WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.180 Imagine being so incredibly dominant at your 00:00:02.180 --> 00:00:04.660 job that you shatter every record in the book. 00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:07.519 You're just this completely unstoppable force. 00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:09.619 You're making everyone else look bad. Exactly. 00:00:10.019 --> 00:00:12.500 You render your competitors entirely irrelevant. 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:15.580 You have built a flawless machine. Yeah. And 00:00:15.580 --> 00:00:18.059 then right at the peak of your glory, you are 00:00:18.059 --> 00:00:20.420 completely derailed by an intern who literally 00:00:20.420 --> 00:00:22.239 just showed up on the job. Which is the worst 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:25.660 feeling. It is. And that, in a nutshell, is the 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:29.559 essence. Of the 1970 -71 NHL season. It really 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:32.500 is. Today, we are bringing you a very special 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:35.700 deep dive into the source material. We've got 00:00:35.700 --> 00:00:38.240 a comprehensive stack of notes and articles covering 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:41.380 this specific chaotic National Hockey League 00:00:41.380 --> 00:00:43.719 season. There is so much to cover here. There 00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:46.159 is. We're looking at the Boston Bruins' record 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:49.420 -shattering year, some truly bizarre playoff 00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:53.600 format controversies, and the completely chaotic 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.000 behind -the -scenes drama of the Montreal Canadiens. 00:00:56.009 --> 00:00:58.929 It's a season defined by massive structural shifts 00:00:58.929 --> 00:01:02.310 and just extreme contrast. Well, set the landscape 00:01:02.310 --> 00:01:04.489 for us. Where are we at in hockey history here? 00:01:04.670 --> 00:01:08.030 Well, to set the landscape for you, this is the 00:01:08.030 --> 00:01:11.810 54th season of the NHL. We're looking at a 14 00:01:11.810 --> 00:01:15.780 -team league. Everyone is... grinding through 00:01:15.780 --> 00:01:19.060 a 78 -game schedule. Which is a long season. 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:22.040 Very long. And the league is heavily into its 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:24.079 expansion era. They're bringing in the Buffalo 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:26.700 Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks this year. Right. 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:29.340 Two brand -new franchises. Yeah, and they place 00:01:29.340 --> 00:01:31.379 both of them into the East Division. So that 00:01:31.379 --> 00:01:33.879 makes the divisions uneven, right? Exactly. So 00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:36.019 to balance the numbers, the league takes the 00:01:36.019 --> 00:01:38.599 Chicago Blackhawks, who are a perennial powerhouse, 00:01:38.780 --> 00:01:41.200 and moves them over to the West Division. Which 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:44.159 has huge implications later. Massive implications. 00:01:44.379 --> 00:01:47.560 Oh, and just as a fun historical footnote, the 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:50.879 Oakland Seals get a corporate rebrand and become 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:53.200 the California Golden Seals. Gotta love the Golden 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:55.560 Seals. Definitely. Okay, let's unpack this. Because 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:58.260 to really appreciate the upsets that happen later 00:01:58.260 --> 00:02:00.620 in this deep dive, we have to start with the 00:02:00.620 --> 00:02:03.640 blueprint of absolute terrifying dominance. The 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:06.500 big bad Bruins. The big bad Bruins. I was looking 00:02:06.500 --> 00:02:08.699 through the regular season stat sheets for Boston 00:02:08.699 --> 00:02:12.189 this year and my jaw... They're ridiculous. They 00:02:12.189 --> 00:02:16.069 put up 57 victories. They accumulated 121 points. 00:02:16.889 --> 00:02:19.289 But here is the number that just broke my brain. 00:02:19.469 --> 00:02:23.330 The goals. They scored 399 goals. Yeah. That 00:02:23.330 --> 00:02:25.750 isn't just a record. They beat the previous team's 00:02:25.750 --> 00:02:28.430 scoring record by nearly 100 goals. It doesn't 00:02:28.430 --> 00:02:30.270 even make sense. How is that even mathematically 00:02:30.270 --> 00:02:32.810 possible? Well, what's fascinating here is how 00:02:32.810 --> 00:02:36.129 the NHL structured the schedule that year. Which 00:02:36.129 --> 00:02:38.189 actually makes those numbers even more impressive, 00:02:38.229 --> 00:02:39.949 if you can believe it. Wait, really? How so? 00:02:40.150 --> 00:02:44.030 For the 1970 -71 season, the league utilized 00:02:44.030 --> 00:02:46.610 a perfectly balanced schedule. Meaning what, 00:02:46.729 --> 00:02:49.710 exactly? That meant every single team played 00:02:49.710 --> 00:02:51.930 every other team in the league exactly six times. 