The 1972 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

's (NHL) 1971–72 season, and the culmination of the 1972 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

and the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

. It was the Rangers first appearance in the finals since 1950. The Bruins were making their first appearance since their victory in the 1970 Finals. It was the second Boston-New York Final series, the other being the 1929 Finals. The Bruins won the best-of-seven series, four games to two. This was only the second Stanley Cup Final contested by New York in which the Rangers hosted all of their home games. The first such Final, held in

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

, had lasted only two games. All other previous Finals contested by the Rangers had partly or entirely coincided with an annual circus formerly held at Madison Square Garden, compelling the Rangers to play Finals games at neutral sites and/or at the venues of their opponents.

Paths to the Finals

Boston defeated the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

4–1 and the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

4–0 to advance to the final. New York defeated the defending champion

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

4–2 and the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

4–0 to set up an "

Original Six The Original Six () are the teams that comprised the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1942 and 1967. The six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leaf ...

" final.

Game summaries

Bobby Orr Robert Gordon Orr (born March 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest of all time. Orr used his ice skating speed, scoring, and play-making abilities to revolutionize the pos ...

, who tallied 4 goals and 4 assists in the series, won the

Conn Smythe Trophy The Conn Smythe Trophy (french: Trophée Conn Smythe) is awarded annually to the most valuable player (MVP) of his team during the National Hockey League's (NHL) Stanley Cup playoffs. It is named after Conn Smythe, the longtime owner, general man ...

for the second time. It was also Orr's second Cup-clinching goal, having accomplished both feats in the 1970 finals. Phil Esposito had 41 shots in the series but was held without a goal.

Game one

Game one in Boston saw both teams play poorly. The Bruins at one point led 5–1 as

Ken Hodge Kenneth Raymond Hodge, Sr. (born 25 June 1944) is an English-born Canadian former hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. He was born in Birmingham, England, b ...

completed a hat trick, and Hodge and

Derek Sanderson Derek Michael Sanderson (born June 16, 1946), nicknamed "Turk", is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and two-time Stanley Cup champion who helped transform the culture of the professional athlete in the 1970s era. The two-time Sta ...

scored short-handed goals on the same Ranger

power play Power play or powerplay or their plurals may refer to: Sports * Power play (sporting term), a sporting term used in various games * Powerplay (cricket), a rule concerning fielding restrictions in one-day international cricket * Power play (cur ...

at the end of the first period. However, the Rangers tied the game with goals from Gilbert, Hatfield, Tkaczuk, and Bruce MacGregor. With 2:16 remaining in the third period, Garnet "Ace" Bailey beat Rangers star defenseman

Brad Park Douglas Bradford "Brad" Park (born July 6, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A defenceman, Park played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. Considered to be on ...

to have the Bruins prevail 6–5.

Gary Doak Gary Walter Doak (February 25, 1946 – March 25, 2017) was a Canadians, Canadian-Americans, American National Hockey League defenceman who played for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers. He recorded 23 goa ...

of the Rangers was ejected from the game after a heated argument with referee Bill Friday over a penalty he received at 18:50 of the first period.

Game two

Game two had

Gilles Villemure Joseph Hector Gilles Villemure (born May 30, 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played for the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks in the 1960s and 1970s. Villemure was born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. Playing ...

replace

Ed Giacomin Edward "Ed" Giacomin (born June 6, 1939) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League between 1965 and 1978. Playing career Giacomin began his p ...

in goal for the Rangers. He played well, but the Bruins did too and won 2–1.

Game three

In New York, Giacomin was back in goal for game three as the Rangers won 5–2.

opened the scoring with a power play goal and scored another in the first period.

Rod Gilbert Rodrigue Gabriel Gilbert (July 1, 1941 — August 19, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played his entire career for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Known as "Mr. Ranger", he played right wing o ...

also had two goals in the game.

Game four

Giacomin was having trouble with a knee he injured during the Chicago series and lost game four 3–2.

Game five

Game five in Boston had Villemure again replace Giacomin. Boston led 2–1 after two periods. However,

Bobby Rousseau Joseph Jean-Paul Robert Rousseau (born July 26, 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL), most notably for the Montreal Canadiens. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1962 as ...

scored twice in the third period, his second at 12:45 turned out to be the winner in a 3–2 win for the Rangers.

Game six

Game six in New York saw Boston play flawlessly and

Gerry Cheevers Gerald Michael "Cheesie" Cheevers (born 7 December 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA) between 1961 and 1980. Cheevers is best known for ...

picked up a shutout, 3–0.

's first-period marker ended up standing as the Stanley Cup-winning goal, and he also assisted on the Bruins' second goal. Orr spent 10 minutes in the penalty box after arguing with referee

Art Skov Art Skov (September 2, 1928 – April 19, 2009) was a referee and Supervisor of Officials in the National Hockey League, officiating more than 1,000 NHL games. Career After a junior season with the Windsor Spitfires in 1946, Skov played four sea ...

but upon his return on the ice played a crucial role in killing off a penalty to the Bruins.

Wayne Cashman Wayne Cashman (born June 24, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played seventeen seasons for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) and helped them win the Stanley Cup twice, and was the last ac ...

scored two goals, one of which trickled in behind

. As of 2022, the 1972 Bruins are the most recent team to have won the Cup without a formal captain. John Bucyk, as the team's senior assistant captain, accepted the Cup and circled the rink in the ceremonial skate.

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

'' moved all playoff coverage from CBC to CTV (in actuality, MacLaren Advertising, the actual rights holders of ''HNIC'' at the time, worked out arrangements with CTV to move the full NHL playoffs there) to avoid conflict with the lengthy

NABET The National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET-CWA) is a labor union representing employees in television, radio, film, and media production. A division of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), NABET represents abou ...

strike against the CBC. In the United States,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

took a rather calculated risk in not televising the game five match on May 9 (CBS aired regular programming, including the original ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

'' in that time period on that Tuesday night). This was despite the fact that game five was a potential clincher with the Bruins up three games to one on the Rangers. CBS ultimately lucked out (since the Rangers won game five 3-2), and televised the clincher (game six) on Thursday night, May 11.

Stanley Cup engraving

The following Bruins players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup: 1971–72 Boston Bruins

Notes

References

* * {{Navboxes, list1= {{Stanley Cup Finals {{1971–72 NHL season by team {{Boston Bruins {{New York Rangers {{NHL on CBS {{NHL on CTV {{Hockey Night in Canada

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

Stanley Cup Finals Boston Bruins games New York Rangers games Sports competitions in Boston Sports competitions in New York City

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...

1970s in Manhattan Boston Garden Madison Square Garden