1969-70 NHL season

The 1969-70 NHL season was the 53rd season of the National Hockey League. Twelve teams each played 76 games. For the third straight season, the St. Louis Blues reached the Stanley Cup finals, and for the third straight year, they were swept four games to none. This time, however, it was the Boston Bruins, not the Montreal Canadiens, who swept them for the Stanley Cup.

Regular season

Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins became the first defenceman in NHL history to win the league scoring championship. He did it by setting a new record for assists with 87 and totalling 120 points, only six shy of the point record set the previous season by teammate Phil Esposito. Along the way, he also won the Norris Trophy for the third straight year as the top defenceman, the Hart Trophy for league MVP, and the Conn Smythe Trophy for the playoff MVP.

For the third straight season, the St. Louis Blues easily won the West Division, being the only team in the division to have a winning record.

The East Division, however, saw a temporary changing of the guard, as Montreal dropped from first the previous season to fifth, missing the playoffs on goal differential with New York. This led to an unusual incident where in their final game and down by several goals to Chicago, the Canadiens would make the playoffs if they scored three more goals regardless of the game's outcome. Coach Claude Ruel pulled his goaltender with nearly nine minutes left in the third period in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to do so. It would be the only season Montreal failed to make the playoffs between 1948 and 1995, and their 92 points remains the highest total for a team missing the playoffs. This was instrumental in the decision to move Chicago to the West Division in conjunction with the 1970 expansion, and the adoption of "crossover" playoff series between East and West Division teams the following season. The continuing imbalance led to the exclusion of West Division teams from the Stanley Cup final for the next three seasons.

The Bruins and the Black Hawks both tied for the lead in the East with 99 points, but Chicago was awarded first place because they had more wins.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

East Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Chicago Black Hawks	76	45	22	9	99	250	170	901
Boston Bruins	76	40	17	19	99	277	216	1196
Detroit Red Wings	76	40	21	15	95	246	199	907
New York Rangers	76	38	22	16	92	246	189	853
Montreal Canadiens	76	38	22	16	92	244	201	892
Toronto Maple Leafs	76	29	34	13	71	222	242	898

West Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
St. Louis Blues	76	37	27	12	86	224	179	876
Pittsburgh Penguins	76	26	38	12	64	182	238	1038
Minnesota North Stars	76	19	35	22	60	224	257	1008
Oakland Seals	76	22	40	14	58	169	243	845
Philadelphia Flyers	76	17	35	24	58	197	225	1123
Los Angeles Kings	76	14	52	10	38	168	290	969

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Bobby Orr	Boston Bruins	76	33	87	120
Phil Esposito	Boston Bruins	76	43	56	99
Stan Mikita	Chicago Black Hawks	76	39	47	86
Phil Goyette	St. Louis Blues	72	29	49	78
Walt Tkaczuk	New York Rangers	76	27	50	77
Jean Ratelle	New York Rangers	75	32	42	74
Red Berenson	St. Louis Blues	67	33	39	72
J.P. Parise	Minnesota North Stars	74	24	48	72
Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	76	31	40	71
Frank Mahovlich	Detroit Red Wings	74	38	32	70

Leading goaltenders

Stanley Cup playoffs

Playoff bracket

Stanley Cup finals

The Boston Bruins went 12-2 in the playoffs and beat the St. Louis Blues in four straight games for their first Stanley Cup in twenty-nine years by scores of 6-1, 6-2, 4-1 and 4-3. Bobby Orr scored the Cup-winning goal, with an assist from Derek Sanderson, at forty seconds of overtime, and the subsequent image of Orr flying through the air, his arms raised in victory -- he had been tripped by Blues' defenceman Noel Picard at the moment of shooting -- is arguably the most famous and recognized hockey image of all time.

Phil Esposito of the Bruins led all playoff scorers with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points, at the time a new NHL playoff record, followed by Orr with 20 points and John Bucyk of the Bruins with 19 points. Gerry Cheevers of the Bruins led all goaltenders with twelve wins, while Jacques Plante of the Blues led all goaltenders in goals against average in the playoffs with 1.48.

Boston Bruins vs. St. Louis Blues

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 3	Boston Bruins	6	St. Louis Blues	1
May 5	Boston Bruins	6	St. Louis Blues	2
May 7	St. Louis Blues	1	Boston Bruins	4
May 10	St. Louis Blues	3	Boston Bruins	4	OT

Boston wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

NHL awards

Prince of Wales Trophy:	Chicago Black Hawks
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:	St. Louis Blues
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:	Pit Martin, Chicago Black Hawks
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Tony Esposito, Chicago Black Hawks
Conn Smythe Trophy:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Phil Goyette, St. Louis Blues
NHL Plus/Minus Award:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy:	Tony Esposito, Chicago Black Hawks
Lester Patrick Trophy:	Edward W. Shore, James C. V. Hendy

References

The NHL on CBS

NHL 1969/70 | Saison LNH 1969-70

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