Habs Win Three Close Series in 1971, End Bruins Repeat Hopes

It was an amazing and record breaking year for Boston, but in the end the familiar foe from up north has the last laugh.
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[@jimmyjames7234]

Thanks Shannon. Love the series. Keep up the good work.

[@SverigeiSverige]

Agrees 👍

[@clydeblair9622]

Great historical episode.

[@patch8376]

Beliveau was at the tail end of his career then, a true legend. He racked up a lot of poins in that playoffs for an old guy.

[@SverigeiSverige]

Yes his last season. Finished on top.

[@PancakesAndHammers2426]

No wonder the Golden Seals are gone, how freaking tragic.

[@cloudsopowera6248]

the Sens might become the next Golden Seals as Avs stole their 1st round pick. Their outcome might even be worse than the Golden Seals' as they might even lose Karlsson Duchene Stone Ceci on July 1st

[@PancakesAndHammers2426]

Felix Sopowera That would be a historicly big failure. For Ottawa fans sanity I hope that doesn't happen.

[@bluebear1985]

When the Habs made a late trade with the Kings, I believe it was Ralph Backstrom who ended up going to L.A. He wasn't seeing as much ice time as he used to, so it made sense to unload him.

[@HabsGeorge]

The 1971 playoffs is what made me a Habs fan. What a playoff it was! I don't think there has been one like it. From the last season trade for Frank Mahovlich, to last minute call up of Dryden. The 5 goal second period comeback against Bobby Orr and the Bruins in the Garden. What a game that was. To the feud between Pocket Rocket, John Ferguson and rookie coach Al MacNeil. The Lemaire slap shot from center ice to beat Tony O to start Game 7 comeback in Chicago Stadium. Unreal

[@GreenHornet553]

What the Canadiens did to get Guy Lafleur is god damn diabolical. I mean, it wasn't bad enough they fleeced the weakest expansion team in order to get the number one pick. They also had to trade players to the Kings to make sure it stayed at number one. If the internet existed back in 1970, that GM of the Seals would have been torn a new one over that trade.

[@34Packardphaeton]

It's why the Montreal GM, Sam Pollock, was considered a genius... earning a nickname of "the godfather". The team should have given the GM job to Scotty Bowman after Sam left.... but instead, they made a terrible decision by giving the job to the unknown, Irving Grundman. THAT is why Montreal is just another team.... instead of the dynasty it once was. For the record, the Habs won 15 Cups in 24 years: from '56 through '79.

[@dnasty312]

Another reason for the lottery

[@theodorebelmont7922]

Dryden stole the Cup for Montreal this year

[@34Packardphaeton]

Well, to be accurate, the Habs did play good team defense during the 1971 playoffs.

[@philippelra]

It was the last season of Beliveau ?

[@digbybaines7813]

Yes.

[@dennis9707]

The era of Peter Puck.

[@sdgakatbk]

Sawchuck co-winning the Patrick had to be posthumous because Terry died in 1970.

[@answeris4217]

Dryden is a good story. He only played hockey to pay for University where he becomes a lawyer and later a politician. Kind o weird that he still ended up with a HoF career out of it.

[@cloudsopowera6248]

The worst part is Dryden was drafted by the Bruins. If the Bruins didnt trade him to the Habs, they would have become a dynasty. (Dryden as goalie, Orr as top D-man, Esposito as the top center.)

[@answeris4217]

Felix Sopowera - I doubt that Dryden would have played for the Bruins. He was a book worm that was doing his University. Pro Hockey wasn't his priority. What I understand is that he wasn't dressed for his first game. Both Montreal goalies got hurt and he was in the stands. He suited up and the rest is history. He also retired after getting his law degree so yeah there's that.

[@Bjornontour]

Just loooove the seventies ❤️

[@GrinderCB]

Funny the thing about the alignment. Since they played a balanced schedule, if we re-seed without divisions, just the league as a whole, the top eight teams are #1 BOS 121pts, #2 NYR 109pts, #3 CHI 107pts, #4 MTL 97pts, #5 STL 87pts, #6 TOR 82pts, #7 PHI 73pts, #8 MIN 72pts...1st round would be BOS-MIN, NYR-PHI, CHI-TOR, MTL-STL if they did it like we do it today, 1 vs 8, etc. I have BOS, NYR, CHI and MTL getting to the next round, where MTL beats BOS in the playoffs AGAIN, while CHI beats NYR. Finals would be MTL & CHI, same as it actually happened.

[@autumnfall1997]

This is when people found out Dryden

[@PeterCPRail8748]

I remember reading about that stupid move by the seals. He would of made hockey all that popular faster out in the US west and south. The NHL could of of very much be different today if that trade was never done!

[@patch8376]

The Legends series sounds like a fun idea!

[@macklinflaherty6588]

As weird as Vancouver in the East is, so is Philly and Pittsburgh in the West!

[@cym1963]

The Flower, 3 pack a day smoker.

