WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.740 Welcome back to a brand new deep dive. I am really 00:00:03.740 --> 00:00:05.599 excited to jump in with you today because we 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:08.019 have a fantastic stack of sources in front of 00:00:08.019 --> 00:00:10.359 us. We really do. We are taking a comprehensive 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:15.359 look at the 1971 to 1972 NHL season. And the 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:18.440 mission for this deep dive is to explore a year 00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:21.000 that was profoundly transitional. Right. It's 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:23.219 not just your standard history lesson. Exactly. 00:00:23.420 --> 00:00:25.960 It's occasionally bizarre, absolutely record 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:28.079 breaking. And we really want to get into the 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:30.969 why of it all. It's not just about who hoisted 00:00:30.969 --> 00:00:33.049 the Stanley Cup. No, not at all. It's about how 00:00:33.049 --> 00:00:35.570 the league was wrestling with its own outdated 00:00:35.570 --> 00:00:39.469 rules, rival leagues popping up, and some truly 00:00:39.469 --> 00:00:41.869 larger -than -life personalities. It really is 00:00:41.869 --> 00:00:44.289 a perfect snapshot in time to analyze. Just to 00:00:44.289 --> 00:00:45.750 set the scene for you listening, this is the 00:00:45.750 --> 00:00:48.409 55th season of the NHL. We're looking at a 14 00:00:48.409 --> 00:00:52.070 -team league, and they are playing a really grueling 00:00:52.070 --> 00:00:54.710 78 -game schedule. Which is a heavy workload, 00:00:54.890 --> 00:00:57.880 especially back then. It is. But what makes this 00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:00.759 specific season so fascinating is the broader 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:04.799 context. The NHL is standing right on the precipice 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:07.379 of massive change. The way the game is played, 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:10.379 the business of sports. It's all about to shift 00:01:10.379 --> 00:01:12.700 radically. OK, let's unpack this because I want 00:01:12.700 --> 00:01:14.620 to start with something that feels like an absolute 00:01:14.620 --> 00:01:16.920 glitch in the matrix. Oh, I know where you're 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:18.939 going with this. I call it the Dryden paradox 00:01:18.939 --> 00:01:23.099 because it perfectly illustrates how weird the 00:01:23.099 --> 00:01:25.900 league's internal rules were at the time. Ken 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:28.200 Dryden, the legendary goaltender for the Montreal 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:31.239 Canadiens. An absolute icon. Right. So during 00:01:31.239 --> 00:01:35.159 this 71 -72 season, Dryden wins the Calder Memorial 00:01:35.159 --> 00:01:37.780 Trophy. That is the award for Rookie of the Year. 00:01:37.859 --> 00:01:40.200 Yes. But the wild thing is, he won Rookie of 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:42.219 the Year despite having already won the Conn 00:01:42.219 --> 00:01:44.579 Smythe Trophy for Playoff MVP the year prior. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.019 Which is just, it breaks your brain a little 00:01:47.019 --> 00:01:48.579 bit to think about. How does that even happen? 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:51.400 Well, it all came down to a very strict, almost 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:54.480 comical technicality in the rulebook. The previous 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:57.700 year, Dryden had only played six regular season 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:01.010 games. Just six. Right. Before he goes on this 00:02:01.010 --> 00:02:03.709 legendary playoff run and wins the Stanley Cup 00:02:03.709 --> 00:02:07.170 and the MVP. But because he only logged those 00:02:07.170 --> 00:02:10.689 six regular season appearances, the NHL bureaucracy 00:02:10.689 --> 00:02:13.610 ruled that his rookie status was technically 00:02:13.610 --> 00:02:16.509 intact for the next season. It's so literal. 