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:54.439 Three times at home, three times on the road. 00:02:54.599 --> 00:02:57.740 Oh, wow. So you can't look at Boston's 399 goals 00:02:57.740 --> 00:02:59.319 and say, oh, well, they were just beating up 00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:01.479 on a weak division. Right, right. They were systematically 00:03:01.479 --> 00:03:04.620 dismantling every single roster in the NHL with 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:08.060 equal prejudice. That is wild. And the individual 00:03:08.060 --> 00:03:10.759 stats look like a typo. Oh, absolutely. You have 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:13.800 Phyllis Bozzito setting a brand new record for 00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:17.199 the most goals in a single season with 76. And 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:19.800 the most points with 152. Nobody had ever touched 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:22.099 numbers like that. And then there's Bobby Orr. 00:03:22.099 --> 00:03:24.180 I mean, Orr wasn't just playing defense. He was 00:03:24.180 --> 00:03:25.919 essentially controlling the entire flow of the 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:29.060 game, right? Orr completely redefined what it 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:31.099 meant to be a defenseman. Yeah. He takes home 00:03:31.099 --> 00:03:33.580 his second consecutive Hart Trophy for League 00:03:33.580 --> 00:03:36.819 MVP that year. And he does it by setting an NHL 00:03:36.819 --> 00:03:39.860 record for assists. With 102 assists. Exactly. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:42.419 When your defenseman is feeding your forwards. 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:46.039 that effectively, it completely breaks traditional 00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:48.180 defensive strategies. You can't plan for it. 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:50.680 You really can't. Opposing teams had no idea 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:53.099 how to cover the blue line while also dealing 00:03:53.099 --> 00:03:55.819 with Phil Esposito crashing the net. Which perfectly 00:03:55.819 --> 00:03:58.500 explains why Boston's scoring leaders look the 00:03:58.500 --> 00:04:00.639 way they did. The top four. I have the league's 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:02.979 top scoring chart right here. Number one, Phil 00:04:02.979 --> 00:04:05.419 Esposito. Number two, Bobby Orr. Number three, 00:04:05.500 --> 00:04:09.110 Johnny Butziket. Number four, Ken Hodge. It's 00:04:09.110 --> 00:04:11.469 literally just a wall of Boston Bruins. Which 00:04:11.469 --> 00:04:15.129 was a massive historical first. No single team 00:04:15.129 --> 00:04:17.810 had ever claimed the top four scoring spots in 00:04:17.810 --> 00:04:20.649 the NHL before. That is insane. Busick's put 00:04:20.649 --> 00:04:23.990 up 116 points in the left wing. Hodge put up 00:04:23.990 --> 00:04:27.430 105 from the right wing. Wow. And if you zoom 00:04:27.430 --> 00:04:31.029 out even further, Boston claimed seven of the 00:04:31.029 --> 00:04:33.709 top 11 scoring spots in the entire league. Seven 00:04:33.709 --> 00:04:36.300 of the top 11. Yeah. They established the highest 00:04:36.300 --> 00:04:39.120 scoring single season marks at every single position 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.019 on the ice. It was an offensive monopoly. So 00:04:42.019 --> 00:04:44.100 while Boston is essentially playing a video game 00:04:44.100 --> 00:04:46.600 on the lowest difficulty setting, the rest of 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:48.660 the league is still out there fighting for scraps. 00:04:48.819 --> 00:04:51.300 Right. And generating some pretty wild historical 00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:54.279 trivia. Oh, yeah. You have Gordie Howe, the absolute 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:57.339 legend, hitting his 1 ,000th career assist in 00:04:57.339 --> 00:04:59.560 late October. Incredible milestone. And then 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:01.819 up in Buffalo, their shiny new number one draft 00:05:01.819 --> 00:05:04.629 pick, Gilbert Perrault. Bursts onto the scene. 00:05:04.769 --> 00:05:07.310 He scores 38 goals to break the rookie record 00:05:07.310 --> 00:05:10.089 and just coasts to the Calder Trophy. A bright 00:05:10.089 --> 00:05:12.949 spot for an expansion team. Definitely. But not 00:05:12.949 --> 00:05:15.290 every team was having a milestone year. We have 00:05:15.290 --> 00:05:17.670 to talk about the Detroit Red Wings. Oh boy. 00:05:17.930 --> 00:05:20.470 Yeah, the Red Wings are the perfect counter -narrative 00:05:20.470 --> 00:05:23.769 to Boston's perfection. A total disaster. They 00:05:23.769 --> 00:05:26.350 did have one bright spot in introducing a fantastic 00:05:26.350 --> 00:05:30.790 rookie goaltender named Jim Rutherford. But organizationally. 00:05:31.660 --> 00:05:33.800 They were a mess. They finished dead last in 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:36.060 the East Division. Dead last. And their season 00:05:36.060 --> 00:05:39.040 was completely overshadowed by one exceptionally 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:42.639 dark afternoon in January. A 13 -0, a catastrophic 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:45.420 defeat against the Toronto Maple Leafs. 