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1972 Stanley Cup Final

1972 ice hockey championship series

Field	Value
year	1972
image	1972 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.png
image_size	250
team1	Boston Bruins
team1_short	Boston
team1_coach	Tom Johnson
team1_captain	Vacant
team2	New York Rangers
team2_short	New York
team2_coach	Emile Francis
team2_captain	Vic Hadfield
team1_1	6
team1_2	2
team1_3	2
team1_4	3
team1_5	2
team1_6	3
team1_tot	4
team2_1	5
team2_2	1
team2_3	5
team2_4	2
team2_5	3
team2_6	0
team2_tot	2
dates	April 30 – May 11, 1972
location1	Boston: Boston Garden (1, 2, 5)
location2	New York City: Madison Square Garden (3, 4, 6)
team2_winner	1
mvp	Bobby Orr (Bruins)
series_winner	Bobby Orr (11:18, first)
hofers	Bruins:
Johnny Bucyk (1981)
Gerry Cheevers (1985)
Phil Esposito (1984)
Bobby Orr (1979)
Rangers:
Eddie Giacomin (1987)
Rod Gilbert (1982)
Brad Park (1988)
Jean Ratelle (1985)
Glen Sather (1997, builder)
Coaches:
Emile Francis (1982)
Tom Johnson (1970, player)
networks	CTV (Canada)
CBS (United States) (games 1, 4, and 6)
net_announcers	(CTV): Danny Gallivan and Dick Irvin Jr. (in Boston), Bill Hewitt and Bob Goldham (in New York)
(CBS): Dan Kelly, Jim Gordon, and Harry Howell

Johnny Bucyk (1981) Gerry Cheevers (1985) Phil Esposito (1984) Bobby Orr (1979) Rangers: Eddie Giacomin (1987) Rod Gilbert (1982) Brad Park (1988) Jean Ratelle (1985) Glen Sather (1997, builder) Coaches: Emile Francis (1982) Tom Johnson (1970, player) CBS (United States) (games 1, 4, and 6) (CBS): Dan Kelly, Jim Gordon, and Harry Howell The 1972 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1971–72 season, and the culmination of the 1972 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. It was the Rangers' first appearance in the finals since 1950. The Bruins were making their first appearance since their victory in the 1970 Finals. It was the second Boston-New York Final series, the other being the 1929 Finals.

The Bruins defeated the Rangers in six games to win their second Stanley Cup in three years. This was only the second Stanley Cup Final contested by New York in which the Rangers hosted all of their home games. The first such Final, held in 1929, had lasted only two games. All other previous Finals contested by the Rangers had partly or entirely coincided with an annual circus formerly held at Madison Square Garden, compelling the Rangers to play Finals games at neutral sites and/or at the venues of their opponents.

This was the last time the Bruins won the Stanley Cup until 2011.

Paths to the Finals

This was the fourth meeting between teams from Boston and New York City for a major professional sports championship. This previously occurred in two World Series (1912, 1916), and the 1929 Stanley Cup Final.

Boston defeated their rival in the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games and swept the St. Louis Blues to advance to the Final.

New York defeated the defending champion Montreal Canadiens in six games and the Chicago Black Hawks in a sweep to set up an "Original Six" Final.

Game summaries

Bobby Orr, who tallied 4 goals and 4 assists in the series, won the Conn Smythe Trophy for the second time. It was also Orr's second Cup-clinching goal, having accomplished both feats in the 1970 finals. Phil Esposito had 41 shots in the series but was held without a goal.

|1-1-1 =Dale Rolfe (3) - 3:52 |1-1-2 =5:07 - Fred Stanfield (7) 15:48 - Ken Hodge (5) 17:29 - sh - Derek Sanderson (1) 18:14 - sh - Ken Hodge (6) |1-2-1 =Rod Gilbert (4) - pp - 11:54 |1-2-2 =10:46 - Ken Hodge (7) |1-3-1 =Vic Hadfield (7) - pp - 1:56 Walt Tkaczuk (4) - 7:48 Bruce MacGregor (2) - 9:17 |1-3-2 =17:44 - Garnet Bailey (2) |goalie1-1 =Ed Giacomin |goalie1-2 =Gerry Cheevers

Game one

1–1 1–2 1–3 1–4 1–5 2–5 3–5 4–5 5–5 5–6

Rod Gilbert 4 (Vic Hadfield, Jean Ratelle) (PP) – 11:54 Vic Hadfield 7 (Walt Tkaczuk, Rod Gilbert) (PP) – 1:46 Ted Irvine 4 – 7:48 Bruce MacGregor 2 (Ted Irvine, Pete Stemkowski) – 9:17 5:07 – Fred Stanfield 7 (John McKenzie) 15:48 – Ken Hodge 5 (Phil Esposito, Mike Walton) 17:29 – Derek Sanderson 1 (Ed Westfall) (SH) 18:14 – Ken Hodge 6 (Phil Esposito) (SH) 10:46 – Ken Hodge 7 (Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr)

17:44 – Garnet Bailey 2 (Mike Walton, Ed Westfall) Game one in Boston saw both teams play poorly. The Bruins at one point led 5–1 as Ken Hodge completed a hat trick, and Hodge and Derek Sanderson scored short-handed goals on the same Ranger power play at the end of the first period. However, the Rangers tied the game with goals from Gilbert, Hatfield, Tkaczuk, and Bruce MacGregor. With 2:16 remaining in the third period, Garnet "Ace" Bailey beat Rangers star defenseman Brad Park to have the Bruins prevail 6–5.