00:02:16.729 --> 00:02:19.250 It is. It shows a league that is governed by 00:02:19.250 --> 00:02:21.310 black and white rules that completely ignore 00:02:21.310 --> 00:02:24.300 common sense. You have a proven champion, the 00:02:24.300 --> 00:02:27.439 literal MVP of the playoffs, coming back in the 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:29.860 fall to compete against actual first -year players 00:02:29.860 --> 00:02:32.300 for a rookie award. It really highlights a front 00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:34.879 office that had no idea how to handle edge cases 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:37.300 yet. Exactly. And the actual rookie class that 00:02:37.300 --> 00:02:39.240 year was nothing to scoff at either. No, it was 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:41.479 phenomenal. You look at the amateur draft, and 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:43.860 the Canadians selected Guy Lafleur first overall. 00:02:44.409 --> 00:02:47.229 A huge moment for Montreal. Massive. And Le Fleur 00:02:47.229 --> 00:02:49.550 comes in and scores 29 goals in his first season, 00:02:49.689 --> 00:02:52.270 which by any normal standard is a great start. 00:02:52.469 --> 00:02:54.770 A fantastic rookie campaign. But he faced this 00:02:54.770 --> 00:02:57.310 incredibly harsh criticism from the fans. They 00:02:57.310 --> 00:02:59.110 felt he was underperforming because they were 00:02:59.110 --> 00:03:01.370 unfairly comparing him to Jean Beliveau, who 00:03:01.370 --> 00:03:03.569 had just retired. The psychological weight on 00:03:03.569 --> 00:03:06.150 Le Fleur must have been just immense. He wasn't 00:03:06.150 --> 00:03:08.629 just drafted to play right wing. He was drafted 00:03:08.629 --> 00:03:11.590 to replace a living deity. The ghost of the franchise. 00:03:11.870 --> 00:03:13.969 Right. He was carrying the entire history of 00:03:13.969 --> 00:03:17.449 Montreal on his shoulders. But then you contrast 00:03:17.449 --> 00:03:20.490 that with a different market. Look at Buffalo's 00:03:20.490 --> 00:03:22.990 Rick Martin. Oh, yeah. Completely different vibe. 00:03:23.169 --> 00:03:25.610 Completely. Martin didn't have that historical 00:03:25.610 --> 00:03:28.189 burden weighing him down. He just quietly went 00:03:28.189 --> 00:03:31.550 out. and set a brand new rookie record with 44 00:03:31.550 --> 00:03:34.509 goals. 44 goals is Ricky. Yeah, he was just allowed 00:03:34.509 --> 00:03:37.409 to play his game. It shows how much a player's 00:03:37.409 --> 00:03:39.689 environment really dictates their early success. 00:03:40.090 --> 00:03:42.870 It really does. But the extremes of this season 00:03:42.870 --> 00:03:44.930 weren't just about the young guys. If we flip 00:03:44.930 --> 00:03:47.349 to the other end of the age spectrum, the goalie 00:03:47.349 --> 00:03:50.150 situations are just, they're wild. They really 00:03:50.150 --> 00:03:53.349 are. Take Gump Worsley. He is 43 years old during 00:03:53.349 --> 00:03:56.229 this season. And the Minnesota North stars just 00:03:56.229 --> 00:03:58.530 leave him completely unprotected in the waiver 00:03:58.530 --> 00:04:00.849 draft. And for anyone who might be new to that 00:04:00.849 --> 00:04:04.090 term, the waiver draft was a system where teams 00:04:04.090 --> 00:04:06.509 could leave certain players off their protected 00:04:06.509 --> 00:04:09.189 list. Any other team could just claim them for 00:04:09.189 --> 00:04:11.729 a set fee. Right. So Minnesota is basically hanging 00:04:11.729 --> 00:04:15.150 a sign on Worsley saying he's washed up. Take 00:04:15.150 --> 00:04:18.050 him. A very public demotion. Exactly. And nobody 00:04:18.050 --> 00:04:20.750 claims him. He goes unclaimed. So Worsley stays 00:04:20.750 --> 00:04:23.689 in Minnesota. And what does he do? He goes out 00:04:23.689 --> 00:04:27.910 and leads the entire league with a 2 .12 goals 00:04:27.910 --> 00:04:30.649 against average. Talk about a spite -fueled season. 00:04:30.870 --> 00:04:33.889 Seriously. A 43 -year -old veteran just running 00:04:33.889 --> 00:04:36.089 on pure instinct and vengeance. It's incredible. 00:04:36.389 --> 00:04:38.949 But then our sources point out a much darker 00:04:38.949 --> 00:04:41.740 goalie story from that same year. Bruce Gamble 00:04:41.740 --> 00:04:44.720 of the Philadelphia Flyers. Yeah, that is a sobering 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:47.379 one. It really is. In February, Gamble is playing 00:04:47.379 --> 00:04:50.300 in Vancouver against the Canucks, and he literally 00:04:50.300 --> 00:04:52.519 suffers a heart attack on the ice. It's terrifying. 