1971 Stanley Cup Final

1971 ice hockey championship series August 2023 1971 Montreal Canadiens Montreal Al MacNeil Jean Beliveau Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Bill Reay Vacant 1* 3 4 5 0 4 3 4 2* 5 2 2 2 3 2 3 * – Denotes overtime period(s) May 4–18, 1971 Chicago: Chicago Stadium (1, 2, 5, 7) Montreal: Montreal Forum (3, 4, 6) 1 Ken Dryden (Canadiens) Henri Richard (2:34, third) Canadiens:Jean Beliveau (1972)Yvan Cournoyer (1982)Ken Dryden (1983)Jacques Laperriere (1987)Guy Lapointe (1993)Jacques Lemaire (1984)Frank Mahovlich (1981)Henri Richard (1979)Serge Savard (1986; did not play)Rogie Vachon (2016; did not play)Black Hawks:Tony Esposito (1988)Bobby Hull (1983)Stan Mikita (1983)Officials:Josh Ashley (1981)Neil Armstrong (1991)John D'Amico (1993)Matt Pavelich (1987) CBC (Canada)SRC (Canada, French)CBS (United States) (games 3, 6, and 7) (CBC): Danny Gallivan and Dick Irvin Jr. (SRC): Rene Lecavalier and Gilles Tremblay(CBS): Dan Kelly, Jim Gordon, and Phil Esposito The 1971 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1970–71 season, and the culmination of the 1971 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Chicago Black Hawks and the Montreal Canadiens. The Black Hawks made their first appearance in the finals since 1965, while the Canadiens had last played in and won the final in 1969. The Canadiens won the series, four games to three. Paths to the Finals The playoff system changed this year to allow cross-over between the divisions during the playoffs. Chicago defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4–0 and the New York Rangers 4–3 to advance to the final. Montreal defeated the defending champion Boston Bruins 4–3 and the Minnesota North Stars 4–2. This set up the first "Original Six" Finals since the 1967 Stanley Cup Final. Game summaries Brothers Frank and Peter Mahovlich starred for the Canadiens, scoring nine goals in the seven-game final series. Ken Dryden debuted for the Canadiens, while this was Jean Beliveau's last Finals appearance. He ended his career with ten championships. This was only the second time that the road team won a game seven in Finals history. The only previous time it happened was when the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2–1 in game seven in the 1945 Stanley Cup Final in Detroit. Montreal also won the series despite losing the first two games on the road; none happened again until 2009, when the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Red Wings in game seven by the same 2–1 score after losing the first two games to the Red Wings. The next seven-game Stanley Cup Final did not occur until the 1987 Stanley Cup Final with the Edmonton Oilers and the Philadelphia Flyers. Game one Montreal Canadiens Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Stadium May 4 1–2 2 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-chi/1971/05/04/1970030311#game=1970030311,game_state=final Despite Ken Dryden making 56 saves in net for Montreal in game one, Chicago would emerge victorious, with Jim Pappin scoring the game-winning goal in double overtime to give the Black Hawks a 2–1 victory and a 1–0 lead in the series. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st None 2nd MTL Jacques Lemaire (7) – pp J. C. Tremblay (12) and Pete Mahovlich (5) 12:29 1–0 MTL 3rd CHI Bobby Hull (9) – pp Jim Pappin (3) and Pat Stapleton (13) 07:54 1–1 OT None 2OT CHI Jim Pappin (7) Stan Mikita (10) and Bill White (3) 01:11 2–1 CHI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st CHI Keith Magnuson Elbowing 01:53 2:00 CHI Dan Maloney Elbowing 04:52 2:00 MTL Yvan Cournoyer Hooking 05:27 2:00 MTL Frank Mahovlich Hooking 08:36 2:00 MTL Jean Beliveau Holding 11:26 2:00 2nd CHI Eric Nesterenko Tripping 10:47 2:00 MTL Marc Tardif Slashing 13:27 2:00 3rd MTL Jacques Lemaire Interference 06:25 2:00 CHI Rick Foley Elbowing 12:00 2:00 OT MTL Guy Lapointe Holding 02:21 2:00 CHI Bill White Hooking 08:37 2:00 2OT None Shots by period Team 1 2 3 OT 2OT Total Montreal 12 12 7 6 0 37 Chicago 18 11 17 10 2 58 Game two Montreal Canadiens Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Stadium May 4 3–5 2 https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-chi/1971/05/06/1970030312#game=1970030312,game_state=final Lou Angotti recorded four points for Chicago in game two, and Chicago took a 2–0 series lead. