They are the two most famous goals scored in the 1970s. Bobby Orr's in 1970 and Guy Lafleur's in 1979. While Orr's was an OT-Stanley Cup-winning-goal, Lafleur's was merely the tying goal a round earlier. But it was game seven, and his team eventually won.
The Boston Bruins were the team in common, as well.
So Boston had finished out of the playoffs from 1959/60 to 1966/67. The addition of Bobby Orr in 1966 didn't mean they made the playoffs. The trade for Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield put the Bruins over the hump. They made the playoffs in 1967/68, getting swept by the Montreal Canadians. The Habs beat the Bruins again the next season, but this time it was the a round later. Boston was getting there.
In 1969/70, the very next season, the Boston Bruins went all the way.
Montreal was nowhere to be found, missing the playoffs despite 92 points. Boston (And Chicago) finished tied for first atop the NHL with 99 points. The Bruins got 120 points from Orr and another 99 from Esposito.
One of the goalies who felt the wrath of Phil and company in the 1970 playoffs was his very brother Tony. Chicago had wiped out Detroit in the first round in just four games. But Boston swept them in the semifinals. And this was no poor Blackhawks' team. The New York Rangers had won two games against Boston in the first round. That would prove to be the Bruins only two playoff losses.
In the Stanley Cup Finals, it took Boston just four games to rout the St. Louis Bruins. Game four went into OT, where #4 ended it forty seconds in!
Boston came right back the next season, 1970/71, and seemed poised for a repeat. Not only did they win 57 games (Out of 78) in the regular season, they scored a then-record 399 goals! They also had made some good draft picks, taking Reggie Leach, Rick MacLeish and goalie Daniel Bouchard. But none of those picks ever played for the Bruins. And guess what? An old pick of theirs in the 1964 draft helped usher them out of the postseason that year.
Yes, Ken Dryden did amazing in the playoffs for Montreal. In seven games against Boston, he went 4-3 and posted a 3.59 GAA and a fine S% of .912. Kenny had quite a workload that year in the postseason. He needed to be at his very best, as Montreal needed six games to ouster a surprisingly strong Minnesota North Stars (In just their fourth season of existence) and then another full seven to beat Chicago in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Boston Bruins were the team in common, as well.
So Boston had finished out of the playoffs from 1959/60 to 1966/67. The addition of Bobby Orr in 1966 didn't mean they made the playoffs. The trade for Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield put the Bruins over the hump. They made the playoffs in 1967/68, getting swept by the Montreal Canadians. The Habs beat the Bruins again the next season, but this time it was the a round later. Boston was getting there.
In 1969/70, the very next season, the Boston Bruins went all the way.
Montreal was nowhere to be found, missing the playoffs despite 92 points. Boston (And Chicago) finished tied for first atop the NHL with 99 points. The Bruins got 120 points from Orr and another 99 from Esposito.
One of the goalies who felt the wrath of Phil and company in the 1970 playoffs was his very brother Tony. Chicago had wiped out Detroit in the first round in just four games. But Boston swept them in the semifinals. And this was no poor Blackhawks' team. The New York Rangers had won two games against Boston in the first round. That would prove to be the Bruins only two playoff losses.
In the Stanley Cup Finals, it took Boston just four games to rout the St. Louis Bruins. Game four went into OT, where #4 ended it forty seconds in!
Boston came right back the next season, 1970/71, and seemed poised for a repeat. Not only did they win 57 games (Out of 78) in the regular season, they scored a then-record 399 goals! They also had made some good draft picks, taking Reggie Leach, Rick MacLeish and goalie Daniel Bouchard. But none of those picks ever played for the Bruins. And guess what? An old pick of theirs in the 1964 draft helped usher them out of the postseason that year.
Yes, Ken Dryden did amazing in the playoffs for Montreal. In seven games against Boston, he went 4-3 and posted a 3.59 GAA and a fine S% of .912. Kenny had quite a workload that year in the postseason. He needed to be at his very best, as Montreal needed six games to ouster a surprisingly strong Minnesota North Stars (In just their fourth season of existence) and then another full seven to beat Chicago in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The New York Rangers made sure there wasn't another Montreal / Chicago matchup in the playoffs (Too bad, as goalies Dryden and Tony Esposito were awesome that year). New York needed six games to beat Montreal, but only four to take out Chicago. Guess who was waiting in the finals? Boston! They had matched through Toronto in five and St. Louis again in just four. And the Bruins weren't about to lose the Stanley Cup this time. Six tough games later, Boston was on top of the world again.
