1971-72 NHL season

The 1971-72 NHL season was the 55th season of the National Hockey League. Fourteen teams each played 78 games. The Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers four games to two for the Stanley Cup in the finals.

Five players were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this year. They were Busher Jackson, Gordon Roberts, Terry Sawchuk, Cooney Weiland, and Arthur Wirtz.

Regular season

Once again the Boston Bruins had the best record in the league and once again the Chicago Black Hawks had the best record in the West Division.

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
Boston Bruins	78	54	13	11	119	330	204	1112
New York Rangers	78	48	17	13	109	317	192	1010
Montreal Canadiens	78	46	16	16	108	307	205	783
Toronto Maple Leafs	78	33	31	14	80	209	208	887
Detroit Red Wings	78	33	35	10	76	261	262	850
Buffalo Sabres	78	16	43	19	51	203	289	831
Vancouver Canucks	78	20	50	8	48	203	297	1092

West Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Chicago Black Hawks	78	46	17	15	107	256	166	844
Minnesota North Stars	78	37	29	12	86	212	191	853
St. Louis Blues	78	28	39	11	67	208	247	1150
Pittsburgh Penguins	78	26	38	14	66	220	258	978
Philadelphia Flyers	78	26	38	14	66	200	236	1233
California Golden Seals	78	21	39	18	60	216	288	1007
Los Angeles Kings	78	20	49	9	49	206	305	719

Scoring leaders

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Phil Esposito	Boston Bruins	76	66	67	133	76
Bobby Orr	Boston Bruins	76	37	80	117	106
Jean Ratelle	New York Rangers	63	46	63	109	4
Vic Hadfield	New York Rangers	78	50	56	106	142
Rod Gilbert	New York Rangers	73	43	54	97	64
Frank Mahovlich	Montreal Canadiens	76	43	53	96	36
Bobby Hull	Chicago Blackhawks	78	59	43	93	24
Yvan Cournoyer	Montreal Canadiens	73	47	36	83	15
John Bucyk	Boston Bruins	78	32	51	83	4
Bobby Clarke	Philadelphia Flyers	78	35	46	81	87

Leading goaltenders

Stanley Cup playoffs

Playoff bracket

Stanley Cup finals

All dates in 1972

New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score
April 30	New York Rangers	5	Boston Bruins	6
May 2	New York Rangers	1	Boston Bruins	2
May 4	Boston Bruins	2	New York Rangers	5
May 7	Boston Bruins	3	New York Rangers	2
May 9	New York Rangers	3	Boston Bruins	2
May 7	Boston Bruins	3	New York Rangers

Boston Bruins win the best-of-seven series 4 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup

NHL awards

Prince of Wales Trophy:	Boston Bruins
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:	Chicago Black Hawks
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens
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:	Jean Ratelle, New York Rangers
Lester B. Pearson Award:	Jean Ratelle, New York Rangers
NHL Plus/Minus Award:	Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy:	Tony Esposito & Gary Smith, Chicago Black Hawks
Lester Patrick Trophy:	Clarence S. Campbell, John A. "Snooks" Kelly, Ralph "Cooney" Weiland, James D. Norris

References

The NHL on CBS

NHL 1971/72 | Saison LNH 1971-72

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