1970-1971 Season - Description, pictures, highlights and more | Historical Website of the Montreal Canadiens

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1970-1971

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season card

Coach

Al
MacNeil

Coach

Claude
Ruel

Captain

Jean
Béliveau

Trophies

Stanley Cup Stanley-Cup

Team

Conn Smythe Conn-Smythe-Trophy

Ken Dryden

east

TEAM	GP Games played - Number of games the team has played	W Wins - Games the team has won, either in regulation or in overtime	L Losses - Games the team has lost in regulation	T Ties - Games that have ended in a tie	PTS Points - Team points, calculated from W, L, T, OTL and SOL; used to determine standings	GF Goals for - Number of goals the team has scored	GA Goals against - Number of goals scored against the team
Boston Bruins	78	57	14	7	121	399	207
New York Rangers	78	49	18	11	109	259	177
Montreal Canadiens	78	42	23	13	97	291	216
Toronto Maple Leafs	78	37	33	8	82	248	211
Buffalo Sabres	78	24	39	15	63	217	291
Vancouver Canucks	78	24	46	8	56	229	296
Detroit Red Wings	78	22	45	11	55	209	308

Roster 30 PLAYERS

ROBERT
MURDOCH

GUY
LAPOINTE

LARRY
PLEAU

LÉON
ROCHEFORT

CHUCK
LEFLEY

JEAN-CLAUDE
TREMBLAY

Season's leaders see the complete stats

#	SKATERS	GP Games played - Number of games the player has set foot on the ice	G Goals - Number of goals the player has scored	A Assists - Number of goals the player has assisted in	PTS Points - Scoring points, calculated as the sum of G and A
4	Jean Béliveau	70	25	51	76
12	Yvan Cournoyer	65	37	36	73
3	Jean-Claude Tremblay	76	11	52	63
20	Peter Mahovlich	78	35	26	61
25	Jacques Lemaire	78	28	28	56

#	#1 GOALIE	GP Games played - Number of games the player has set foot on the ice	RECORD Record - Goalie record (W-L-T)	SO Shutouts - Number of games where the goaltender has not allowed a goal	GAA Goals against average - Mean goals-per-game scored on the goaltender
1	Rogatien Vachon	47	23-12-9	2	2.65

Season results

DATE	AWAY		HOME

11/10/1970	MTL 2	vs	PHI 1
13/10/1970	DET 3	vs	MTL 4
15/10/1970	MTL 3	vs	BUF 0
17/10/1970	CHI 2	vs	MTL 6
18/10/1970	MTL 0	vs	NYR 1
21/10/1970	MIN 3	vs	MTL 1
24/10/1970	PHI 1	vs	MTL 3
25/10/1970	MTL 3	vs	DET 3
28/10/1970	MTL 2	vs	TOR 6
31/10/1970	VAN 3	vs	MTL 6
4/11/1970	MTL 4	vs	MIN 3
7/11/1970	BUF 2	vs	MTL 11
8/11/1970	MTL 1	vs	BOS 6
11/11/1970	MTL 0	vs	CAL 2
14/11/1970	MTL 1	vs	STL 1
15/11/1970	MTL 2	vs	BUF 2
17/11/1970	CAL 1	vs	MTL 5
19/11/1970	TOR 1	vs	MTL 5
21/11/1970	NYR 5	vs	MTL 4
25/11/1970	MTL 3	vs	CHI 5
28/11/1970	PIT 1	vs	MTL 5
29/11/1970	MTL 3	vs	DET 5
2/12/1970	MTL 3	vs	PIT 3
3/12/1970	STL 3	vs	MTL 6
5/12/1970	BOS 4	vs	MTL 2
9/12/1970	MTL 0	vs	TOR 4
10/12/1970	MIN 1	vs	MTL 6
12/12/1970	LA 1	vs	MTL 8
16/12/1970	MTL 1	vs	MIN 1
18/12/1970	MTL 4	vs	VAN 3
20/12/1970	MTL 2	vs	LA 7
23/12/1970	MTL 2	vs	STL 2
26/12/1970	BUF 4	vs	MTL 4
27/12/1970	MTL 4	vs	PHI 2
30/12/1970	PIT 3	vs	MTL 3
2/01/1971	CAL 3	vs	MTL 5
3/01/1971	MTL 5	vs	NYR 6
6/01/1971	VAN 3	vs	MTL 7
9/01/1971	LA 0	vs	MTL 1
10/01/1971	PHI 3	vs	MTL 2
14/01/1971	MTL 3	vs	MIN 3
16/01/1971	BOS 2	vs	MTL 4
17/01/1971	MTL 4	vs	BUF 4
21/01/1971	MTL 5	vs	PHI 5
23/01/1971	DET 2	vs	MTL 6
24/01/1971	MTL 2	vs	BOS 4
27/01/1971	STL 2	vs	MTL 4
30/01/1971	TOR 5	vs	MTL 4
31/01/1971	MTL 1	vs	CHI 4
2/02/1971	MTL 5	vs	VAN 2
5/02/1971	MTL 3	vs	CAL 2
6/02/1971	MTL 3	vs	LA 6
9/02/1971	PIT 1	vs	MTL 4
11/02/1971	MIN 2	vs	MTL 6
13/02/1971	CAL 2	vs	MTL 5
17/02/1971	NYR 0	vs	MTL 3
20/02/1971	CHI 1	vs	MTL 7
22/02/1971	MTL 3	vs	VAN 3
24/02/1971	MTL 5	vs	CAL 2
25/02/1971	MTL 5	vs	LA 3
27/02/1971	STL 2	vs	MTL 3
3/03/1971	MTL 0	vs	PIT 4
6/03/1971	LA 2	vs	MTL 8
7/03/1971	MTL 4	vs	DET 1
9/03/1971	VAN 3	vs	MTL 3
10/03/1971	MTL 1	vs	TOR 2
13/03/1971	CHI 4	vs	MTL 1
14/03/1971	MTL 5	vs	PIT 1
16/03/1971	MTL 2	vs	STL 6
18/03/1971	TOR 1	vs	MTL 4
20/03/1971	BUF 2	vs	MTL 5
21/03/1971	MTL 6	vs	NYR 2
24/03/1971	PHI 3	vs	MTL 5
27/03/1971	DET 2	vs	MTL 9
28/03/1971	MTL 2	vs	CHI 1
31/03/1971	BOS 6	vs	MTL 3
3/04/1971	NYR 2	vs	MTL 7
4/04/1971	MTL 2	vs	BOS 7