13 -0. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.100 It remains the worst defeat in the history of 00:05:48.100 --> 00:05:50.579 the Detroit franchise. It's hard to even picture 00:05:50.579 --> 00:05:53.660 a modern game ending 13 -0. It really is. But 00:05:53.660 --> 00:05:55.759 you know what? The on -ice embarrassment is nothing 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:57.920 compared to the front office meltdown that followed. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.459 This is my favorite part. It's so crazy. So the 00:06:00.459 --> 00:06:02.959 team's general manager, Sid Abel, marches into 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:05.300 the office of the team owner, Bruce Norris, and 00:06:05.300 --> 00:06:07.620 he demands that the head coach, Ned Harkness, 00:06:07.740 --> 00:06:10.360 be fired immediately. Which makes sense after... 00:06:10.410 --> 00:06:14.069 13 are lost. Right. But the owner flat out refuses. 00:06:14.569 --> 00:06:17.370 Unbelievable. So the GM resigns in protest right 00:06:17.370 --> 00:06:19.930 there on the spot. Just walks away. Yeah. And 00:06:19.930 --> 00:06:22.350 what does the owner do next? He takes the coach 00:06:22.350 --> 00:06:25.329 who just lost a game 13 -0 and promotes him to 00:06:25.329 --> 00:06:28.370 general manager. It is an objectively baffling 00:06:28.370 --> 00:06:31.269 sequence of executive decisions. I mean, you 00:06:31.269 --> 00:06:34.029 are rewarding a historic level of failure with 00:06:34.029 --> 00:06:37.430 a promotion. Exactly. But that level of volatility 00:06:37.430 --> 00:06:39.790 wasn't just limited to individual team management. 00:06:40.189 --> 00:06:42.089 What do you mean? The league itself was dealing 00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:44.449 with a massive structural crisis regarding its 00:06:44.449 --> 00:06:48.829 playoff format. Hockey fans know the 1967 expansion 00:06:48.829 --> 00:06:51.790 completely skewed the power dynamics of the NHL. 00:06:52.009 --> 00:06:54.829 But by 1970, it had become a critical business 00:06:54.829 --> 00:06:57.250 problem. Because you had the East Division, which 00:06:57.250 --> 00:06:59.649 housed all the established original six teams, 00:06:59.750 --> 00:07:02.509 and the West Division, which was entirely populated 00:07:02.509 --> 00:07:06.269 by the newer 1967 expansion franchises. Right. 00:07:06.350 --> 00:07:09.290 And that separation created an incredibly predictable, 00:07:09.589 --> 00:07:12.629 non -competitive postseason. Just blowouts. Total 00:07:12.629 --> 00:07:14.589 blowouts. For three consecutive years leading 00:07:14.589 --> 00:07:16.930 up to this season, the St. Louis Blues won the 00:07:16.930 --> 00:07:18.810 West Division. They went to the Stanley Cup final 00:07:18.810 --> 00:07:21.550 and were immediately swept in four games by whatever 00:07:21.550 --> 00:07:23.790 original six powerhouse came out of the East. 00:07:23.930 --> 00:07:26.709 It was boring television. It was boring television, 00:07:26.930 --> 00:07:30.279 and the league knew it. So they tweaked the playoff 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:32.720 format. Okay. They decided the divisions would 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:35.600 cross over in the semifinals. The winner of the 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:38.360 first versus third place East matchup would now 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:40.980 play the winner of the second versus fourth place 00:07:40.980 --> 00:07:43.769 West matchup. Got it. Combining that crossover 00:07:43.769 --> 00:07:46.550 with moving the powerhouse Chicago Blackhawks 00:07:46.550 --> 00:07:49.009 into the West Division was supposed to manufacture 00:07:49.009 --> 00:07:52.269 a much more competitive Stanley Cup final. Here's 00:07:52.269 --> 00:07:55.170 where it gets really interesting. Yeah. Because 00:07:55.170 --> 00:07:57.689 playoff qualification was still determined entirely 00:07:57.689 --> 00:08:00.389 by the divisional standings. The top four teams 00:08:00.389 --> 00:08:02.769 in each division make the cut. Right. And this 00:08:02.769 --> 00:08:06.050 new crossover format created a massive loophole 00:08:06.050 --> 00:08:08.629 that led to a major controversy right at the 00:08:08.629 --> 00:08:10.610 end of the regular season. The tanking rumors. 00:08:10.889 --> 00:08:13.439 Yes. Let's look at the Minnesota North Stars. 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:15.920 With four games left on the schedule, they are 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:19.100 sitting in third place in the West with 72 points. 