1971-1972 Season - Description, pictures, highlights and more | Historical Website of the Montreal Canadiens

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1971-1972

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season card

Coach

Scotty
Bowman

Captain

Henri
Richard

Trophies

Calder Calder-Memorial-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	54	13	11	119	330	204
New York Rangers	78	48	17	13	109	317	192
Montreal Canadiens	78	46	16	16	108	307	205
Toronto Maple Leafs	78	33	31	14	80	209	208
Detroit Red Wings	78	33	35	10	76	261	262
Buffalo Sabres	78	16	43	19	51	203	289
Vancouver Canucks	78	20	50	8	48	203	297

Roster 28 PLAYERS

GUY
LAFLEUR

PETER
MAHOVLICH

PIERRE
BOUCHARD

KEN
DRYDEN

PHIL
ROBERTO

LARRY
PLEAU

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
27	Frank Mahovlich	76	43	53	96
12	Yvan Cournoyer	73	47	36	83
25	Jacques Lemaire	77	32	49	81
20	Peter Mahovlich	75	35	32	67
10	Guy Lafleur	73	29	35	64

#	#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
29	Ken Dryden	64	39-8-15	8	2.24

Season results

DATE	AWAY		HOME

9/10/1971	NYR 4	vs	MTL 4
14/10/1971	MTL 1	vs	MIN 1
16/10/1971	BUF 3	vs	MTL 9
17/10/1971	MTL 4	vs	NYR 8
20/10/1971	MTL 4	vs	CAL 2
22/10/1971	MTL 6	vs	VAN 0
23/10/1971	MTL 3	vs	LA 1
27/10/1971	BOS 2	vs	MTL 5
30/10/1971	DET 0	vs	MTL 3
31/10/1971	MTL 3	vs	PHI 5
3/11/1971	STL 1	vs	MTL 5
6/11/1971	CHI 1	vs	MTL 2
7/11/1971	MTL 3	vs	BOS 2
10/11/1971	MTL 5	vs	TOR 2
13/11/1971	MTL 5	vs	MIN 1
14/11/1971	MTL 2	vs	BUF 2
16/11/1971	CAL 2	vs	MTL 7
18/11/1971	STL 2	vs	MTL 2
20/11/1971	PHI 2	vs	MTL 2
24/11/1971	MTL 3	vs	CHI 3
27/11/1971	PIT 1	vs	MTL 3
28/11/1971	MTL 2	vs	DET 4
1/12/1971	LA 3	vs	MTL 5
4/12/1971	VAN 0	vs	MTL 7
8/12/1971	DET 2	vs	MTL 4
11/12/1971	MIN 3	vs	MTL 4
12/12/1971	MTL 1	vs	PHI 4
15/12/1971	MTL 3	vs	LA 1
17/12/1971	MTL 6	vs	VAN 2
19/12/1971	MTL 3	vs	CAL 3
22/12/1971	TOR 2	vs	MTL 4
25/12/1971	MTL 2	vs	PIT 4
26/12/1971	MTL 1	vs	NYR 5
29/12/1971	CAL 2	vs	MTL 3
1/01/1972	MTL 2	vs	TOR 5
2/01/1972	MTL 4	vs	DET 6
5/01/1972	VAN 4	vs	MTL 6
8/01/1972	LA 2	vs	MTL 10
9/01/1972	MTL 2	vs	CHI 5
11/01/1972	MTL 3	vs	STL 7
13/01/1972	PIT 1	vs	MTL 7
15/01/1972	BUF 2	vs	MTL 6
16/01/1972	MTL 2	vs	BUF 4
19/01/1972	TOR 0	vs	MTL 1
22/01/1972	BOS 8	vs	MTL 5
23/01/1972	MTL 3	vs	PIT 3
27/01/1972	MIN 6	vs	MTL 5
29/01/1972	STL 0	vs	MTL 4
1/02/1972	MTL 3	vs	STL 1
3/02/1972	MTL 1	vs	LA 1
4/02/1972	MTL 2	vs	CAL 2
6/02/1972	MTL 4	vs	VAN 2
10/02/1972	CHI 1	vs	MTL 7
12/02/1972	LA 5	vs	MTL 6
13/02/1972	MTL 2	vs	BOS 2
16/02/1972	CAL 1	vs	MTL 1
19/02/1972	PHI 1	vs	MTL 3
20/02/1972	MTL 4	vs	BUF 0
22/02/1972	NYR 7	vs	MTL 3
24/02/1972	MTL 4	vs	MIN 2
26/02/1972	DET 1	vs	MTL 8
27/02/1972	PIT 3	vs	MTL 5
1/03/1972	BUF 1	vs	MTL 4
4/03/1972	VAN 0	vs	MTL 5
5/03/1972	MTL 4	vs	PHI 0
8/03/1972	MTL 5	vs	PIT 4
9/03/1972	MTL 5	vs	STL 1
11/03/1972	CHI 1	vs	MTL 1
13/03/1972	PHI 1	vs	MTL 2
15/03/1972	MTL 5	vs	TOR 2
18/03/1972	MIN 3	vs	MTL 4
19/03/1972	MTL 6	vs	DET 7
22/03/1972	TOR 3	vs	MTL 3
25/03/1972	NYR 3	vs	MTL 3
26/03/1972	MTL 4	vs	BOS 5
29/03/1972	MTL 5	vs	CHI 5
1/04/1972	BOS 2	vs	MTL 6
2/04/1972	MTL 6	vs	NYR 5