Montreal managed to win in 1972/73, as Boston lost Gerry Cheevers, John McKenzie and Derek Sanderson to the WHA. Ed Westfall was selected by the New York Islanders in the expansion draft. A promising player was traded in Ivan Boldirev to California. Sanderson got his release and came back to Boston in February of 1973, but the team was nevertheless not as good. The Rangers took their revenge in the first round. The Bruins then went all the way to the finals the next season, only to fall to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games (Bernie Parent, the Flyers' goalie, was stellar in the finals). A new coach named Don Cherry was then hired.
The Bruins lost to the Blackhawks in the first round in 1975. Although Orr played just ten games and Phil Esposito was traded in 1975/76, Boston went 48-15-17 in the regular season. There were no upsets in the playoffs from here on in until 1980/81. In face, Boston marched through Los Angeles in a tough, seven-game affair in the quarterfinals before losing to Philadelphia in five games in the semifinals. Boston, however, soon found Montreal rather than Philadelphia the problem.
In fact, the Bruins swept the Flyers in 1977 and needed just five games to beat them in 1978. But Ken Dryden was at his absolute peak in those years. He was a big reason why the Habs won it all from 1975/76 to 1978/79. Even the great Bruins teams were just pushed aside.
Ken turned aside 87 of 93 shots directed his way in the '77 Stanley Cup Finals. The first two games were one-sided, the next two were close. Montreal won them all. The team was so good they could both blow you out or win the close ones. Beat you 5-3 or 1-0. It didn't matter. They found a way.
Boston found a way to make it much closer the next year. This time, the series went six. Were the Bruins improving? Or was that just a lucky break. The return of Gerry Cheevers two seasons earlier had started Boston back on the right path. Don Cherry used both him and Gilles Gilbert from 1975/76 until 1979/80 (Ron Grahame also got into 40 games in the nets for Boston in 1977/78), but Cheevers was The Man in the playoffs.
In 1979, the Bruins and Habs met again. This time, it was Gilbert in net as Boston stormed back from 0-2 and 2-3 in that series.
They kept coming back. Cheevers was not in net for game seven as Gilbert was that good.
Boston lost a heart-breaker. 5-4, in overtime, no less! The Bruins had led 4-3 with just about 90 seconds to go when Guy Lafleur tied it with a clutch goal!
So who were the holdovers of these two classic overtime games from the 1970s?
Cheevers was still there, as mentioned, but not in net. Wayne Cashman was there for both. Don Marcotte, and Rick Smith (Who wore #10 in 1970 and #23 in 1979). Boston was a vastly different team from nine years ago. The 1970s had only three different teams winning the Stanley Cup: Boston, Philadelphia and Montreal!
As for the Bruins, their 1970 Cup ended a 29-year drought. Then they went 39 years from 1972 to 2011 without winning it all again. As you can see, it took some pretty good teams with some hot goaltending to stop them. Yet when I think of the 1970s Boston Bruins, I think of two, never-to-be forgotten game seven's that have the opposite effect on their fans. The Bobby Orr one? A smile. The Guy Lafleur one? Oh...Don't bring it up!
“The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:
http://hsp.flyershistory.com
or
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/”
References
Anson, Peter. Hockey Summary Project. Hockey Summary Project. Web. 05 Aug. 2018, <hsp.flyershistory.com/>.
Cole, Stephen. Slapshots: The Best And Worst Of 100 Years Of Hockey. Penguin, 1993. Print.
Diamond, Dan. Total NHL. Toronto: Dan Diamond And Associates, 2003. Print.
Diamond, Dan. Total Stanley Cup: An Official Publication Of The National Hockey League. Toronto: Published in Canada by Total Sports Canada, 2000. Print.
Fischler, Stan. The All-New Hockey's 100. Scarborough: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited. 1988. Print.
Fischler, Stan, and Jeff Resnick. Golden Ice: The Greatest Teams In Hockey History. McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1990. Print.
Hughes, Morgan, Fischler Stan, Fischler Shirley, Joseph Romain, and James Duplacey. Hockey Chronicle: Year-By-Year History Of The National Hockey League. Lincolnwood: Publications International, 2007. Print.
Irvin, Dick. My 26 Stanley Cups: Memories of a Hockey Life. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2001. Print.
“Official Site of the National Hockey League” NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 05 Aug. 2018. <https://www.nhl.com>.
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 05 Aug. 2018.
Strachan, Al. Go To The Net: Eight Goals That Changed The Game. Triumph Books, 2006. Print.