00:08:19.620 --> 00:08:22.199 Right behind them in fourth place are the Philadelphia 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:25.720 Flyers with 67 points. Okay, so under the playoff 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:28.100 rules, the first place team in a division plays 00:08:28.100 --> 00:08:30.779 the third place team, and the second place team 00:08:30.779 --> 00:08:32.980 plays the fourth place team. Sitting in first 00:08:32.980 --> 00:08:36.679 place in the West were the mighty Chicago Blackhawks, 00:08:36.700 --> 00:08:40.440 armed with 107 points. Sitting in second place 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:44.460 were the St. Louis Blues with 87 points. So if 00:08:44.460 --> 00:08:46.460 you're Minnesota and you hold on to third place, 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:49.940 your reward is getting thrown into the meat grounder 00:08:49.940 --> 00:08:52.539 against the juggernaut Chicago Blackhawks in 00:08:52.539 --> 00:08:54.519 the very first round. A guaranteed early exit. 00:08:54.659 --> 00:08:57.960 Exactly. But... If you conveniently slip down 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:00.600 to fourth place, you get a significantly easier 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:03.000 matchup against St. Louis. Funny how that works. 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:05.700 Well, guess what happens? Minnesota somehow manages 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:08.539 to lose all four of their final regular season 00:09:08.539 --> 00:09:11.460 games. What a coincidence. Right. The Flyers 00:09:11.460 --> 00:09:14.159 scrape together a few points, edge ahead of Minnesota 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:16.740 by a single point in the standings, and Minnesota 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:18.820 officially drops to fourth. Now, wait a minute. 00:09:18.840 --> 00:09:20.580 Did they actually throw those games on purpose 00:09:20.580 --> 00:09:23.919 just to dodge Chicago? I mean, officially. It 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:26.100 was never proven. Yeah. And no one ever went 00:09:26.100 --> 00:09:28.360 on the record to confess to a conspiracy. Naturally. 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:30.460 But if you look at the context and the sudden 00:09:30.460 --> 00:09:32.940 drop in performance, it was an open secret around 00:09:32.940 --> 00:09:34.840 the league that the North Stars intentionally 00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:38.279 tanked. And if we look at the results, the strategy 00:09:38.279 --> 00:09:41.379 worked brilliantly. Minnesota avoided Chicago, 00:09:41.740 --> 00:09:44.559 played St. Louis in the quarterfinals, and beat 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:46.919 them four games to two. And what happened to 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:49.019 Philadelphia? Philadelphia had to face Chicago. 00:09:49.710 --> 00:09:52.509 and the Flyers were promptly swept in four games. 00:09:52.750 --> 00:09:57.149 That is rough. It was. The optics of a team potentially 00:09:57.149 --> 00:09:59.309 throwing games to get a better matchup were so 00:09:59.309 --> 00:10:02.009 damaging that the NHL was forced to change the 00:10:02.009 --> 00:10:05.409 playoff structure again the very next year. Back 00:10:05.409 --> 00:10:07.450 to the standard format. Yeah, back to the standard 00:10:07.450 --> 00:10:10.549 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 format. So while teams in 00:10:10.549 --> 00:10:12.950 the West are allegedly dodging matchups to survive, 00:10:13.210 --> 00:10:15.049 let's look at what's happening in the East with 00:10:15.049 --> 00:10:18.009 the Montreal Canadiens. Oh, man. Because if Boston 00:10:18.009 --> 00:10:21.409 was a well -oiled machine, Montreal was a burning 00:10:21.409 --> 00:10:23.990 car rolling down a hill. That is a perfect description. 00:10:24.309 --> 00:10:26.750 This was a team that had completely missed the 00:10:26.750 --> 00:10:28.730 playoffs the year before, which for a franchise 00:10:28.730 --> 00:10:31.409 like Montreal is practically a crime. The internal 00:10:31.409 --> 00:10:33.929 culture in Montreal was incredibly toxic that 00:10:33.929 --> 00:10:36.820 year. Bad locker room. Terrible. The players 00:10:36.820 --> 00:10:39.100 absolutely despised their head coach, Claude 00:10:39.100 --> 00:10:42.379 Rule. He had a very dictatorial, my way or the 00:10:42.379 --> 00:10:45.039 highway approach. Which doesn't usually fly with 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:47.159 veterans. Not at all. It might work on rookies, 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:50.580 but it deeply alienated a locker room full of 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:54.279 proud, established players. The tension was suffocating. 00:10:54.419 --> 00:10:56.519 It got really bad, didn't it? It got to the point 00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:59.259 where core players like Ralph Backstrom and John 00:10:59.259 --> 00:11:01.860 Ferguson literally announced their retirements 00:11:01.860 --> 00:11:03.919 just to get away from the environment Rule was 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:06.620 creating. That is wild. You have professional 00:11:06.620 --> 00:11:08.580 athletes at the top of their game choosing to 00:11:08.580 --> 00:11:11.059 walk away from their paychecks rather than play 00:11:11.059 --> 00:11:13.879 for this guy. Just to escape. Unbelievable. So 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:16.000 eventually the pressure boils over, Rule steps 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.159 down, and Al McNeil takes over behind the bench. 