00:04:52.660 --> 00:04:54.980 He doesn't just feel chest pains and skate to 00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:58.160 the bench. No. He stays in the net. He plays 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:00.639 through an active cardiac event, finishes the 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:03.930 game, and secures a 3 -1 win for his team. It's 00:05:03.930 --> 00:05:05.990 hard to even wrap your head around that. He was 00:05:05.990 --> 00:05:08.350 facing slap shots while his heart was failing. 00:05:08.589 --> 00:05:10.730 He was forced to retire immediately after the 00:05:10.730 --> 00:05:12.509 game once they finally got him to a hospital. 00:05:12.670 --> 00:05:14.970 It strips away so much of the romanticism we 00:05:14.970 --> 00:05:17.709 attach to the tough guy eras of sports. It's 00:05:17.709 --> 00:05:20.170 a stark reminder of the lack of medical oversight 00:05:20.170 --> 00:05:24.029 back then. It really grounds you. The sheer physical 00:05:24.029 --> 00:05:28.089 toll of playing in the early 70s. Minimal equipment, 00:05:28.370 --> 00:05:31.370 reactionary medical care. You were just expected 00:05:31.370 --> 00:05:33.610 to play through the pain. literally putting their 00:05:33.610 --> 00:05:36.269 lives on the line. It's heavy. But moving from 00:05:36.269 --> 00:05:38.829 that incredible resilience and net over to Boston, 00:05:39.009 --> 00:05:41.269 we have another goalie making a completely different 00:05:41.269 --> 00:05:45.250 kind of history. Jerry Cheevers. Yes. Jerry Cheevers 00:05:45.250 --> 00:05:49.149 goes 33 straight games undefeated. A milestone 00:05:49.149 --> 00:05:52.110 that has never been surpassed. Never. Just think 00:05:52.110 --> 00:05:54.930 about the mental endurance to not have a single 00:05:54.930 --> 00:05:57.870 off night for a month, especially when teams 00:05:57.870 --> 00:05:59.949 were scoring so much back then. Well, to pull 00:05:59.949 --> 00:06:01.930 off a streak like that, you need a dialed in 00:06:02.089 --> 00:06:04.990 goalie, but you also need an absolute juggernaut 00:06:04.990 --> 00:06:06.790 of a team in front of them. And the Bruins were 00:06:06.790 --> 00:06:09.089 exactly that. They finished first in the league 00:06:09.089 --> 00:06:13.129 with 119 points. They scored 330 goals. Insane 00:06:13.129 --> 00:06:15.449 offensive production. But it wasn't just a Boston 00:06:15.449 --> 00:06:18.329 coronation all year. The race for the Art Ross 00:06:18.329 --> 00:06:22.069 trophy, the scoring title, was incredibly dramatic. 00:06:22.329 --> 00:06:25.089 Oh, the Jonatel story. Right. For a huge chunk 00:06:25.089 --> 00:06:27.329 of the year, Jon Ratel of the New York Rangers 00:06:27.329 --> 00:06:30.129 was actually leading Boston's Phil Esposito in 00:06:30.129 --> 00:06:32.860 points. And it's such a heartbreak because Rattel 00:06:32.860 --> 00:06:36.100 is having a career year matching Esposito stride 00:06:36.100 --> 00:06:37.920 for stride. And then he breaks his ankle in a 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:40.199 game against California. Sideline for over a 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:42.939 month. Over a month. And the crazy part is he 00:06:42.939 --> 00:06:44.920 still finishes third in the league and scoring 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:47.639 with 109 points. That really paints a picture 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:50.790 of how dominant Boston and New York were. Esposito 00:06:50.790 --> 00:06:54.230 finishes first with 133 points, Bobby Orris second 00:06:54.230 --> 00:06:57.910 with 117, and then Rattel in third. But the wildest 00:06:57.910 --> 00:06:59.689 stat about Rattel's production is who finished 00:06:59.689 --> 00:07:02.870 right behind him. His line mates. The famous 00:07:02.870 --> 00:07:06.129 Rangers -Jag line, which stood for goal A game. 00:07:06.290 --> 00:07:08.529 Right. Rattel, Vic Hadfield, and Rod Gilbert. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:11.259 Hadfield finishes fourth in the league, Gilbert 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:14.800 finishes fifth. You have three guys from the 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.240 exact same forward line finishing third, fourth, 00:07:17.339 --> 00:07:20.180 and fifth in NHL scoring. It's a complete statistical 00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:23.220 anomaly. It speaks to a level of chemistry that 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:25.040 you almost never see in professional sports. 