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st CHI Bobby Hull (10) – pp Chico Maki (5) and Lou Angotti (2) 04:39 1–0 CHI MTL Jacques Lemaire (8) – pp J. C. Tremblay (13) 09:06 1–1 MTL Pete Mahovlich (6) J. C. Tremblay (14) and Jacques Laperriere (7) 17:58 2–1 MTL 2nd CHI Chico Maki (5) Lou Angotti (3) and Bobby Hull (9) 11:58 2–2 CHI Jim Pappin (8) Danny O'Shea (5) and Rick Foley (1) 13:50 3–2 CHI 3rd CHI Lou Angotti (2) Unassisted 07:27 4–2 CHI MTL Frank Mahovlich (11) Unassisted 08:56 4–3 CHI CHI Lou Angotti (3) Unassisted 16:47 5–3 CHI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st MTL Jean Beliveau Holding 04:18 2:00 CHI Dan Maloney Holding 07:20 2:00 CHI Stan Mikita High-sticking 19:28 2:00 MTL John Ferguson High-sticking 19:28 2:00 2nd CHI Keith Magnuson Cross-checking 02:09 2:00 CHI Pit Martin Elbowing 16:39 2:00 MTL Rejean Houle Elbowing 16:39 2:00 3rd CHI Stan Mikita Elbowing 11:11 2:00 MTL Terry Harper High-sticking 11:11 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total Montreal 10 11 6 27 Chicago 11 12 12 35 Game three Chicago Black Hawks Montreal Canadiens Montreal Forum May 9 2–4 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-mtl/1971/05/09/1970030313#game=1970030313,game_state=final After Chicago took a 2–0 lead after the first period, Frank Mahovlich netted two goals for Montreal, and Yvan Cournoyer scored the game-winning goal in the third to give the Canadiens a 4–2 lead to the cut the series lead in half. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st CHI Cliff Koroll (6) – pp Bobby Hull (10) and Stan Mikita (11) 04:26 1–0 CHI CHI Bobby Hull (11) Jim Pappin (4) and Pit Martin (6) 13:38 2–0 CHI 2nd MTL Pete Mahovlich (7) Bobby Hull (10) and Stan Mikita (11) 05:56 2–1 CHI MTL Frank Mahovlich (12) – pp Jean Beliveau (14) and Yvan Cournoyer (11) 17:34 2–2 3rd MTL Yvan Cournoyer (7) Terry Harper (5) 06:23 3–2 MTL MTL Frank Mahovlich (13) – pp Guy Lapointe (4) 17:34 4–2 MTL Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st MTL Pete Mahovlich Elbowing 03:39 2:00 CHI Bill White Holding 10:55 2:00 CHI Chico Maki Cross-checking 16:57 2:00 2nd CHI Lou Angotti Kneeing 03:26 2:00 CHI Stan Mikita High-sticking 04:43 2:00 MTL Yvan Cournoyer High-sticking 04:43 2:00 CHI Pit Martin Tripping 07:03 2:00 MTL Guy Lapointe Tripping 07:15 2:00 CHI Bill White Tripping 08:13 2:00 CHI Keith Magnuson Fighting – major 10:06 5:00 MTL Jacques Lemaire Roughing 10:06 2:00 MTL Jacques Lemaire Fighting – major 10:06 5:00 MTL Leon Rochefort Elbowing 11:00 2:00 CHI Jim Pappin Slashing – double minor 13:44 4:00 MTL Phil Roberto Slashing 13:44 2:00 CHI Bobby Hull Hooking 16:03 2:00 3rd CHI Danny O'Shea Holding 03:22 2:00 MTL Rejean Houle Tripping 08:27 2:00 CHI Bobby Hull Hooking 10:26 2:00 CHI Lou Angotti Fighting – major 16:04 5:00 MTL J. C. Tremblay Fighting – major 16:04 5:00 CHI Paul Shmyr Boarding 18:39 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total Chicago 10 11 6 27 Montreal 11 12 12 35 Game four Chicago Black Hawks Montreal Canadiens Montreal Forum May 11 2–5 2 https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-mtl/1971/05/11/1970030314 Yvan Cournoyer recorded 3 points for Montreal in game four, giving the Canadiens a 5–2 victory to tie the series. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st MTL Pete Mahovlich (8) Terry Harper (6) and Jacques Laperriere (8) 01:00 1–0 MTL CHI Stan Mikita (5) – pp Cliff Koroll (7) and Pat Stapleton (14) 03:09 1–1 MTL Jean Beliveau (6) – pp Yvan Cournoyer (12) and Frank Mahovlich (10) 06:55 2–1 MTL MTL Guy Lapointe (4) Rejean Houle (3) and Henri Richard (7) 16:33 3–1 MTL 2nd MTL Yvan Cournoyer (8) Unassisted 09:07 4–1 MTL CHI Dennis Hull (5) Stan Mikita (12) 12:30 4–2 MTL MTL Yvan Cournoyer (9) – pp Frank Mahovlich (11) and Pete Mahovlich (12) 15:53 5–2 MTL 3rd None Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st MTL Jean Beliveau Tripping 04:18 2:00 CHI Cliff Koroll High-sticking 07:20 2:00 MTL Jacques Laperriere Interference 14:41 2:00 CHI Rick Foley Holding 15:52 2:00 2nd MTL Yvan Cournoyer Tripping 04:18 2:00 CHI Gerry Pinder High-sticking 09:28 2:00 MTL Leon Rochefort Charging 09:28 2:00 CHI Chico Maki Elbowing 15:32 2:00 3rd CHI Bill White Tripping 01:39 2:00 CHI Lou Angotti Slashing 03:20 2:00 MTL Pete Mahovlich Elbowing 03:20 2:00 MTL Marc Tardif Interference 12:20 2:00 CHI Keith Magnuson Fighting – major 16:08 5:00 CHI Keith Magnuson Misconduct 16:08 10:00 CHI Danny O'Shea Fighting – major 16:08 5:00 CHI Paul Shmyr Fighting – major 16:08 5:00 CHI Paul Shmyr Misconduct 16:08 10:00 MTL Guy Lapointe Fighting – major 16:08 5:00 MTL Guy Lapointe Misconduct 16:08 10:00 MTL Phil Roberto Fighting – major 16:08 5:00 MTL Marc Tardif Fighting – major 16:08 5:00 MTL Marc Tardif Misconduct 16:08 10:00 CHI Jerry Korab High-sticking 17:05 2:00 CHI Jerry Korab Spearing 17:05 2:00 CHI Jerry Korab Misconduct 17:05 10:00 MTL Frank Mahovlich High-sticking 17:05 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total Chicago 10 17 5 32 Montreal 16 12 4 32 Game five Montreal Canadiens Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Stadium May 13 0–2 2 https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-chi/1971/05/13/1970030315 Dennis Hull both Cliff Koroll scored for Chicago, and Tony Esposito made 31 saves to record his second shutout of the postseason. The victory gave Chicago a 3–2 series lead. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st CHI Dennis Hull (6) – pp Cliff Koroll (8) and Bobby Hull (11) 10:57 1–0 CHI 2nd CHI Cliff Koroll (7) Dennis Hull (6) and Stan Mikita (13) 11:26 2–0 CHI 3rd None Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st CHI Eric Nesterenko Holding 04:42 2:00 MTL John Ferguson High-sticking 06:58 2:00 CHI Cliff Koroll Holding 07:41 2:00 MTL Henri Richard Hooking 10:25 2:00 CHI Jim Pappin High-sticking 14:02 2:00 MTL Pete Mahovlich High-sticking 14:02 2:00 CHI Bobby Hull Elbowing 16:45 2:00 MTL Terry Harper Elbowing 16:45 2:00 CHI Bill White Holding 18:49 2:00 2nd CHI Keith Magnuson Interference 04:18 2:00 CHI Pete Mahovlich Tripping 12:57 2:00 3rd CHI Bobby Hull Elbowing 05:20 2:00 MTL Rejean Houle Holding 05:20 2:00 CHI Danny O'Shea Fighting – major 16:50 5:00 MTL Phil Roberto Fighting – major 16:50 5:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total Montreal 10 12 9 31 Chicago 9 7 6 22 Game six Montreal Canadiens Chicago Black Hawks Montreal Forum May 16 3–4 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-mtl/1971/05/16/1970030316#game=1970030316,game_state=final Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st CHI Jim Pappin (9) Unassisted 11:25 1–0 CHI MTL Yvan Cournoyer (10) Jean Beliveau (15) and Frank Mahovlich (12) 13:38 1–1 2nd MTL Pete Mahovlich (9) Rejean Houle (4) and John Ferguson (6) 05:04 2–1 MTL CHI Chico Maki (6) Bill White (4) and Bobby Hull (12) 13:38 2–2 CHI Jim Pappin (10) Doug Jarrett (6) and Bobby Hull (13) 13:38 3–2 CHI 3rd MTL Frank Mahovlich (14) Jean Beliveau (16) 05:10 3–3 MTL Pete Mahovlich (10) – sh Frank Mahovlich (13) 08:56 4–3 MTL Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st MTL Pete Mahovlich High-sticking 03:44 2:00 CHI Tony Esposito Tripping 04:43 Penalty shot MTL Leon Rochefort