00:11:19.379 --> 00:11:21.659 Right. And Ferguson and Backstrom are convinced 00:11:21.659 --> 00:11:23.899 to return to the ice. Though Backstrom is quickly 00:11:23.899 --> 00:11:26.779 traded away to Los Angeles. True. But even with 00:11:26.779 --> 00:11:29.320 McNeil trying to right the ship, Montreal limps 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:31.820 into the playoffs looking completely dysfunctional. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:35.139 They finish third in the East with 97 points, 00:11:35.340 --> 00:11:37.620 and waiting for them in the quarterfinals are 00:11:37.620 --> 00:11:41.379 the E1 Boston Bruins. The juggernaut. The 121 00:11:41.379 --> 00:11:45.159 -point, 399 -goal, historically dominant Bruins. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:48.480 It was viewed as a complete mismatch. Boston 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:51.419 had crushed Montreal in the regular season, winning 00:11:51.419 --> 00:11:53.659 five of their six matchups. So everyone thought 00:11:53.659 --> 00:11:56.240 it would be a sweep. Every analyst, every fan 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:58.960 expected a bloodbath. And for a while, it was. 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:02.399 Boston comfortably takes game one. Then we get 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:05.379 to game two at the Boston Garden. The Bruins 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:08.360 are playing exactly like the Bruins. Heading 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:10.279 into the final stretch of the game, Boston is 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:13.649 up. 5 -1. The crowd is planning the parade. Exactly. 00:12:13.710 --> 00:12:17.049 And then a switch flips. Montreal pulls off one 00:12:17.049 --> 00:12:18.629 of the most stunning comebacks in the history 00:12:18.629 --> 00:12:20.889 of the sport. Unbelievable game. They score six 00:12:20.889 --> 00:12:23.409 unanswered goals, including five in the final 00:12:23.409 --> 00:12:26.730 session, to shock the Bruins and win 7 -5. That 00:12:26.730 --> 00:12:29.669 comeback completely shatters Boston's aura of 00:12:29.669 --> 00:12:31.970 invincibility. It really does. And it sets the 00:12:31.970 --> 00:12:34.809 stage for the true disruptor of the 1971 season. 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:37.980 Ken Dryden. The intern. The intern. Montreal 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:39.960 had called up this rookie goaltender right at 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:41.500 the end of the season. He only played six regular 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:45.019 season games. Six games. It's just six. But McNeil 00:12:45.019 --> 00:12:47.320 decides to start him in the playoffs over the 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:51.120 veteran Roji Vachon. And Dryden was a revelation. 00:12:51.539 --> 00:12:55.120 I have to ask, why was Dryden so effective against 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:57.679 a team that literally had the top four scorers 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:01.000 in the league? How does a rookie do that? A lot 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:03.559 of it came down to his physical presence and 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:07.720 his unorthodox style. Dryden was huge for a goalie 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:11.340 in that era. He stood 6 '4". Oh, wow. He took 00:13:11.340 --> 00:13:14.779 up an enormous amount of the net. But more than 00:13:14.779 --> 00:13:17.720 his size, it was his demeanor. What do you mean? 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:20.200 Well, while Boston was furiously crashing the 00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:22.220 net, Dryden would famously just stand there, 00:13:22.259 --> 00:13:24.220 resting his chin on his stick, looking completely 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:26.820 relaxed. Like he's just waiting for a bus. Exactly. 00:13:27.819 --> 00:13:29.740 Furthermore, because he had spent most of the 00:13:29.740 --> 00:13:31.720 year at the minors or at Cornell University before 00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:34.480 that, Boston had zero scouting reports on him. 00:13:34.539 --> 00:13:36.480 Oh, that's huge. They didn't know his weaknesses. 00:13:36.700 --> 00:13:39.279 He was a complete ghost to them. You know, have 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:42.039 you ever spent months putting together a flawless 00:13:42.039 --> 00:13:45.360 airtight plan for a project at work only to watch 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:48.019 it completely fall apart because of one? totally 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:50.139 unpredictable variable that you couldn't possibly 00:13:50.139 --> 00:13:52.860 have accounted for. That is exactly what Ken 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:55.480 Dryden was to the Boston Bruins. Here is this 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.360 rookie staring down the greatest offensive lineup 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:01.820 the NHL had ever seen, and he completely stonewalls 00:14:01.820 --> 00:14:03.799 them. And Boston threw everything they had at 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:06.559 him. In game four, Bobby Orr actually becomes 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:09.720 the first defenseman in NHL history to record 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:12.539 a hat trick in a playoff game, willing Boston 00:14:12.539 --> 00:14:15.759 to a 5 -2 win. But Dryden just didn't crumble. 