1971 Stanley Cup Finals
| 1971 Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| * indicates periods of overtime | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) |
Chicago, IL (Chicago Stadium) (1,2,5,7) Montreal, PQ (Montreal Forum) (3,4,6) |
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| Coaches | Montreal: Al MacNeil Chicago: Bill Reay |
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| Captains | Montreal: Jean Beliveau Chicago: Vacant |
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| Dates | May 4 to May 18, 1971 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Ken Dryden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Henri Richard (2:34, third, G7) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1971 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Chicago Black Hawks and the Montreal Canadiens. The Black Hawks made their first appearance in the final series since 1965, the Canadiens had last played and won the series in 1969. The Canadiens would win the series 4–3.
The playoff system changed this year to allow cross-over between the divisions during the playoffs.
Chicago defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4–0 and the New York Rangers 4–3 to advance to the final.
Montreal defeated the defending champion Boston Bruins 4–3 and the Minnesota North Stars 4–2. This set up the first "Original Six" finals since the 1967 final.
Brothers Frank and Peter Mahovlich starred for the Canadiens, scoring nine goals in the seven game final series. Ken Dryden debuted for the Canadiens, while this was Jean Beliveau's last finals appearance. He ended his career with ten championships. This would be only the second time that the road team would win a game 7 in finals history. The only previous time it happened was when the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2–1 in game 7 in the 1945 Stanley Cup Finals in Detroit. Montreal also won the series despite losing the first two games on the road; neither of these feats would happen again until 2009, when the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Red Wings in game 7 by the same 2–1 score after losing the first to games to the Red Wings. The next 7-game Stanley Cup Finals would not occur until the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals with the Edmonton Oilers and the Philadelphia Flyers.
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