1969–70 NHL season

The 1969–70 NHL season was the 53rd season of the National Hockey League. For the third straight season, the St. Louis Blues reached the Stanley Cup finals, and for the third straight year, the winners of the expansion Western Division were swept four games to none. This time, however, it was at the hands of the Boston Bruins, as the defending champions Montreal Canadiens narrowly missed the playoffs, something that would not happen again for the next quarter century. With both the Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs missing the 1970 Stanley Cup playoffs, it was the first time in league history that none of the NHL's Canadian teams qualified for the playoffs (something that would only happen again in 2016, when the league had seven Canadian teams). It was also the final season that teams wore their colored jerseys at home until the 2003–04 season.

Regular season

Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins became the first (and as of 2016, the only) defenseman in NHL history to win the league scoring championship. He did it by setting a new record for assists with 87 and totalling 120 points, only six shy of the point record set the previous season by teammate Phil Esposito. Along the way, he also won the Norris Trophy for the third straight year as the top defenseman, the Hart Trophy for league MVP, and the Conn Smythe Trophy for the playoff MVP, being the only player in the NHL to win four individual awards.

Gordie Howe finished the season within the ten leading NHL point scorers for an all-time record of 21 consecutive seasons; it was the final season he would do so.

For the third straight season, the St. Louis Blues easily won the West Division, being the only team in the division to have a winning record.

The East Division, however, saw a temporary changing of the guard, as Montreal dropped from first the previous season to fifth, missing the playoffs on the total goals scored tie-breaker with the New York Rangers. The Rangers were in first place for a time, but injuries on the blueline doomed any hope of a first-place finish, and they even obtained Tim Horton in desperation. It would be the only season Montreal failed to make the playoffs between 1948 and 1995, and as the Toronto Maple Leafs also failed to make the postseason, this set up the only playoffs in NHL history (until 2016) to feature no Canadian teams. These developments were instrumental in the decision to move Chicago to the West Division in conjunction with the 1970 expansion, and the adoption of "crossover" playoff series between East and West Division teams the following season. The division crossover kept the newer expansion teams out of the Stanley Cup final for the next three seasons.

The Bruins and the Black Hawks both tied for the lead in the East with 99 points, but Chicago was awarded first place because they had more wins. It was Chicago's second first-place finish in Black Hawk history (the first being 1966–67)

Canadiens/Rangers tiebreaker

The last two playoff berths in the East Division were contested by three teams entering the final weekend of the season. The Detroit Red Wings were in third place with 93 standings points, followed by the Montreal Canadiens with 92 and the New York Rangers with 90.^[1] All three were scheduled to play home-and-home contests on April 4 and 5, with the Red Wings and Rangers facing each other and the Canadiens going up against the first-place Chicago Blackhawks. The Red Wings captured the third seed with a 6–2 win over the Rangers at the Olympia on Saturday night. The Canadiens needed just one victory to clinch the fourth and final berth, but failed to do so in a simultaneous 4–1 loss to the Blackhawks at the Montreal Forum.

That set up the scenario in which a New York win and a Montreal loss would give each team identical 38–22–16 records. At that time, the next tiebreaker was goals scored in which the Canadiens held a 242–237 advantage before action on April 5. The Rangers also had to outscore the Canadiens by at least five goals in order to qualify for the postseason.^[2]

The Rangers and Red Wings were scheduled to play a nationally televised 2 pm ET Sunday match at Madison Square Garden. Roy Edwards was supposed to have been Detroit's starting goaltender, but his "headaches and chest pains" forced coach Sid Abel to press Roger Crozier back into service for the second time in 18 hours. The Rangers peppered Crozier with a franchise-record 65 shots on goal en route to a 9–5 triumph and a four-goal lead over Montreal. New York coach Emile Francis even replaced his goalie Eddie Giacomin with an extra attacker when the score reached 9–3, but it only resulted in a pair of empty-net goals for the Red Wings.^[2]

Later that evening at the Chicago Stadium, the Canadiens either had to win or score at least five goals in defeat, but were up against a Blackhawks team needing a victory to clinch top seed in the divisional playoffs. With Montreal trailing 5–2 and desperate for three more goals with 9:16 remaining in the third period, coach Claude Ruel pulled his netminder Rogie Vachon for an extra attacker. The Canadiens surrendered five empty-net goals in a 10–2 defeat and missed the postseason for the only time within a 46-season span from 1949 to 1994.^[3] Montreal's Yvan Cournoyer commented on the Red Wings' effort in the afternoon, bitterly stating, "Those guys have no pride."^[2]

Prior to the following season, the NHL established head-to-head results as the second tiebreaker after wins and ahead of goals-for.^[2] Goal differential eventually replaced goals-for as the third tiebreaker beginning with the 1984–85 campaign.^[4] With the Toronto Maple Leafs finishing below the Canadiens in the East Division cellar, 1969–70 marked the first time no Canadian team advanced to the Stanley Cup playoffs. By the time a recurrence of this happened 46 years later in 2016, the number of Canada-based franchises had grown to seven.^[2]

Final standings

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

Quarterfinals

(E1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (E3) Detroit Red Wings

In the Chicago-Detroit series, the Black Hawks swept the series, interestingly winning all four games by 4–2 scores.