00:14:16.330 --> 00:14:18.629 He simply refused to break under the pressure. 00:14:18.870 --> 00:14:22.909 In Game 5, he faces 56 shots and stops 49 of 00:14:22.909 --> 00:14:25.730 them. Insane volume. And then in Game 7, back 00:14:25.730 --> 00:14:28.570 at the hostile Boston Garden, he stops 46 of 00:14:28.570 --> 00:14:31.409 48 shots. Montreal wins the series four games 00:14:31.409 --> 00:14:33.870 to three. The unstoppable Bruins are eliminated 00:14:33.870 --> 00:14:36.429 in the very first round. It is the ultimate David 00:14:36.429 --> 00:14:39.230 versus Goliath upset. Truly. And Montreal just 00:14:39.230 --> 00:14:41.529 absorbs that momentum and keeps rolling. Let's 00:14:41.529 --> 00:14:43.169 look at the semifinals. We have the E3 Montreal 00:14:43.169 --> 00:14:45.570 Canadiens facing off against the W4 Minnesota 00:14:45.570 --> 00:14:48.549 North Stars. The same team that allegedly tanked 00:14:48.549 --> 00:14:50.730 just to get to this position. Right. And give 00:14:50.730 --> 00:14:52.409 Minnesota credit, they didn't just roll over. 00:14:52.549 --> 00:14:54.820 No, they fought hard. In game two of that series, 00:14:54.980 --> 00:14:57.340 Minnesota's goaltender Cesar Maniago plays out 00:14:57.340 --> 00:15:00.659 of his mind and leads the North Stars to a 6 00:15:00.659 --> 00:15:03.419 -3 victory right in the legendary Montreal Forum. 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:06.139 Which was a massive historical milestone. It 00:15:06.139 --> 00:15:08.360 marked the very first time an original six team 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:10.940 suffered a playoff defeat at the hands of a 1967 00:15:10.940 --> 00:15:14.799 expansion franchise. A huge deal. Very huge. 00:15:14.980 --> 00:15:17.559 But the Canadians regrouped, leaned on their 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:19.460 veteran core, and took the series four games 00:15:19.460 --> 00:15:22.159 to two. Over in the other semifinal matchup, 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:25.120 we have the W1 Chicago Blackhawks taking on the 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:28.240 E -Tour New York Rangers. And this series is 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:30.960 just an absolute meat grinder. It goes seven 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:33.159 brutal games. We have to talk about game six 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:35.700 at Madison Square Garden. Game six was a test 00:15:35.700 --> 00:15:39.399 of pure human endurance. The game went into triple 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:42.080 overtime. Triple OT. You have to understand the 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:44.279 physical toll that takes on a player. They're 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.480 skating on chopped up ice, muscles cramping, 00:15:46.500 --> 00:15:49.120 completely exhausted, but playing with utter 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:51.870 desperation. Just running on fumes. That's exactly. 00:15:52.789 --> 00:15:55.190 Finally, the Rangers dig deep and pull out a 00:15:55.190 --> 00:15:57.889 3 -2 win to force a Game 7. But the exhaustion 00:15:57.889 --> 00:16:00.649 caught up with them, and Chicago ultimately wins 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:03.309 Game 7 to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. Which 00:16:03.309 --> 00:16:05.830 sets up an incredible clash for the championship. 00:16:06.129 --> 00:16:09.049 The Montreal Canadiens versus the Chicago Blackhawks. 00:16:09.049 --> 00:16:11.970 You have two original six teams battling for 00:16:11.970 --> 00:16:14.529 the Cup. Completely fulfilling the NHL's dream 00:16:14.529 --> 00:16:17.629 of a highly competitive final series after years 00:16:17.629 --> 00:16:20.330 of lopsided sweeps. And they deliver a classic. 00:16:20.370 --> 00:16:22.909 The series goes the full seven games. The momentum 00:16:22.909 --> 00:16:26.190 swung wildly back and forth all series. But it 00:16:26.190 --> 00:16:28.549 all comes down to game seven at the Chicago Stadium. 00:16:28.690 --> 00:16:31.190 Let's set the scene. Over halfway into the second 00:16:31.190 --> 00:16:33.889 period, the Blackhawks are leading 2 -2. Looking 00:16:33.889 --> 00:16:35.649 good for Chicago. Listen, great. The hometown 00:16:35.649 --> 00:16:38.029 crowd in Chicago is deafening. They can practically 00:16:38.029 --> 00:16:41.250 taste the Stanley Cup. And then Montreal's Jacques 00:16:41.250 --> 00:16:43.769 Lemaire takes a shot. Yeah. And it's not a brilliant 00:16:43.769 --> 00:16:46.190 tactical play. It isn't a close -range breakaway 00:16:46.190 --> 00:16:49.330 or a highly calculated power play setup. He literally 00:16:49.330 --> 00:16:52.370 winds up and takes a miraculous speculative shot 00:16:52.370 --> 00:16:54.610 from center ice. It was a shot that had no business 00:16:54.610 --> 00:16:57.409 going in. None. But it takes a bizarre bounce. 