1972-1973 Season - Description, pictures, highlights and more | Historical Website of the Montreal Canadiens

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1972-1973

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season card

Coach

Scotty
Bowman

Captain

Henri
Richard

Trophies

Stanley Cup Stanley-Cup

Team

Prince of Wales Prince-Of-Wales-Trophy

Team

Vezina Vezina-Trophy

Ken Dryden

Conn Smythe Conn-Smythe-Trophy

Yvan Cournoyer

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
Montreal Canadiens	78	52	10	16	120	329	184
Boston Bruins	78	51	22	5	107	330	235
New York Rangers	78	47	23	8	102	297	208
Buffalo Sabres	78	37	27	14	88	257	219
Detroit Red Wings	78	37	29	12	86	265	243
Toronto Maple Leafs	78	27	41	10	64	247	279
Vancouver Canucks	78	22	47	9	53	233	339
New York Islanders	78	12	60	6	30	170	347

Roster 27 PLAYERS

KEN
DRYDEN

MICHEL
PLASSE

ROBERT
MURDOCH

WAYNE
THOMAS

DAVID
GARDNER

RÉJEAN
HOULE

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
25	Jacques Lemaire	77	44	51	95
27	Frank Mahovlich	78	38	55	93
12	Yvan Cournoyer	67	40	39	79
20	Peter Mahovlich	61	21	38	59
10	Guy Lafleur	69	28	27	55

#	#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	54	33-7-13	6	2.26

Season results

DATE	AWAY		HOME

7/10/1972	MIN 0	vs	MTL 3
11/10/1972	MTL 2	vs	TOR 2
12/10/1972	ATL 0	vs	MTL 3
14/10/1972	NYR 1	vs	MTL 6
18/10/1972	MTL 4	vs	STL 4
21/10/1972	VAN 3	vs	MTL 5
22/10/1972	MTL 1	vs	NYR 1
24/10/1972	MTL 4	vs	NYI 3
26/10/1972	STL 0	vs	MTL 7
28/10/1972	BUF 3	vs	MTL 3
29/10/1972	MTL 2	vs	DET 1
1/11/1972	MTL 7	vs	PIT 1
2/11/1972	MTL 6	vs	ATL 1
4/11/1972	DET 4	vs	MTL 2
8/11/1972	TOR 2	vs	MTL 5
11/11/1972	LA 2	vs	MTL 5
12/11/1972	MTL 5	vs	BOS 3
14/11/1972	MTL 7	vs	NYI 2
16/11/1972	PHI 5	vs	MTL 6
18/11/1972	CHI 5	vs	MTL 3
22/11/1972	MTL 3	vs	LA 3
24/11/1972	MTL 9	vs	VAN 1
26/11/1972	MTL 2	vs	CHI 3
29/11/1972	BOS 3	vs	MTL 3
2/12/1972	ATL 4	vs	MTL 4
3/12/1972	MTL 2	vs	PHI 5
6/12/1972	MIN 3	vs	MTL 6
9/12/1972	CAL 1	vs	MTL 2
10/12/1972	MTL 2	vs	BUF 4
13/12/1972	MTL 2	vs	CAL 2
15/12/1972	MTL 4	vs	VAN 2
16/12/1972	MTL 3	vs	LA 1
20/12/1972	NYI 2	vs	MTL 4
23/12/1972	PIT 3	vs	MTL 6
26/12/1972	MTL 4	vs	STL 1
27/12/1972	MTL 2	vs	MIN 3
30/12/1972	ATL 1	vs	MTL 1
3/01/1973	MTL 8	vs	TOR 4
6/01/1973	CAL 0	vs	MTL 5
8/01/1973	MIN 3	vs	MTL 3
10/01/1973	MTL 6	vs	MIN 0
12/01/1973	MTL 3	vs	CAL 3
14/01/1973	MTL 3	vs	VAN 0
17/01/1973	PIT 4	vs	MTL 6
18/01/1973	MTL 5	vs	PIT 2
20/01/1973	PHI 3	vs	MTL 6
21/01/1973	MTL 3	vs	ATL 2
24/01/1973	NYI 1	vs	MTL 6
27/01/1973	TOR 2	vs	MTL 4
28/01/1973	DET 4	vs	MTL 2
1/02/1973	MTL 3	vs	STL 3
3/02/1973	MTL 7	vs	LA 1
4/02/1973	MTL 6	vs	CAL 1
7/02/1973	PIT 2	vs	MTL 5
10/02/1973	BUF 1	vs	MTL 2
11/02/1973	MTL 2	vs	NYR 2
14/02/1973	NYR 3	vs	MTL 6
17/02/1973	PHI 7	vs	MTL 6
18/02/1973	MTL 2	vs	TOR 1
21/02/1973	MTL 4	vs	CHI 2
22/02/1973	MTL 3	vs	DET 3
24/02/1973	VAN 3	vs	MTL 7
28/02/1973	LA 2	vs	MTL 5
3/03/1973	BOS 1	vs	MTL 5
4/03/1973	MTL 4	vs	BUF 2
6/03/1973	MTL 3	vs	NYI 2
7/03/1973	TOR 1	vs	MTL 4
10/03/1973	DET 0	vs	MTL 2
11/03/1973	MTL 3	vs	BOS 5
14/03/1973	MTL 5	vs	DET 3
17/03/1973	BUF 3	vs	MTL 3
18/03/1973	MTL 4	vs	PHI 4
21/03/1973	VAN 2	vs	MTL 3
24/03/1973	STL 4	vs	MTL 11
25/03/1973	MTL 5	vs	CHI 6
28/03/1973	CHI 3	vs	MTL 4
31/03/1973	NYR 1	vs	MTL 5
1/04/1973	MTL 5	vs	BOS 3

THE REGULAR SEASON

Job opportunities exploded for professional hockey players in 1972-73, as the NHL added expansion teams in Atlanta and Long Island while another 12-team league, the World Hockey Association, sprung up.