00:07:25.339 --> 00:07:27.199 It's like they were playing a totally different 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:29.839 game. And while Boston and New York were putting 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:32.439 on a clinic in the East, there was a huge milestone 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:35.170 in the West Division, too. Bobby Hall. Right. 00:07:35.389 --> 00:07:38.790 Bobby Hull scores his 600th NHL goal in March. 00:07:39.009 --> 00:07:41.769 This was his final year in Chicago. He finishes 00:07:41.769 --> 00:07:44.470 second in goals to Esposito. It was really the 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:46.870 end of an era for him there. It was. You're watching 00:07:46.870 --> 00:07:49.329 a legend cap off his time with a franchise that 00:07:49.329 --> 00:07:51.689 defined him. And that theme of transition, it 00:07:51.689 --> 00:07:54.089 wasn't just individual players closing chapters. 00:07:54.310 --> 00:07:57.550 The league itself was being forced to reckon 00:07:57.550 --> 00:08:00.589 with its own structural flaws. Here's where it 00:08:00.589 --> 00:08:03.189 gets really interesting. The playoff bracket 00:08:03.189 --> 00:08:06.550 changed. A huge shift. Because it shows how teams 00:08:06.550 --> 00:08:09.829 were learning to manipulate the rules. So for 00:08:09.829 --> 00:08:13.189 decades, the NHL had this set format. First place 00:08:13.189 --> 00:08:15.110 placed third place in the division and second 00:08:15.110 --> 00:08:17.990 place placed fourth. But the league had just 00:08:17.990 --> 00:08:20.329 dealt with this massive scandal the year prior 00:08:20.329 --> 00:08:23.209 because of that format. The Minnesota North Stars 00:08:23.209 --> 00:08:26.189 had essentially tanked. They did. They intentionally 00:08:26.189 --> 00:08:29.350 lost games just to finish fourth instead of third. 00:08:29.529 --> 00:08:33.279 Now to a casual fan. Losing on purpose to get 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:35.899 a lower seed sounds completely crazy. Totally 00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:38.580 counterintuitive. But mathematically, it made 00:08:38.580 --> 00:08:41.559 cold, calculated sense. Because if Minnesota 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:43.779 finished third, they would have had to play the 00:08:43.779 --> 00:08:46.519 first place Chicago Blackhawks, who were a powerhouse. 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:50.120 By tanking to fourth, they got an easier matchup 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:52.159 against the second place team. It gained the 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:54.519 system perfectly. And to make matters worse for 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:56.820 the league executives, look at the East division 00:08:56.820 --> 00:08:59.919 from that same previous year. The Boston Bruins 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:02.059 fight tooth and nail to finish in first place. 00:09:02.549 --> 00:09:05.210 And their reward for being the best team is a 00:09:05.210 --> 00:09:07.490 brutal series against the third place Montreal 00:09:07.490 --> 00:09:09.389 Canadiens. Who end up winning the whole Stanley 00:09:09.389 --> 00:09:12.129 Cup. Exactly. So the number one team gets punished 00:09:12.129 --> 00:09:15.409 and a team that tanks gets rewarded. The executives 00:09:15.409 --> 00:09:18.289 just didn't anticipate modern game theory. They 00:09:18.289 --> 00:09:20.409 assumed professional pride would keep everyone 00:09:20.409 --> 00:09:22.830 trying to win every single game. They were very 00:09:22.830 --> 00:09:25.549 naive. They really were. So because of that embarrassment, 00:09:25.830 --> 00:09:28.730 the league had to alter the format for the 71 00:09:28.730 --> 00:09:32.070 -72 season. They changed it so first plays played 00:09:32.070 --> 00:09:34.350 fourth and second played third. Patching loopholes 00:09:34.350 --> 00:09:36.590 in real time. Exactly. They had to protect the 00:09:36.590 --> 00:09:38.809 integrity of the regular season. But the NHL 00:09:38.809 --> 00:09:41.450 wasn't just fighting internal fires. They were 00:09:41.450 --> 00:09:44.629 bracing for a massive external threat, too. A 00:09:44.629 --> 00:09:48.009 true existential threat to their monopoly. The 00:09:48.009 --> 00:09:50.789 World Hockey Association. Right. The WHA was 00:09:50.789 --> 00:09:54.409 looming. And because of that, the NHL hastily 00:09:54.409 --> 00:09:57.830 granted expansion franchises to Atlanta and Long 00:09:57.830 --> 00:10:00.710 Island to start playing the very next year. It 00:10:00.710 --> 00:10:03.429 was so rushed compared to the expansions in 67 00:10:03.429 --> 00:10:06.269 and 70. It was a preemptive strike, purely defensive. 