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:00.980 and somehow escapes Chicago's elite goaltender, 00:17:01.139 --> 00:17:03.860 Tony Esposito. Which completely breaks the psychological 00:17:03.860 --> 00:17:06.400 seal on the game. It really does. It cuts the 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:09.400 Chicago lead to 2 -1, and you can physically 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:11.960 see the momentum shift on the ice. Just before 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:14.339 the second period ends, Montreal's veteran center, 00:17:14.460 --> 00:17:17.460 Henri Richard, ties the game. And then, just 00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:19.339 two and a half minutes into the third period, 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:22.980 Richard strikes again, scoring to give Montreal 00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:26.640 the 3 -2 lead. From there, the rookie Ken Dryden 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:29.259 just shuts the door completely. He stops every 00:17:29.259 --> 00:17:31.920 single frantic shot Chicago throws at him in 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:34.700 the third period. He was a wall. The clock winds 00:17:34.700 --> 00:17:37.359 down and Montreal holds on to win 3 -2, capturing 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:40.059 their third Stanley Cup in four years. It's amazing. 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:42.160 And if we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:45.559 the historical significance of this specific 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:49.500 Game 7 is massive. How so? First off, the Canadians 00:17:49.500 --> 00:17:52.059 became the last road team to win a Game 7 of 00:17:52.059 --> 00:17:53.940 a Stanley Cup final for almost four decades. 00:17:54.539 --> 00:17:56.680 Wait, really? Yeah, a road team wouldn't do it 00:17:56.680 --> 00:17:58.500 again until the Pittsburgh Penguins managed it 00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:01.900 in 2009. That's an incredible gap. It is. And 00:18:01.900 --> 00:18:05.319 second, it served as the final triumphant game 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:08.119 of a legendary career for Canadian superstar 00:18:08.119 --> 00:18:12.019 and captain Jean Beliveau. He retired right after 00:18:12.019 --> 00:18:14.859 lifting the cup. What a way to go out. You know, 00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:16.960 the distribution of the individual awards that 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:19.500 year really highlights the absolute irony of 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:21.839 the season. Oh, definitely. You have Phil Esposito 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:24.359 of the Bruins winning the first ever Lester B. 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:27.119 Pearson Award, which is voted on by the players 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.900 for the most outstanding regular season player, 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:33.019 along with the Art Ross Trophy for leading the 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:35.279 league in points. But when the dust settled on 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:37.819 the playoffs... It was the rookie, Ken Dryden, 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:40.680 who hoisted the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:44.000 MVP. A total upset from start to finish. And 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:45.559 you'd think that winning a championship would 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:47.680 finally cure the dysfunction in Montreal. You 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:50.299 would think. But the drama wasn't quite over. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:53.170 You remember Al McNeil. the coach who took over 00:18:53.170 --> 00:18:55.690 mid -season to navigate that toxic locker room. 00:18:55.730 --> 00:18:58.230 Oh, this is the ultimate final twist. It is. 00:18:58.289 --> 00:19:00.029 So during the Stanley Cup final, specifically 00:19:00.029 --> 00:19:03.069 in Game 5, McNeil makes the controversial decision 00:19:03.069 --> 00:19:05.950 to bench Henri Richard. The exact same Henri 00:19:05.950 --> 00:19:08.869 Richard who would go on to score the tying and 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:11.829 cup -winning goals in Game 7. Right. Well, Richard 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:15.089 is absolutely furious about being benched. After 00:19:15.089 --> 00:19:17.430 winning the Stanley Cup, during what should be 00:19:17.430 --> 00:19:19.900 the pinnacle of celebration, Richard gets in 00:19:19.900 --> 00:19:22.240 front of the press. Oh, no. And publicly declares 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.799 that Al McNeil is, quote, the worst coach I ever 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:28.140 played for. Wow. He later tried to walk it back, 00:19:28.299 --> 00:19:30.619 claiming it was just an emotional comment made 00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:35.160 in anger. But the damage was completely irreversible. 00:19:35.259 --> 00:19:37.259 He was done. Think about what McNeil accomplished. 