Game summaries
editBobby Orr, who tallied 4 goals and 4 assists in the series, won the Conn Smythe Trophy for the second time. It was also Orr's second Cup-clinching goal, having accomplished both feats in the 1970 finals. Phil Esposito had 41 shots in the series but was held without a goal.
| April 30 | New York Rangers | 5–6 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Dale Rolfe (3) - 3:52 | First period | 5:07 - Fred Stanfield (7) 15:48 - Ken Hodge (5) 17:29 - sh - Derek Sanderson (1) 18:14 - sh - Ken Hodge (6) | ||||||
| Rod Gilbert (4) - pp - 11:54 | Second period | 10:46 - Ken Hodge (7) | ||||||
| Vic Hadfield (7) - pp - 1:56 Walt Tkaczuk (4) - 7:48 Bruce MacGregor (2) - 9:17 |
Third period | 17:44 - Garnet Bailey (2) | ||||||
| Ed Giacomin | Goalie stats | Gerry Cheevers | ||||||
| May 2 | New York Rangers | 1–2 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 16:15 - pp - Johnny Bucyk (9) | ||||||
| Rod Gilbert (5) - 7:23 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 11:53 - pp - Ken Hodge (8) | ||||||
| Gilles Villemure | Goalie stats | Eddie Johnston | ||||||
| May 4 | Boston Bruins | 2–5 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| Mike Walton (6) - 14:04 | First period | 1:22 - pp - Brad Park (3) 11:19 - pp - Rod Gilbert (6) 13:00 - pp - Brad Park (4) | ||||||
| Bobby Orr (2) - 1:10 | Second period | 3:46 - Rod Gilbert (7) 19:23 - Pete Stemkowski (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gerry Cheevers | Goalie stats | Ed Giacomin | ||||||
| May 7 | Boston Bruins | 3–2 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| Bobby Orr (3) - 5:26 Bobby Orr (4) - pp - 8:17 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Don Marcotte (3) - sh - 16:33 | Second period | 18:38 - Ted Irvine (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 18:35 - pp - Rod Seiling (1) | ||||||
| Eddie Johnston | Goalie stats | Ed Giacomin | ||||||
| May 9 | New York Rangers | 3–2 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Dale Rolfe (4) - 13:45 | First period | 3:55 - Wayne Cashman (2) 16:07 - pp - Ken Hodge (9) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bobby Rousseau (5) - 2:56 Bobby Rousseau (6) - 12:45 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gilles Villemure | Goalie stats | Eddie Johnston | ||||||
| May 11 | Boston Bruins | 3–0 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | Recap | |||
| Bobby Orr (5) - pp - 11:18 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Wayne Cashman (3) - pp - 5:10 Wayne Cashman (4) - 18:11 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gerry Cheevers | Goalie stats | Gilles Villemure | ||||||
| Boston won series 4–2 | |
Game one
edit| April 30 | New York Rangers | 5–6 (1–4, 1–1, 3–1) | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden Attendance: 14,995 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Eddie Giacomin | Goalies | Gerry Cheevers | Referee: Bill Friday | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 29 | Shots | 28 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Game one in Boston saw both teams play poorly. The Bruins at one point led 5–1 as Ken Hodge completed a hat trick, and Hodge and Derek Sanderson scored short-handed goals on the same Ranger power play at the end of the first period. However, the Rangers tied the game with goals from Gilbert, Hatfield, Tkaczuk, and Bruce MacGregor. With 2:16 remaining in the third period, Garnet "Ace" Bailey beat Rangers star defenseman Brad Park to have the Bruins prevail 6–5.[1]
Gary Doak of the Rangers was ejected from the game after a heated argument with referee Bill Friday over a penalty he received at 18:50 of the first period.
Game two
edit| May 2 | New York Rangers | 1–2 (0–1, 1–0, 0–1) | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden Attendance: 14,995 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||
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| Gilles Villemure | Goalies | Ed Johnston | |||||||||
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| 28 | Shots | 25 | |||||||||
Game two had Gilles Villemure replace Ed Giacomin in goal for the Rangers. He played well, but the Bruins did too and won 2–1.
Game three
edit| May 4 | Boston Bruins | 2–5 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden |
In New York, Giacomin was back in goal for game three as the Rangers won 5–2. Brad Park opened the scoring with a power play goal and scored another in the first period. Rod Gilbert also had two goals in the game.