The Canadiens, relatively unaffected by defections to the WHA, lost only Jean Claude Tremblay. As a result, Larry Robinson enjoyed his first extended stay with the big club. With Jacques Laperriere anchoring a defense that also included all the elements of “The Big Three”, as Robinson, Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard would become known, Montreal was the only NHL team to allow fewer than 200 goals.

Jacques Lemaire, Frank Mahovlich and Yvan Cournoyer led the charge as the Canadiens potted 329 goals, one less than Boston, who finished second in the Eastern Division, 13 points behind the Habs.

Chuck Lefley scored his first NHL goal and 20 others while rookie speedster Murray Wilson, whose arrival bolstered the team’s cadre of defensive forwards, added 18 more. Guy Lapointe, with 19 goals and 54 points to go along with a team-leading 117 minutes in penalty time, led all blue-liners in scoring.

Also breaking into the NHL with eight markers in 50 games with the Canadiens was Steve Shutt, who would enjoy significantly more productive seasons in the years to come.

Ken Dryden was the NHL’s most reliable rearguard in 1972-73. Spelled by Wayne Thomas and Michel Plasse, who made 27 appearances collectively, his 2.26 goals-against average and six shutouts were unbeaten by any other NHL goalie that season as the lanky netminder was awarded the first of five eventual Vezina Trophies.

Dryden was named to the first All-Star team at season’s end alongside left-winger Mahovlich, while Cournoyer getting a second team mention.

THE PLAYOFFS

Grabbing a stranglehold on the quarterfinal series against Buffalo, Montreal won the first three games before the Sabres managed to retaliate, winning game four 5-1 in front of hometown fans. After an overtime win at the Forum, the Habs closed things out with a 4-2 win in Buffalo.

Coached by Fred Shero and aptly nicknamed the “Broad Street Bullies”, the Philadelphia Flyers led the NHL in penalty minutes but they could also put the puck in net with great efficiency. Rick MacLeish potted 50 while Bobby Clarke, their scrappy leader, ended the season with 104 points.

Splitting the first two games in Montreal, the series was tied at one apiece when they travelled to Philadelphia. Limiting the home side to a goal in each of the next pair, 2-1 and 4-1 victories at the Spectrum, the Habs put an end to Philly’s hopes with a 5-3 win in the Game 5.

Defense and goaltending carried Montreal to the Finals but it took scoring to get past the Chicago Blackhawks. Only two of the six games in the Stanley Cup Finals were relatively low-scoring affairs as the teams combined for 56 total goals.

Setting the tone in the opening match, Montreal was victorious in an 8-3 drubbing of the visiting Blackhawks. Dryden then limited Chicago to a single goal in a 4-1 Habs victory before having a difficult third game in Chicago, allowing seven pucks to find the mesh while Montreal could only muster four goals.

Game 4 went in Montreal’s favor as Dryden posted his only shutout of the spring in a 4-0 win before a game five scoring frenzy led to a total of fifteen goals. Eight of them were posted by Chicago, forcing a sixth game back at the Spectrum.

A third period marker from Yvan Cournoyer helped the Canadiens capture the 18th Stanley Cup title in team history. The Roadrunner, who led all postseason scorers with 15 goals and 25 points, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

The playoffs roadmap

Quarter-finals - Buffalo Sabres
Date	AWAY	HOME
April 4th, 1973	BUF 1	MTL 2
April 5th, 1973	BUF 3	MTL 7
April 7th, 1973	MTL 5	BUF 2
April 8th, 1973	MTL 1	BUF 5
April 10th, 1973	BUF 3	MTL 2
April 12th, 1973	MTL 4	BUF 2
Canadiens won best-of-seven series 4-2

Semi-finals - Philadelphia Flyers
Date	AWAY	HOME
April 14th, 1973	PHI 5	MTL 4
April 17th, 1973	PHI 3	MTL 4
April 19th, 1973	MTL 2	PHI 1
April 22nd, 1973	MTL 4	PHI 1
April 24th, 1973	PHI 3	MTL 5
Canadiens won best-of-seven series 4-1

Stanley Cup Finals - Chicago Blackhawks
Date	AWAY	HOME
April 29th, 1973	CHI 3	MTL 8
May 1st, 1973	CHI 1	MTL 4
May 3rd, 1973	MTL 4	CHI 7
May 6th, 1973	MTL 4	CHI 0
May 8th, 1973	CHI 8	MTL 7
May 10th, 1973	MTL 6	CHI 4
Canadiens won best-of-seven series 4-2

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Roster 27 PLAYERS