Montreal managed to win in 1972/73, as Boston lost Gerry Cheevers, John McKenzie and Derek Sanderson to the WHA. Ed Westfall was selected by the New York Islanders in the expansion draft. A promising player was traded in Ivan Boldirev to California. Sanderson got his release and came back to Boston in February of 1973, but the team was nevertheless not as good. The Rangers took their revenge in the first round. The Bruins then went all the way to the finals the next season, only to fall to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games (Bernie Parent, the Flyers' goalie, was stellar in the finals). A new coach named Don Cherry was then hired.
The Bruins lost to the Blackhawks in the first round in 1975. Although Orr played just ten games and Phil Esposito was traded in 1975/76, Boston went 48-15-17 in the regular season. There were no upsets in the playoffs from here on in until 1980/81. In face, Boston marched through Los Angeles in a tough, seven-game affair in the quarterfinals before losing to Philadelphia in five games in the semifinals. Boston, however, soon found Montreal rather than Philadelphia the problem.
In fact, the Bruins swept the Flyers in 1977 and needed just five games to beat them in 1978. But Ken Dryden was at his absolute peak in those years. He was a big reason why the Habs won it all from 1975/76 to 1978/79. Even the great Bruins teams were just pushed aside.
Ken turned aside 87 of 93 shots directed his way in the '77 Stanley Cup Finals. The first two games were one-sided, the next two were close. Montreal won them all. The team was so good they could both blow you out or win the close ones. Beat you 5-3 or 1-0. It didn't matter. They found a way.
Boston found a way to make it much closer the next year. This time, the series went six. Were the Bruins improving? Or was that just a lucky break. The return of Gerry Cheevers two seasons earlier had started Boston back on the right path. Don Cherry used both him and Gilles Gilbert from 1975/76 until 1979/80 (Ron Grahame also got into 40 games in the nets for Boston in 1977/78), but Cheevers was The Man in the playoffs.
In 1979, the Bruins and Habs met again. This time, it was Gilbert in net as Boston stormed back from 0-2 and 2-3 in that series.
They kept coming back. Cheevers was not in net for game seven as Gilbert was that good.
Boston lost a heart-breaker. 5-4, in overtime, no less! The Bruins had led 4-3 with just about 90 seconds to go when Guy Lafleur tied it with a clutch goal!
So who were the holdovers of these two classic overtime games from the 1970s?
Cheevers was still there, as mentioned, but not in net. Wayne Cashman was there for both. Don Marcotte, and Rick Smith (Who wore #10 in 1970 and #23 in 1979). Boston was a vastly different team from nine years ago. The 1970s had only three different teams winning the Stanley Cup: Boston, Philadelphia and Montreal!
As for the Bruins, their 1970 Cup ended a 29-year drought. Then they went 39 years from 1972 to 2011 without winning it all again. As you can see, it took some pretty good teams with some hot goaltending to stop them. Yet when I think of the 1970s Boston Bruins, I think of two, never-to-be forgotten game seven's that have the opposite effect on their fans. The Bobby Orr one? A smile. The Guy Lafleur one? Oh...Don't bring it up!
“The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:
http://hsp.flyershistory.com
or
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/”
References
Anson, Peter. Hockey Summary Project. Hockey Summary Project. Web. 05 Aug. 2018, <hsp.flyershistory.com/>.
Cole, Stephen. Slapshots: The Best And Worst Of 100 Years Of Hockey. Penguin, 1993. Print.
Diamond, Dan. Total NHL. Toronto: Dan Diamond And Associates, 2003. Print.
Diamond, Dan. Total Stanley Cup: An Official Publication Of The National Hockey League. Toronto: Published in Canada by Total Sports Canada, 2000. Print.
Fischler, Stan. The All-New Hockey's 100. Scarborough: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited. 1988. Print.
Fischler, Stan, and Jeff Resnick. Golden Ice: The Greatest Teams In Hockey History. McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1990. Print.
Hughes, Morgan, Fischler Stan, Fischler Shirley, Joseph Romain, and James Duplacey. Hockey Chronicle: Year-By-Year History Of The National Hockey League. Lincolnwood: Publications International, 2007. Print.
Irvin, Dick. The Habs: An Oral History Of The Montreal Canadiens, 1940-1980. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1991. Print.
Irvin, Dick. My 26 Stanley Cups: Memories of a Hockey Life. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2001. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 05 Aug. 2018.
Strachan, Al. Go To The Net: Eight Goals That Changed The Game. Triumph Books, 2006. Print.
Weekes, Don, and Kerry Banks. Hockey's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Goals. Vancouver: Greystone, 2010. Print.
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