THE REGULAR SEASON

The Stanley Cup Champion Canadiens made significant changes to their team, both on the ice and behind the bench to start the season. Scotty Bowman returned to the organization to begin his eight-year coaching tenure and Henri Richard, the only Hab to appear in all 78 games, assumed the captaincy.

Guy Lafleur broke into the league, making the most eagerly anticipated Canadiens debut since Jean Beliveau, by scoring the first 29 goals of his career, good for sixth spot on a team that lit the lamp 307 times in 1971-72.

Yvan Cournoyer hit a career high with 47 goals while Frank Mahovlich notched 43. Three Habs, Pete Mahovlich (35), Jacques Lemaire (32) and sophomore left-winger Marc Tardif (31), all broke the 30-goal barrier for the first time.

Only four teams allowed fewer goals as Jean Claude Tremblay and Jacques Laperriere continued their stellar play on the blue line. Youngsters Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe improved with every passing month, giving the Habs one of the most balanced and versatile defences in the league.

Between the pipes, Ken Dryden led the way, proving that the previous spring’s exploits were no fluke. He ended the season second in the league with nine shutouts and fourth among all NHL netminders, with a 2.24 goals-against average.

Five of the “Original Six” franchises finished above .500 and Montreal battled the Rangers for second spot in the Eastern Division for most of the winter. The Habs went 46-16-16, their 107 points just one fewer than what the Rangers had accumulated.

Boston, as expected, won the division with a league-leading 119 points.

THE PLAYOFFS

A new playoff format that had division winners taking on the fourth-place teams in the first round meant that instead of meeting the Bruins in the opening round as they would have in pervious years, Montreal faced the New York Rangers.

Second-place finishers the past two seasons, the Broadway Blueshirts were led by a trio of 30-years-olds called the Goal a Game Line. With a collective 139 regular season markers Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield more than lived up their nickname.

The Rangers threw a blanket over the Canadiens, allowing them more than a pair of goals in only one of their six confrontations. Playing at Madison Square Garden, they took the first two games, before dropping the third, 2-1, at the Forum. Their backs to the wall, the Canadiens captured a 2-1 goaltender’s battle in New York, drawing within a game of evening the series.

A tightly contested sixth game at the Forum finished 3-2 for the visiting team, sending the Rangers on to a semifinal sweep of Chicago and a Stanley Cup Final defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins.

The playoffs roadmap

Quarter-finals - New York Rangers
Date	AWAY	HOME
April 5th, 1972	MTL 2	NYR 3
April 6th, 1972	MTL 2	NYR 5
April 8th, 1972	NYR 1	MTL 2
April 9th, 1972	NYR 6	MTL 4
April 11th, 1972	MTL 2	NYR 1
April 13th, 1972	NYR 3	MTL 2
NY Rangers won best-of-seven series 4-2

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Roster 28 PLAYERS