Cross-checking 05:12 2:00 CHI Jim Pappin High-sticking 07:34 2:00 MTL Pierre Bouchard Elbowing 07:34 2:00 CHI Keith Magnuson High-sticking 09:41 2:00 MTL Pete Mahovlich High-sticking 09:41 2:00 CHI Eric Nesterenko Cross-checking 15:55 2:00 MTL Terry Harper Hooking 15:55 2:00 2nd MTL John Ferguson Charging 08:50 2:00 3rd MTL Rejean Houle Holding 08:46 2:00 CHI Keith Magnuson Elbowing 11:55 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total Chicago 11 14 5 30 Montreal 5 6 5 16 Game seven Montreal Canadiens Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Stadium May 18 3–2 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-chi/1971/05/18/1970030317#game=1970030317,game_state=final After trailing 2–0 to Chicago in game seven, Jacques Lemaire took a shot from centre ice that miraculously escaped goaltender Tony Esposito cutting the Black Hawks' lead to 2–1. Henri Richard tied the game just before the end of the second period, and scored again 02:34 into the third, giving the Habs the lead. Ken Dryden kept Chicago off the board for the rest of the game, making 31 saves. Montreal won their third Stanley Cup in four years. It was the final game for Canadiens superstar and captain Jean Beliveau who retired after the season. The Canadiens were the last road team to win a Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final until the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. It was Al MacNeil's final game as Montreal coach — after he had benched Richard for Game 5, The Pocket Rocket declared "[MacNeil] is the worst coach I ever played for!"Henri Richard https://www.couchpotatohockey.com/Players/Biographies/Richard_Henri.asp 2006-11-15 In the 1971 Stanley Cup finals he was reported to have called his coach, Al MacNeil, the worst coach he had ever played under in the NHL. https://web.archive.org/web/20071008054805/http://www.couchpotatohockey.com/Players/Biographies/Richard_Henri.asp 2007-10-08 dead Although Richard retracted his "angry comment", as he called it, MacNeil still resigned. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st CHI Dennis Hull (7) – pp Cliff Koroll (9) and Bobby Hull (14) 19:12 1–0 CHI 2nd CHI Danny O'Shea (2) Pit Martin (7) 07:33 2–0 CHI MTL Jacques Lemaire (9) Jacques Laperriere (9) 14:18 2–1 CHI MTL Henri Richard (4) Jacques Lemaire (10) 18:20 2–2 3rd MTL Henri Richard (5) Rejean Houle (5) and Guy Lapointe (5) 02:34 3–2 MTL Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st MTL Terry Harper Holding 01:22 2:00 CHI Keith Magnuson Roughing 04:09 2:00 MTL Jacques Lemaire Roughing 04:09 2:00 CHI Dennis Hull Tripping 07:55 2:00 MTL Rejean Houle Holding 17:35 2:00 2nd CHI Keith Magnuson Tripping 01:49 2:00 CHI Eric Nesterenko Roughing 03:20 2:00 MTL Pete Mahovlich Roughing 03:20 2:00 CHI Bench (served by Lou Angotti) Too many men on the ice 04:14 2:00 CHI Keith Magnuson Charging 12:32 2:00 MTL J. C. Tremblay Hooking 13:07 2:00 CHI Doug Jarrett Holding 17:54 2:00 MTL John Ferguson Holding 18:11 2:00 3rd MTL Terry Harper Hooking 05:32 2:00 MTL Pete Mahovlich Hooking 07:37 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total Montreal 6 9 10 25 Chicago 12 9 12 33 Coaching controversies Both clubs would suffer public controversies regarding coaching performances, specifically accusations of mishandling star players during the series. Chicago head coach Billy Reay would be attacked in the media by Hawks star forward Bobby Hull for his excessive employment of two little used forwards, Lou Angotti and Eric Nesterenko, as well as the injured defenceman Keith Magnuson in game seven. With a 2–0 Black Hawks lead, both Hull and Hawks star centre Stan Mikita were left on the bench for extended periods in favor of Angotti and Nesterenko, including two four-on-four situations. The wide open matchup should have favoured the frustrated Hull, who had been successfully