00:10:06.470 --> 00:10:09.269 The NHL wanted to plant their flag in those key 00:10:09.269 --> 00:10:11.970 television markets before the WHA could get a 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:14.669 foothold. It's literally corporate warfare playing 00:10:14.669 --> 00:10:17.529 out through stadium leases. Yes. But despite 00:10:17.529 --> 00:10:19.870 all that front office panic, the actual playoffs 00:10:19.870 --> 00:10:22.129 that year were just incredible. The on -ice product 00:10:22.129 --> 00:10:24.730 was fantastic. The quarterfinals had some amazing 00:10:24.730 --> 00:10:27.570 drama. The Rangers beat the defending champion 00:10:27.570 --> 00:10:31.350 Canadians, and they got huge contributions from 00:10:31.350 --> 00:10:34.649 unheralded guys like Walt Chukas. Gritty depth 00:10:34.649 --> 00:10:37.610 players stepping up. Exactly. And over in the 00:10:37.610 --> 00:10:41.210 West, St. Louis beats Minnesota in a grueling 00:10:41.210 --> 00:10:44.230 seven -game series. Game seven had a historic 00:10:44.230 --> 00:10:47.399 moment. Kevin O'Shea scores in overtime. The 00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:50.559 first time a road team ever won a Game 7 in overtime 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:53.120 in playoff history. Can you imagine being a fan 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:55.340 in the Met Center for that? The tension of Game 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:58.679 7 OT and then just crushing dead silence when 00:10:58.679 --> 00:11:01.120 the road team scores. Ultimate heartbreak. But 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:03.379 as close as those first round series were, the 00:11:03.379 --> 00:11:05.940 semifinals completely shattered any illusion 00:11:05.940 --> 00:11:08.019 of parity in the league. It really showed the 00:11:08.019 --> 00:11:10.080 gap between the good teams and the elite teams. 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:13.600 The Rangers swept Chicago in four straight, but 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:15.740 what Boston did to St. Louis? It was on another 00:11:15.740 --> 00:11:18.059 planet. It was a demolition. Boston swept the 00:11:18.059 --> 00:11:20.039 Blues and set a record for the most goals in 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:21.820 a four -game series. They outscored St. Louis 00:11:21.820 --> 00:11:24.940 28 -8. 28 goals in four games. Seven goals a 00:11:24.940 --> 00:11:27.620 night against a playoff team. You're not just 00:11:27.620 --> 00:11:30.200 beating an opponent at that point. You are breaking 00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:33.600 their spirit. It's incredibly demoralizing. Totally. 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:37.080 And it inevitably set up this massive heavyweight 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:40.570 clash in the finals. Boston versus New York. 00:11:40.730 --> 00:11:43.009 The eighth time they met in the finals. And Boston 00:11:43.009 --> 00:11:45.370 takes it four games to two, their second Stanley 00:11:45.370 --> 00:11:48.090 Cup in three seasons. They cemented themselves 00:11:48.090 --> 00:11:51.389 as the defining dynasty of that era. And you 00:11:51.389 --> 00:11:53.610 really cannot talk about that Bruins dynasty 00:11:53.610 --> 00:11:56.330 without dedicating some serious time to Bobby 00:11:56.330 --> 00:11:58.809 Orr. Oh, absolutely. He is the defining figure. 00:11:58.889 --> 00:12:00.809 If you just synthesize his end of year awards, 00:12:01.169 --> 00:12:04.009 the impact is undeniable. Tell them what he won. 00:12:04.190 --> 00:12:07.350 Well, he won the consmized. for playoff MVP, 00:12:07.669 --> 00:12:10.169 but he also won the Hart Trophy for a regular 00:12:10.169 --> 00:12:13.850 season MVP and the Norris Trophy for best defenseman. 00:12:13.909 --> 00:12:16.889 Just hoarding hardware. And to top it off, he 00:12:16.889 --> 00:12:19.649 led the entire league in plus minus. Which, for 00:12:19.649 --> 00:12:21.570 anyone who doesn't track advanced stats, plus 00:12:21.570 --> 00:12:23.850 minus is basically a measure of goal differential 00:12:23.850 --> 00:12:26.649 when that specific player is on the ice. Right. 