Game four
edit| May 7 | Boston Bruins | 3–2 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden |
Giacomin was having trouble with a knee he injured during the Chicago series and lost game four 3–2.
Game five
edit| May 9 | New York Rangers | 3–2 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden |
Game five in Boston had Villemure again replace Giacomin. Boston led 2–1 after two periods. However, Bobby Rousseau scored twice in the third period, his second at 12:45 turned out to be the winner in a 3–2 win for the Rangers.[1][2]
Game six
edit| May 11 | Boston Bruins | 3–0 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden |
Game six in New York saw Boston play flawlessly and Gerry Cheevers picked up a shutout, 3–0. Bobby Orr's first-period marker ended up standing as the Stanley Cup-winning goal, and he also assisted on the Bruins' second goal. Orr spent 10 minutes in the penalty box after arguing with referee Art Skov but upon his return on the ice played a crucial role in killing off a penalty to the Bruins. Wayne Cashman scored two goals, one of which trickled in behind Gilles Villemure.[2]
As of 2022, the 1972 Bruins are the most recent team to have won the Cup without a formal captain.[3] John Bucyk, as the team's senior assistant captain, accepted the Cup and circled the rink in the ceremonial skate.
Broadcasting
editHockey Night in Canada moved all playoff coverage from CBC to CTV (in actuality, MacLaren Advertising, the actual rights holders of HNIC at the time, worked out arrangements with CTV to move the full NHL playoffs there) to avoid conflict with the lengthy NABET strike against the CBC.
In the United States, CBS took a rather calculated risk in not televising the game five match on May 9 (CBS aired regular programming, including the original Hawaii Five-O in that time period on that Tuesday night). This was despite the fact that game five was a potential clincher with the Bruins up three games to one on the Rangers. CBS ultimately lucked out (since the Rangers won game five 3-2), and televised the clincher (game six) on Thursday night, May 11.
Stanley Cup engraving
editThe following Bruins players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup:
1971–72 Boston Bruins
Players
- 7 Phil Esposito (A)
- 11 Mike Walton
- 17 Fred Stanfield
- 16 Derek Sanderson
- 8 Ken Hodge
- 9 John Bucyk (A)
- 12 Wayne Cashman
- 14 Ace Bailey
- 18 Ed Westfall (A)
- 19 John McKenzie
- 21 Don Marcotte
- 4 Bobby Orr
- 6 Ted Green (A)
- 10 Carol Vadnais
- 20 Dallas Smith
- 26 Don Awrey
Coaching and administrative staff
- Weston Adams Sr. (Chairman/Owner), Weston Adams, Jr. (President/Owner)
- Shelby Davis (Vice President)
- Charles Mulcahy Jr. (Vice President – General Council)
- Ed Powers (Vice President – Treasurer),
- Milt Schmidt (General Manager), Tom Johnson (Head Coach)
- Dan Canney (Trainer), John Forristall (Asst. Trainer)
Stanley Cup engraving
The Boston Bruins' name was misspelled as BQSTQN BRUINS with two "Q"s instead of "O"s. This error was corrected on the replica Cup created in 1992–93.
- Every person whose name was engraved won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Bruins in 1972 had already appeared on the Stanley Cup. This had previously occurred only once, in 1960, and has not occurred again since.
- Chris Hayes played in game 2 of the Finals (his only NHL game) and Garry Peters played in Stanley Cup Semi-Finals game 1. By the rules of the time, this qualified both to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup, but neither was included. Peters also won the cup with Montreal in 1965.
- As with the 1970 team, the Boston Bruins did not have a team captain. John Bucyk, Phil Esposito, Ted Green and Ed Westfall all served as alternate captains (all but Green held the title in 1970 as well).
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ a b Mulvoy, Mark (May 8, 1972). "Violence Is The Goal". SI Vault. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
- ^ a b Mulvoy, Mark (May 22, 1972). "An Iceman Too Hot To Handle". SI Vault. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Fischler, Stan (August 15, 2022). "Fischler Report: So You Want Your Son to be an NHL Star". thehockeynews.com. The Hockey News.
The last team to win a Stanley Cup without having a captain was the 1972 Boston Bruins. But they had Bobby Orr; so who needed a captain?
References
edit- Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Stanley Cup. NHL.
- Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.