THE REGULAR SEASON

A midseason coaching move that had Al MacNeil taking over the reins from Claude Ruel 24 games into the season was not the only change that the Canadiens underwent after missing the playoffs for the first time in over two decades.

Rejean Houle, Marc Tardif, Guy Lapointe and Pete Mahovlich all made important contributions, playing their first seasons with Montreal the same year that had Jean Beliveau and John Ferguson were making their final appearances.

Beliveau led the team with a 25-goal, 76-point harvest, scoring three against Minnesota one evening to become the third member of the NHL’s 500-goal club before retiring as the league’s all-time highest scoring centerman.

Young veteran Yvan Cournoyer’s 37 markers and the “Little M”, with 35, led the team, and the midseason addition of Frank Mahovlich added more scoring punch in the second half. Fourth-year forward, Jacques Lemaire continued his solid two way play, contributing 28 goals to the campaign.

Defenseman Jean-Claude Tremblay exploded into an offensive force, becoming the best rearguard in the NHL not named Orr, in 1970-71. His 63-point campaign, with four game-winners among his eleven goals, earned Tremblay a spot on the first All-Star team as well as the nickname “JC Superstar”.

The youthful goaltending tandem of Rogatien Vachon and Phil Myre, who backstopped the team most of the way to their third place finish, watched as a former college netminder joined the team and won all six late-season games in which he appeared.

Without even enough experience to officially be considered an NHL rookie, Ken Dryden nevertheless got the nod as the Habs playoff goaltender.

THE PLAYOFFS

In the quarterfinal against Boston, who finished 24 points ahead of the underdog Habs during the regular season, Montreal took the series to the limit before finally prevailing in seven games. An incredible comeback from a 5-1 deficit in a 7-5 win in Game 2 in Boston and victories in the final two games were the highlights as the Canadiens eliminated the NHL powerhouse from the postseason.

The Canadiens and North Stars exchanged victories through the first five games of their semifinal before a Habs’ 3-2 win in game six broke the pattern and sent them through to the Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The first place finishers in the West, Chicago opened the Stanley Cup Finals at home with a 2-1 overtime win and followed it up with a second victory, taking the next game 5-3.

Down two games and trailing 2-0 in the third game, Montreal’s four-goal outburst gave them a 4-2 victory as Yvan Cournoyer netted the game-winner. He potted two in a 5-2 win in game four, tying the series and sending it back to Chicago Stadium.

Home teams continued to dominate, with Tony Esposito shutting out his former teammates 2-0 in the fifth match. Back in front of Forum fans, Montreal overcame a 3-2 third period deficit, with goals by the Mahovlich brothers tying the series for the second time.

After allowing Chicago to take a 2-0 lead in front of their fans in the final game, goals by Jacques Lemaire and Henri Richard evened things up. Two and a half minutes into the third period, the “Pocket Rocket” gave the Habs a lead they held until the final siren.

Jean Beliveau retired as a 10-time Stanley Cup Champion and Ken Dryden, between the pipes for every minute of Montreal’s postseason, was named the Conn Smythe trophy winner as postseason MVP.

The playoffs roadmap

Quarter-finals - Boston Bruins
Date	AWAY	HOME
April 7th, 1971	MTL 1	BOS 3
April 8th, 1971	MTL 7	BOS 5
April 10th, 1971	BOS 1	MTL 3
April 11th, 1971	BOS 5	MTL 2
April 13th, 1971	MTL 2	BOS 7
April 15th, 1971	BOS 3	MTL 8
April 18th, 1971	MTL 4	BOS 2
Canadiens won best-of-seven series 4-3

Semi-finals - Minnesota North Stars
Date	AWAY	HOME
April 20th, 1971	MIN 2	MTL 7
April 22nd, 1971	MIN 6	MTL 3
April 24th, 1971	MTL 6	MIN 3
April 25th, 1971	MTL 2	MIN 5
April 27th, 1971	MIN 1	MTL 6
April 29th, 1971	MTL 3	MIN 2
Canadiens won best-of-seven series 4-2

Stanley Cup Finals - Chicago Blackhawks
Date	AWAY	HOME
May 4th, 1971	MTL 1	CHI 2
May 6th, 1971	MTL 3	CHI 5
May 9th, 1971	CHI 2	MTL 4
May 11th, 1971	CHI 2	MTL 5
May 13th, 1971	MTL 0	CHI 2
May 16th, 1971	CHI 3	MTL 4
May 18th, 1971	MTL 3	CHI 2
Canadiens won best-of-seven series 4-3

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