(E2) Boston Bruins vs. (E4) New York Rangers

The Bruins clobbered the Rangers 8–2 in game one; Ranger coach Emile Francis replaced Ed Giacomin when the score reached 7–1, in favor of Terry Sawchuk. Sawchuk replaced Giacomin as the starter in game two, but Boston won 5–3.

Game three at Madison Square Garden featured a hostile crowd, with the New York fans booing, shouting obscenities and throwing objects at the Boston players. Giacomin -- back in goal for the Rangers -- reportedly told Bruin Derek Sanderson "We're being paid to get you tonight." A subsequent brawl erupted into both benches clearing, as well as fans littering the ice with debris; it took 19 minutes to play the first 91 seconds of the game. By the end of the Rangers' 4-3 win, the teams had set a new NHL playoff record for penalties (38) and penalty minutes (174).

Game four had Rod Gilbert score two goals in a 4–2 Ranger win. Giacomin was brilliant in goal for the Rangers and one of the highlights was stopping Derek Sanderson on a shorthanded breakaway. Game five was won by Boston 3–2 as Esposito scored two goals. Bobby Orr set up the winner when he stole a pass at center ice when the Rangers were caught on a line change. Game six was won easily by the Bruins and featured another display of fan abuse. Bobby Orr scored two goals, including the winner. Fans threw eggs and ball bearings on the ice, and when the outcome was no longer in doubt, set fires in the mezzanine of Madison Square Garden.

(W1) St. Louis Blues vs. (W3) Minnesota North Stars

In the West Division playoffs, the St. Louis Blues ousted the Minnesota North Stars in six games. The Blues won the first two games at the St. Louis Arena. Game three at the Metropolitan Sports Center featured Gump Worsley's sharp goaltending and Bill Goldsworthy scoring two goals in a 4–2 win for the North Stars. Cesare Maniago played in goal for Minnesota in game four and picked up a 4–0 shutout, tying the series. Game five at St. Louis Arena was tied 3–3 when St Louis scored three goals in the third period by Red Berenson, Terry Gray and Jim Roberts and the Blues won 6–3. In game six, Ab McDonald scored two goals as the Blues eliminated the North Stars by a score of 4–2.

(W2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (W4) Oakland Seals

In game one, Nick Harbaruk's goal midway through the third period was the winner as Pittsburgh won 2–1. In game two, Gary Jarrett gave Oakland a 1–0 lead, but Pittsburgh came back to win 3–1. Game three at Oakland featured a hat trick by Ken Schinkel of the Penguins as Pittsburgh won 5–2. Game four saw Oakland holding 1–0 and 2–1 leads, but the Seals just couldn't hold on and the game was tied 2–2 at the end of regulation time, with Michel Briere scoring the series winning goal at 8:28 of overtime for Pittsburgh. It would be the final time the Seals would make the playoffs.

Semifinals

(E1) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (E2) Boston Bruins

In the East Division final, Boston beat Chicago in four straight games.

(W1) St. Louis Blues vs. (W2) Pittsburgh Penguins

In the West Division final, the St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. The Pens would not get to the semi-finals again for more than 20 years.

The Stanley Cup final would then be Boston vs. St. Louis.

Stanley Cup Finals

Phil Esposito of the Bruins led all playoff scorers with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points, at the time a new NHL playoff record, followed by Orr with 20 points and Johnny Bucyk of the Bruins with 19 points. Gerry Cheevers of the Bruins led all goaltenders with twelve wins, while Jacques Plante of the Blues led all goaltenders in goals against average in the playoffs with 1.48.

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Source: NHL.^[6]

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Other statistics

• Plus-Minus leader: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1969–70 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Keith Magnuson, Chicago Black Hawks
• Butch Goring, Los Angeles Kings
• Gilles Gilbert, Minnesota North Stars
• Guy Charron, Montreal Canadiens
• Marc Tardif, Montreal Canadiens
• Rejean Houle, Montreal Canadiens
• Don Luce, New York Rangers
• Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1969–70 (listed with their last team):

• Ron Murphy, Boston Bruins
• Leo Boivin, Minnesota North Stars
• Moose Vasko, Minnesota North Stars
• Claude Provost, Montreal Canadiens
• Terry Sawchuk, New York Rangers
• Camille Henry, St. Louis Blues
• Johnny Bower, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Marcel Pronovost, Toronto Maple Leafs

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1969 NHL Amateur Draft
• 23rd National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• 1969 in sports
• 1970 in sports

References

• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X. 
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5. 
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9. 
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1. 
• McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0-684-13424-1. 

Notes

External links

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com
• hickoksports.com