shadowed in the series by Canadiens rookie Rejean Houle. The first two Canadien goals were tallied with the two backliners on the ice and the hobbled Magnuson was beaten one on one by speedy Montreal centre Henri Richard for the ultimate game winner. The Canadiens suffered their own coaching controversy earlier in the series when head coach Al MacNeil benched alternate captain Henri Richard in game five. Following the 2–0 loss, Richard ripped MacNeil in the media calling him incompetent and "the worst coach I ever played for." Accusation of favoring English-speaking players plagued MacNeil and turned the public against him. Following death threats, MacNeil and his family were assigned body guards for the final home game in Montreal. MacNeil resigned as coach after the final and was replaced by Scotty Bowman. Stanley Cup engraving The 1971 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Canadiens 3–2 win over the Black Hawks in game seven. The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup 1970–71 Montreal Canadiens *4 Jean Beliveau (Captain) 16 Henri Richard (A) 20 Peter Mahovlich 24 Bobby Sheehan 25 Jacques Lemaire *2 Jacques Laperriere 3 Jean-Claude J. C. Tremblay 5 Guy Lapointe 18 Serge Savard† 19 Terry Harper (A) 23 Bob Murdoch 26 Pierre Bouchard *29 Ken Dryden 1 Rogatien Vachon 30 Phil Myre† *11 Marc Tardif 14 Rejean Houle 12 Yvan Cournoyer 15 Claude Larose 17 Phil Roberto 21 Leon Rochefort 22 John Ferguson Sr. (A) 24 Chuck Lefley 27 Frank Mahovlich (A) J. David Molson (President/Owner), William Molson (Vice President/Owner) Peter Molson (Vice Presidents/Owners), Sam Pollock (Vice President/General Manager) Ron Caron (Asst. General Manager), Al MacNeil (Head Coach) Yvon Belanger (Trainer) Phil Langlois (Asst. Trainer), Eddy Palchak (Asst Trainer) †Serge Savard played 37 regular season games, but missed the rest of season injured. †Phil Myre played 30 games, dressed for 70 games, but was not dressed in the playoffs. Both players were included in the team picture. They were not engraved on the Stanley Cup, because they did not play in the playoffs. #8 Larry Pleau was included on the team, but did not qualify. He played only 19 regular season games played, and did not dress in the playoffs. so his name was not included on the Stanley Cup. He would get his name on the Stanley Cup as an Asst. Manager with New York Rangers in 1994. Al MacNeil (coach) was engraved on the Stanley Cup as .COACH. MAC NEIL missing his first name "Al". MacNeil was spelled AL MACNEIL COACH on the Replica Cup. MacNeil became the first rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup as a mid-season replacement. MacNeil replaced Claude Ruel after 23 games. MacNeil was also the 11th NHL Rookie Coach to win the Stanley Cup. MacNeil only coached the last 55 regular season games for Montreal. Phil Roberto was misspelled P ROBRTO missing an "E". Roberto's name was corrected to P. ROBERTO on the Replica Cup created during the 1992–93 season. Ken Dryden would win the Conn Smythe Trophy (Playoff MVP) and Stanley Cup in 1971 and won the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year) in 1972. 5th player to win the Stanley Cup before winning Rookie of the Year. He is the only player to win Playoff MVP before winning Rookie of the Year. See also 1970–71 NHL season Notes References Diamond, Dan Total Stanley Cup 2000 NHL Podnieks, Andrew Hockey Hall of Fame 2004 Lord Stanley's Cup Triumph Books 978-1-55168-261-7 Boston Bruins1970 Montreal CanadiensStanley Cup champions 1971 Boston Bruins1972 Stanley Cup Category:Stanley Cup Finals Category:Chicago Blackhawks games Category:Montreal Canadiens games Stanley Cup Final Category:Ice hockey competitions in Chicago Category:Ice hockey competitions in Montreal Category:1971 in Chicago Category:1971 in Montreal Stanley Cup Final Category:Events at Chicago Stadium