1971–72 NHL season

The 1971–72 NHL season was the 55th season of the National Hockey League. Fourteen teams each played 78 games. The Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers four games to two for their second Stanley Cup in three seasons in the finals.

Four players were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this year. They were recently deceased Toronto star Busher Jackson and Detroit legend Terry Sawchuk, oldtimer Gordon Roberts, and ex-Bruin and Senator star Cooney Weiland. Arthur Wirtz, the powerful long-time owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, was inducted as a Builder.

Regular season

Among notable first year players this season were Montreal's Guy Lafleur, who despite scoring 29 goals was felt lacking in comparison to newly-retired superstar Jean Beliveau by the Canadiens' faithful; Buffalo's Rick Martin, who set a new record for goals by a rookie with 44; Gilles Meloche, goaltender for the hapless California Golden Seals; and Ken Dryden, the sensational new goalie for the Canadiens, who despite winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP the previous season was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, on the grounds that he had only played six prior regular season games.

43-year-old Gump Worsley, left unprotected (and unclaimed) in the waiver draft by the Minnesota North Stars, led the league with a 2.12 goals against average. Less fortunately, Philadelphia goaltender Bruce Gamble suffered a heart attack during a 3–1 win in Vancouver in February and was forced to retire from hockey.

In what was widely seen as preemptive moves to help forestall the incipient World Hockey Association, the NHL announced that Atlanta and Long Island had been granted expansion franchises to start in the 1972–73 season. The bids had been hastily put together in comparison with the 1967 and 1971 expansions.

Milestones this season included Gerry Cheevers setting an NHL record for the Boston Bruins (which has yet to be surpassed) with 33 straight undefeated games. On February 12, it was Gordie Howe Day in Detroit as his famous #9 was retired. On March 25, Bobby Hull scored his 600th NHL goal in a 5–5 tie with Boston at the Boston Garden.

An exciting scoring race in which Ranger Jean Ratelle had been leading Bruin Phil Esposito was shortcircuited when Ratelle suffered a serious injury costing him over a month of play. Ratelle finished third in scoring behind Esposito and Bruin Bobby Orr, while his teammates Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert - all three linemates on the renowned GAG line -- finished fourth and fifth. A resurgent Frank Mahovlich, rejuvenated by a trade to Montreal, finished sixth, while Bobby Hull, in his final year in Chicago, finished seventh in points and second to Esposito in goals.

Although they had fallen somewhat from their overwhelming offensive dominance from the previous season, once again the Boston Bruins had the best record in the league and once again the Chicago Black Hawks had the best record in the West Division.

Final standings

"Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes"
"Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold"

Leading goaltenders

tanley Cup playoffs

The New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs, before sweeping the Chicago Black Hawksin four straight games in the semifinals. Chicago had beaten the Pittsburgh Penguins in four straight games.

Boston easily handled the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games, facing a St. Louis Blues team that had eked out a hard-fought seven game victory against the North Stars in the quarter finals. The powerful Bruins set a record for the most goals in a four game series by pounding the Blues 28–8 over a four-game sweep.

Playoff bracket

8TeamBracket
RD1-seed1=E1
RD1-team1=Boston Bruins
RD1-score1=4
RD1-seed2=E4
RD1-team2=Toronto Maple Leafs
RD1-score2=1
RD1-seed3=W2
RD1-team3=Minnesota North Stars
RD1-score3=3
RD1-seed4=W3
RD1-team4=St. Louis Blues
RD1-score4=4
RD1-seed5=W1
RD1-team5=Chicago Black Hawks
RD1-score5=4
RD1-seed6=W4
RD1-team6=Pittsburgh Penguins
RD1-score6=0
RD1-seed7=E2
RD1-team7=New York Rangers
RD1-score7=4
RD1-seed8=E3
RD1-team8=Montreal Canadiens
RD1-score8=2
RD2-seed1=E1
RD2-team1=Boston Bruins
RD2-score1=4
RD2-seed2=W3
RD2-team2=St. Louis Blues
RD2-score2=0
RD2-seed3=W1
RD2-team3=Chicago Black Hawks
RD2-score3=0
RD2-seed4=E2
RD2-team4=New York Rangers
RD2-score4=4
RD3-seed1=E1
RD3-team1=Boston Bruins
RD3-score1=4
RD3-seed2=E2
RD3-team2=New York Rangers
RD3-score2=2

Finals

New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1971–72 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
*Terry O'Reilly, Boston Bruins
*Rick Martin, Buffalo Sabres
*Craig Ramsay, Buffalo Sabres
*Marcel Dionne, Detroit Red Wings
*Billy Smith, Los Angeles Kings
*Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
*Bill Clement, Philadelphia Flyers
*Dave Schultz, Philadelphia Flyers
*Mike Murphy, St. Louis Blues
*Wayne Stephenson, St. Louis Blues
*Rick Kehoe, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Jocelyn Guevremont, Vancouver Canucks
*Dennis Kearns, Vancouver Canucks

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1971–72 listed with their last team):
*John McKenzie, Boston Bruins
*Ted Green, Boston Bruins
*Dick Duff, Buffalo Sabres
*Eric Nesterenko, Chicago Black Hawks
*Ab McDonald, Detroit Red Wings
*Bob Pulford, Los Angeles Kings
*J.C. Tremblay, Montreal Canadiens
*Phil Goyette, New York Rangers
*Val Fonteyne, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Bill Hicke, Pittsburgh Penguins
*Brit Selby, St. Louis Blues
*Don Marshall, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Rosaire Paiement, Vancouver Canucks

"NOTE: McKenzie, Green, Tremblay, Fonteyne, Selby, Nesterenko, McDonald, Hicke and Paiement would continue their careers in the World Hockey Association."

See also

* List of Stanley Cup champions
* 1971 NHL Amateur Draft
* 25th National Hockey League All-Star Game
* National Hockey League All-Star Game
* Ice hockey at the 1972 Winter Olympics
* 1971 in sports
* 1972 in sports

References

* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
* [http://nhl.com/ NHL.com]
* [http://www.hickoksports.com/history/nhl197172.shtml Hickoksports.com]