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:41.359 He stepped in midseason. He navigated a notoriously 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:44.220 hostile locker room. He orchestrated the greatest 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:46.759 upset in hockey history against the Bruins. And 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:48.779 won the Stanley Cup. And despite all of that. 00:19:49.130 --> 00:19:51.809 The locker room politics force Al McNeil to resign 00:19:51.809 --> 00:19:54.109 as head coach shortly after the parade. Which 00:19:54.109 --> 00:19:56.269 is just devastating. So what does this all mean? 00:19:56.349 --> 00:19:58.569 Let's recap this incredibly chaotic journey. 00:19:58.789 --> 00:20:01.789 We watched the Boston Bruins build an unbeatable, 00:20:01.970 --> 00:20:04.609 mathematically terrifying machine that dominated 00:20:04.609 --> 00:20:08.109 every statistic. We saw the NHL completely change 00:20:08.109 --> 00:20:10.910 its playoff rules to manufacture fairness and 00:20:10.910 --> 00:20:13.619 combat non -competitive finals. We explored the 00:20:13.619 --> 00:20:16.559 very real possibility of a team intentionally 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:19.519 throwing games just to survive the first round. 00:20:19.619 --> 00:20:22.000 And we followed a highly dysfunctional Montreal 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:26.180 squad that rode a giant unknown rookie goalie 00:20:26.180 --> 00:20:29.539 to a championship, only to publicly humiliate 00:20:29.539 --> 00:20:31.819 and force out their coach immediately afterward. 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:34.700 It perfectly illustrates the gap between theory 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:37.279 and reality what do you mean by that well on 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:39.940 paper boston had already won this season they 00:20:39.940 --> 00:20:42.240 had the stats the records and the deepest roster 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:45.519 in the history of the sport but sports much like 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:48.079 life are not played on a spreadsheet. They really 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.400 aren't. They are played by emotional, unpredictable 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:53.900 human beings. The human elements, like internal 00:20:53.900 --> 00:20:56.619 team hatred, a rookie getting incredibly hot 00:20:56.619 --> 00:20:59.400 at the exact right moment, or a miraculous lucky 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:01.880 bounce from center ice, those are the things 00:21:01.880 --> 00:21:03.920 that actually dictate reality. And that brings 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:05.700 up a really fascinating thought to leave you 00:21:05.700 --> 00:21:08.200 with today. If Montreal's starting goaltender 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:10.839 hadn't faltered, or if the coach had just decided 00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:13.160 to stick with the veteran instead and Ken Dryden 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:15.839 had never been called up, Boston wins. The 1970 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:18.960 -71 Boston Bruins would likely be remembered 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:22.579 today as the undisputed, absolute greatest hockey 00:21:22.579 --> 00:21:25.140 team to ever touch the ice. They'd be untouchable. 00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:27.240 They would be the gold standard by which all 00:21:27.240 --> 00:21:29.450 other teams are measured. It makes you wonder 00:21:29.450 --> 00:21:32.910 how often do we judge the absolute best in any 00:21:32.910 --> 00:21:35.710 field, whether it's sports, business or history, 00:21:35.950 --> 00:21:39.369 completely unaware that a single random stroke 00:21:39.369 --> 00:21:42.150 of luck or one unpredictable variable is the 00:21:42.150 --> 00:21:44.210 only reason the history books look the way they 00:21:44.210 --> 00:21:46.450 do. This raises an important question about how 00:21:46.450 --> 00:21:49.269 we define greatness. Is it the steady accumulation 00:21:49.269 --> 00:21:52.309 of statistical perfection or is it the gritty 00:21:52.309 --> 00:21:55.049 ability to survive the chaotic, unpredictable 00:21:55.049 --> 00:21:58.779 variables that inevitably arise? had the former. 00:21:58.940 --> 00:22:01.500 But Montreal, despite all their glaring flaws 00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:05.079 and internal toxicity, mastered the latter. It's 00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:07.140 an incredible thing to think about. Thank you 00:22:07.140 --> 00:22:09.039 so much for joining us on this deep dive into 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:11.220 the source material. We hope you enjoyed unraveling 00:22:11.220 --> 00:22:13.400 the stats, the drama, and the history of the 00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:16.299 1970 -71 NHL season as much as we did. It was 00:22:16.299 --> 00:22:18.059 a wild ride. We'll be back next time with another 00:22:18.059 --> 00:22:20.619 stack of sources to unpack. Until then, keep 00:22:20.619 --> 00:22:21.819 questioning the history books.