Gary Doak of the Rangers was ejected from the game after a heated argument with referee Bill Friday over a penalty he received at 18:50 of the first period.

Game two

1–1 1 –2 Rod Gilbert 5 (Jim Neilson, Vic Hadfield) – 7:23

11:53 – Ken Hodge 8 (Mike Walton, Phil Esposito) (PP) Game two had Gilles Villemure replace Ed Giacomin in goal for the Rangers. He played well, but the Bruins did too and won 2–1.

Game three

In New York, Giacomin was back in goal for game three as the Rangers won 5–2. Brad Park opened the scoring with a power play goal and scored another in the first period. Rod Gilbert also had two goals in the game.

Game four

Giacomin was having trouble with a knee he injured during the Chicago series and lost game four 3–2.

Game five

Game five in Boston had Villemure again replace Giacomin. Boston led 2–1 after two periods. However, Bobby Rousseau scored twice in the third period, his second at 12:45 turned out to be the winner in a 3–2 win for the Rangers.

Game six

Game six in New York saw Boston play flawlessly and Gerry Cheevers picked up a shutout, 3–0. Bobby Orr's first-period marker ended up standing as the Stanley Cup-winning goal, and he also assisted on the Bruins' second goal. Orr spent 10 minutes in the penalty box after arguing with referee Art Skov but upon his return on the ice played a crucial role in killing off a penalty to the Bruins. Wayne Cashman scored two goals, one of which trickled in behind Gilles Villemure.

As of 2025, the 1972 Bruins are the most recent team to have won the Cup without a formal captain. John Bucyk, as the team's senior alternate captain, accepted the Cup and circled the rink in the ceremonial skate.

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada moved all playoff coverage from CBC to CTV (in actuality, MacLaren Advertising, the actual rights holders of HNIC at the time, worked out arrangements with CTV to move the full NHL playoffs there) to avoid conflict with the lengthy NABET strike against the CBC.

In the United States, CBS took a rather calculated risk in not televising the game five match on May 9 (CBS aired regular programming, including the original Hawaii Five-O in that time period on that Tuesday night). This was despite the fact that game five was a potential clincher with the Bruins up three games to one on the Rangers. CBS ultimately lucked out (since the Rangers won game five 3-2), and televised the clincher (game six) on Thursday night, May 11.

Stanley Cup engraving

The following Bruins players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup:

1971–72 Boston Bruins

11 Mike Walton
17 Fred Stanfield
16 Derek Sanderson
6 Ted Green (A)
10 Carol Vadnais
20 Dallas Smith
26 Don Awrey
30 Gerry Cheevers
9 John Bucyk (A)
12 Wayne Cashman
14 Ace Bailey
18 Ed Westfall (A)
19 John McKenzie
21 Don Marcotte |non-players=
Weston Adams Sr. (Chairman/Owner), Weston Adams, Jr. (President/Owner)
Shelby Davis (Vice President)
Charles Mulcahy Jr. (Vice President – General Council)
Ed Powers (Vice President – Treasurer),
Milt Schmidt (General Manager), Tom Johnson (Head Coach)
Dan Canney (Trainer), John Forristall (Asst. Trainer) |engraving-notes=
The Boston Bruins' name was misspelled as BQSTQN BRUINS with two "Q"s instead of "O"s. This error was corrected on the replica Cup created in 1992–93.
Every person whose name was engraved won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Bruins in 1972 had already appeared on the Stanley Cup. This had previously occurred only once, in 1960, and has not occurred again since.
Garry Peters dressed for 2 games 1 & 2 of Stanley Cup Semi-Finals, playing game 1. Chris Hayes then played in game 3 of the Semi-Finals (his only NHL game). By the rules of the time, this qualified both to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup, but neither was included. Peters also won the cup with Montreal in 1965.
As with the 1970 team, the Boston Bruins did not have a team captain. John Bucyk, Phil Esposito, Ted Green and Ed Westfall all served as alternate captains (all but Green held the title in 1970 as well).

Notes

References

Sifferlin, Alexandra. (January 31, 2012). "Top 10 NYC-vs.-Boston Showdowns".
Mulvoy, Mark. (May 8, 1972). "Violence Is The Goal". [[SI Vault]].
Mulvoy, Mark. (May 22, 1972). "An Iceman Too Hot To Handle". [[SI Vault]].
Fischler, Stan. (August 15, 2022). "Fischler Report: So You Want Your Son to be an NHL Star". The Hockey News.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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