00:12:26.710 --> 00:12:28.690 It proves that when Bobby Orr stepped on the 00:12:28.690 --> 00:12:31.149 ice, Great things happen for Boston and terrible 00:12:31.149 --> 00:12:33.529 things happen to the other team. He just fundamentally 00:12:33.529 --> 00:12:36.309 warped the geometry of the sport. He really did. 00:12:36.929 --> 00:12:40.129 Traditionally, defensemen stayed back. They defended. 00:12:40.549 --> 00:12:43.149 But Orr controlled the entire pace of the game 00:12:43.149 --> 00:12:46.990 from the blue line. He had 80 assists, 117 points. 00:12:47.110 --> 00:12:49.509 He was an offensive catalyst in a way no one 00:12:49.509 --> 00:12:52.009 had ever seen from that position. He didn't just 00:12:52.009 --> 00:12:55.330 fit into Boston's system. His skill set became 00:12:55.330 --> 00:12:57.960 the system. So what does this all mean for you 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:00.100 listening? When you zoom out and look at the 00:13:00.100 --> 00:13:03.620 71 -72 season, it's not just about the Bruins 00:13:03.620 --> 00:13:06.159 lifting a silver chalice. No, it's about a league 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:09.019 caught in profound transition. You've got raw 00:13:09.019 --> 00:13:11.500 rookies like LeFleur carrying immense burdens, 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.279 aging warriors like Bruce Gamble playing through 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:16.659 literal heart attack. You have the league scrambling 00:13:16.659 --> 00:13:18.720 to fix rulebooks so teams stop mathematically 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.690 tanking. You have unbreakable records set by 00:13:21.690 --> 00:13:24.590 guys like Jerry Cheevers. And above it all, this 00:13:24.590 --> 00:13:27.389 terrifying Boston Bruins dynasty operating at 00:13:27.389 --> 00:13:30.409 its absolute peak. It's brilliant hockey, but 00:13:30.409 --> 00:13:32.690 honestly, its true historical significance might 00:13:32.690 --> 00:13:35.169 actually lie in what was looming just over the 00:13:35.169 --> 00:13:37.129 horizon. What do you mean? There's a detail in 00:13:37.129 --> 00:13:38.929 our sources that raises a really fascinating 00:13:38.929 --> 00:13:41.590 question. Something for you to ponder long after 00:13:41.590 --> 00:13:43.769 we wrap up today. Let's hear it. If you look 00:13:43.769 --> 00:13:46.570 at the last game section of the text. It lists 00:13:46.570 --> 00:13:49.110 several notable players retiring from the NHL 00:13:49.110 --> 00:13:52.049 that year. Guys like John McKenzie, Ted Green, 00:13:52.289 --> 00:13:54.909 Eric Nestorenko. Established veterans. Exactly. 00:13:54.970 --> 00:13:58.509 But the text adds a critical note. They didn't 00:13:58.509 --> 00:14:00.970 stop playing professional hockey. They retired 00:14:00.970 --> 00:14:04.110 from the NHL specifically to go play in the newly 00:14:04.110 --> 00:14:07.669 formed World Hockey Association. Wow. The talent 00:14:07.669 --> 00:14:10.809 drain begins. Precisely. The NHL thought they 00:14:10.809 --> 00:14:14.250 could just preempt the WHA with those rushed 00:14:14.250 --> 00:14:16.850 expansion teams and front office maneuvers. But 00:14:16.850 --> 00:14:18.830 they couldn't stop the actual players from walking 00:14:18.830 --> 00:14:20.970 out the door. No, they couldn't. So I leave you 00:14:20.970 --> 00:14:22.690 with this thought. What happens to the power 00:14:22.690 --> 00:14:25.409 dynamics, the salaries, and the sheer quality 00:14:25.409 --> 00:14:28.309 of play in a comfortable sports monopoly when 00:14:28.309 --> 00:14:31.250 a well -funded rebel league kicks open the doors 00:14:31.250 --> 00:14:33.909 and starts poaching your top talent? That is 00:14:33.909 --> 00:14:36.509 a massive cliffhanger. It changes the sport forever 00:14:36.509 --> 00:14:39.179 the very next year. A cliffhanger that changed 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:41.600 the economics and the power structure of hockey 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:44.580 permanently. Thank you so much for joining us 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:47.259 on this deep dive into a truly weird, wild, and 00:14:47.259 --> 00:14:49.320 historic season. Keep asking questions, keep 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:51.080 looking beyond the box scores, and stay insanely 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:53.000 curious. We'll catch you next time.