1970 Stanley Cup Finals
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The 1970 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues, appearing in their third straight finals. The Bruins were making their first appearance in the final since 1958. The Bruins would win the series 4–0, their first Stanley Cup victory in 29 years. Bobby Orr scored the Cup-winning goal on Glenn Hall, with an assist from Derek Sanderson, at forty seconds of overtime, and the subsequent image of Orr flying through the air, his arms raised in victory — he had been tripped by Blues' defenseman Noel Picard at the moment of shooting — is one of the most famous and recognized hockey images of all time.
Paths to the final
Boston defeated the New York Rangers 4–2 and the Chicago Black Hawks 4–0 to advance to the final.
St. Louis defeated the Minnesota North Stars 4–2 and the Pittsburgh Penguins 4–2.
The series
At 3:57 of the first period, a hard shot from Fred Stanfield was deflected and struck Jacques Plante in the forehead of his face mask, splitting the mask in half and injuring Plante. Plante was finished for the series. Doctors later said if he hadn't been wearing the mask, he surely would have been killed. Ernie Wakely took over in goal but only held off the Bruins for a few minutes before becoming a rather easy mark for Bruins sharpshooters.
| May 3 | Boston Bruins | 6–1 | St. Louis Blues | St. Louis Arena | ||||
| (Fred Stanfield) John Bucyk, 6 – 19:45 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Phil Esposito, John McKenzie) John Bucyk, 7 – 5:16 | Second period | 1:52 – Jim Roberts (Bill McCreary) | ||||||
| (Don Awrey, Derek Sanderson) Wayne Carleton, 2 – 4:59 (Rick Smith, John McKenzie) John Bucyk, 8 – 5:31 (Bobby Orr) Derek Sanderson, 3 – 17:20 Phil Esposito, 12 – 18:58 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| May 5 | Boston Bruins | 6–2 | St. Louis Blues | St. Louis Arena | ||||
| (Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito) Fred Stanfield, 4 – 8:10 (Rick Smith) Ed Westfall, 2 – 13:38 (Bobby Orr) Ed Westfall, 3 – 19:15 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Phil Esposito, Wayne Carleton) Derek Sanderson, 4 – 9:37 | Second period | 17:26 – Terry Gray (Noel Picard) | ||||||
| (Dallas Smith, Ed Westfall) Derek Sanderson, 5 – 0:58 (John McKenzie) John Bucyk, 9 – 15:00 |
Third period | 4:15 – Frank St. Marseille (Phil Goyette, Ab McDonald) | ||||||
| May 7 | St. Louis Blues | 1–4 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | ||||
| Frank St. Marseille – 5:32 | First period | 13:23 – John Bucyk, 10 (Phil Esposito, Fred Stanfield) 18:23 – John McKenzie, 5 (Bobby Orr, Fred Stanfield) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 3:20 – Wayne Cashman, 4 (Ken Hodge, Phil Esposito) 14:26 – Wayne Cashman, 5 (Ken Hodge, Phil Esposito) | ||||||
| May 10 | St. Louis Blues | 3–4 | OT | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | |||
| (Tim Ecclestone, Bob Plager) Red Berenson – 19:17 | First period | 5:28 – Rick Smith (Derek Sanderson) | ||||||
| (Frank St. Marseille) Gary Sabourin – 3:22 | Second period | 14:22 – Phil Esposito, 13 (Ken Hodge) | ||||||
| (Phil Goyette, Jim Roberts) Larry Keenan – 0:19 | Third period | 13:28 – John Bucyk, 11 (John McKenzie, Rick Smith) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 0:40 – Bobby Orr, 9 (Derek Sanderson) | ||||||
| Boston won series 4–0 | |
Quotes
Bobby Orr... behind the net to Sanderson to OOOORR! BOBBY OOOORR! ...scores and the Boston Bruins have won the Stanley Cup!— Dan Kelly calling Orr's Stanley Cup winning goal
"The Flight"
The most commonly seen video clip of Bobby Orr's famous overtime goal ("The Flight") in Game 4 is the American version broadcast on CBS as called by Dan Kelly. This archival clip can be considered a rarity, since surviving kinescopes or videotapes of the telecasts of hockey games from this era usually emanate from CBC's coverage. According to Dick Irvin, Jr.'s book My 26 Stanley Cups (Irvin was in the CBC booth with Danny Gallivan during the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals), he was always curious why even the CBC typically uses the CBS replay of the Bobby Orr goal (with Dan Kelly's commentary) instead of Gallivan's call. The explanation that Irvin received was that the CBC's master tape of the game (along with others) was thrown away in order clear shelf space at the network.
The New England Sports Network has played the CBS video of the goal but has used the original WBZ-FM radio call with Fred Cusick and Johnny Peirson.
Boston Bruins 1970 Stanley Cup champions
Roster
- 7 Phil Esposito (A. Capt.)
- 17 Fred Stanfield
- 22 Jim Lorentz
- 22 Ivan Boldirev (spare/did not play)
- 16 Derek Sanderson
- 8 Ken Hodge Sr.
- 9 John Bucyk (A. Capt.)
- 11 Wayne Carleton
- 12 Wayne Cashman
- 14 Garnet "Ace" Bailey
- 18 Ed Westfall (A. Capt.)
- 19 John McKenzie
- 21 Don Marcotte
- 23 Dan Schock
- 24 Bill Lesuk
- 28 Ron Murphy
- 4 Bobby Orr
- 6 Edward Ted Green (injured/did not play)
- 10 Rick Smith
- 20 Dallas Smith
- 24 Bill Speer
- 25 Gary Doak
- 26 Don Awrey
- 30 Gerry Cheevers
- 1 Eddie Johnston
- 31 John Adams (spare/did not play)
- Coaching and administrative staff
- Weston Adams Sr. (Chairman/owner), Weston Adams, Jr. (President/owner)
- Charles Mulcahy Jr. (Vice President – General Council), Ed Powers (Vice President – Treasurer), Shelby Davis (Vice President)
- Harry Sinden (Head Coach), Milt Schmidt (General Manager)
- Tom Johnson (Asst. General Manager), Dan Canney (Trainer)
- John Forristall (Asst. Trainer)
Stanley Cup engravings
- Tom Johnson's name was engraved T. Johnson TR by mistake. Johnson was actually the assistant manager, not the trainer. The mistake was not corrected on the Replica Stanley Cup created in 1992–93.
- Ted Green received a head injury in a pre-season game. He missed the entire season, but his name was still engraved on the Stanley Cup. John Adams (goal) and Ivan Boldirev (forward) had their names engraved on the Cup before they played their first NHL game. Boldirev played his first NHL game for Boston during 1970–71 season, Adams played his first NHL game for Boston during in the 1972–73 season. Dan Schock played in the minors, but was called up to play one playoff game, earning a spot on the Stanley Cup. Ron Murphy played only 20 regular season games and had officially retired in March, but his name was engraved on the Cup.
- Boston Bruins did not have an official Captain – John Bucyk, Phil Esposito, Ed Westfall were Alternate Captains. Bucyk was presented with the Cup because he was the most senior letter-wearer (a scenario that would repeat in 1972).
- After Boston included 3 players who did not play for the team that season, the NHL only allowed players who dressed in the playoffs to be included on the Stanley Cup.
See also
References
- Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Stanley Cup. NHL.
- Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.
| Preceded by Montreal Canadiens 1969 |
Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champions 1970 |
Succeeded by Montreal Canadiens 1971 |
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