[@soulscanner66]

Earliest hockey memory for me is Jacques Lemaire turning a game around by blasting a slap shot from the red line past Tony Esposito. First experience of abject depression turning to elation. kzbin.info/www/bejne/an2lq6Bthrx4oasm29s

[@MichGoBIue]

Looked up Guy Lafleur’s minor league stats in ‘71, wow, 130 goals 79 assists in 62 games. Yea, they gonna be good! Probably beat up on Boston some more.

[@smithryansmith]

funny thing is, we kind of know what Guy's carreer would have been like in Oakland. It would have taken the same path as Marcel Dionne. A french player in canada who never really got the credit he deserved because he played in california for a poor team.

[@SverigeiSverige]

Phil Esposito won Lester B. Pearson Award, the first year it was awarded. You should mention that.

[@September2004]

In hindsight, after Sinden left the team, the Bruins shouldn't have hired Tom Johnson because he had no NHL head coaching experience. Just lots of Cups as a second banana defenseman to Doug Harvey. I wonder if they could've somehow stolen Scotty Bowman from the Blues. He had initially given up coaching that season to be GM (I wonder why he would do that so early in his career) and Al Arbour coached for 50 games. Considering the fact that the division was re-aligned the season before so that there was no guarantee an expansion team would make the Finals, the fact that he wasn't coaching, the fact that the Boston Bruins were his favorite team when he was younger *and* they had Bobby Orr, who he scouted but couldn't convince the Canadiens to get, that might be attractive. I think he would've brought a certain sense of discipline, and maybe even bring Doug Harvey on board as a consultant as well, would've helped the Bruins win the Cup. Also, it's so dumb that even though every team now plays every other team the same number of games, the whole 1 vs 3 and 2 vs 4 thing made no sense. What was the thinking behind that? Minnesota purposely played poorly (it was alleged) so they could go from 3rd to 4th and play 2nd place team. The Bruins had their best season ever and had to play 3rd place Canadiens instead of the 4th place team. So silly.

[@lojzek91]

Looking forward to the legends of the game series. I love the history videos. Keep it up!

[@cym1963]

Should mention that Montreal received special rights when the league expanded, they had first pick/refusal from Ontario east until the 90's! They had access to all Quebec players were no other team could approach?

[@justind3583]

Myth ... not true

[@34Packardphaeton]

Montreal only had "first opportunity" for two (2) French-Canadien players ---- NOT ALL of them.

[@brucemorton7787]

@@34Packardphaeton and only if those players weren't signed to what they called a "C" contract. Back then, almost every Canadian kid over 12 that could skate had already been signed by a scout from one of the six teams. www.habseyesontheprize.com/2008/12/2/678036/debunking-the-canadiens-fr

[@brucemorton7787]

wrong..... educate yourself..... www.habseyesontheprize.com/2008/12/2/678036/debunking-the-canadiens-fr

[@dirtykazoo2465]

Just a quick, somewhat related question: are you planning a season-by-season history of the WHA as well?

[@TheHockeyGuy]

Kind of.

[@dennis9707]

Don't forget The Boston Whalers were about to play at Boston Gardens in 1972 thanks to a Fall River Mass. fisherman's son named Howard Baldwin who bought the WHA's Whaler franchise for $7000. Because of political correctness today I don't think they could ever have a then original logo of a harpoon.

[@cym1963]

Dryden caused the stand up era, butterfly goalies were no longer wanted? How things have changed with equipment.

[@CArchivist]

Should've moved Phily to the East. Oh, this is Gordie Howe's last year as a Red Wing as he "retires" for the first time.

[@34Packardphaeton]

The MAIN reason why Montreal usually beat Boston... is Montreal (w/ Sam Pollock) was a superior organization compared to Boston.

[@gymrat2647]

That’s strange that Vancouver was in the East back then . Along with Chicago ,St Louis, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh being in the West. Pretty dumb move by the Golden seals by giving up there #1 draft pick

[@michaelleroy9281]

Trader Sam was a genius for Montreal

[@DARK24-7]

Go Nords!!!-Check!!!

[@michaelleroy9281]

Divisions didn't make a difference in 70 -71 and 71-72 14 teams everyone played each other 6 times 3 home 3 away

[@smithryansmith]

nice series. can't you get a north stars magnet for these historical vids? (an oakland/california one would be great too)

[@ozy75]

Now it gets fun. More teams, more interesting trades. Love the legends idea. Seen them in history and drafts countdown. Nice to know them a bit more (with Gordie gone are many from the original 6 still alive?).

[@JoeyJordison97]

😊

[@aaronhaupert3015]

How about a World Hockey Assoc. series? That'd be fun I think. Thanks for all the content.

[@patch8376]

Try to curb your enthusiasm when talking about Montreal cup victories. Save some of that outpouring of excitement for their many more cup wins to come.

[@JHockeyFan]

It would be really cool if Joe Sakic (or any mainstream NHL figure) was watching this or any of your videos.

[@letdomf]

You must love the Canadiens, you are always wearing their jerseys

[@aaronhaupert3015]

Why didn't the NHL flip Pittsburgh and Philly with Detroit and Van? Wouldn't that make more sense than what they had? Idk.

[@michaelleroy9281]

Those divisions went away for 74 /75