1976 Stanley Cup Final

[67Leafs67]

In the previous season, the Flyers, Sabres, and Canadiens all tied with 113 points for the top of the league. Montreal bowed out to Buffalo in the semis, and Philly took the cup. In '76, the Canadiens were the top of the league with 127 points, Flyers second with 118. They meet in the finals. What was the expectation coming into this final? Philadelphia took seven to get rid of Toronto, but then seemingly did well with the third seed Bruins. Montreal didn't have too much trouble with Chicago or the young Islanders.

Montreal swept the Flyers...was the series tighter than that? Was anybody banking on the Flyers to get their 3rd cup in a row, or was Montreal the clear favourite? Why was Montreal able to sweep the three time defending champs?

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[Canadiens1958]

Bernie Parent was injured and missed the finals. Regardless even though the first three games were decided by one goal and the last by two,the Flyers were done in game one when Larry Robinson destroyed Gary Donhoefer with a clean check:

 

[Staniowski]

I probably watched the '76 playoffs, but I was too young to remember...

However....I have read about the famous bench-clearing brawl in the pre-season game between the Habs and Flyers in September, 1975, in Philly, where word has it the legend of the Broad Street Bullies came to an end. Bowman was not happy about how the Canadiens were being intimidated by the Flyers, and he made it known.

At one point, Bowman sent out a PP unit of Larry Robinson at centre, between Sean Shanahan and Glen Goldup, with big Pierre Bouchard and Rick Chartraw on D.

The brawl was started, I think, by Risebrough (no surprise there), who beat Bobby Clarke badly. Schultz jumped in, then several fights started. The Habs won almost all the fights, really beat the crap out of the Flyers. Bridgman and Lafleur were fighting, Tremblay came to Lafleur's aid, but the fights between the tough guys were dominated by Montreal.

According to Montreal journalists, it was the greatest brawl the Habs were involved in for at least 30 years.

This game was not completed; the referee ended the game after the brawl was over. Habs won the game 6 - 2.

The brawl apparently was a big psychological change for both teams, and perhaps set the stage for the following spring.

 

[Howie Hodge]

Robinson getting the better of Schultz set the tone. Once that happened, Montreal felt invincible - Philly knew they were toast.

 

[Doctor No]

Parent was injured and missed the finals.

Parent was struggling, with two poor games to close the Toronto series and a bad start to the Boston series. The move to Stephenson was a coaching decision per the press reports at the time. (I'm sure that Parent's back was bothering him, but he was well enough to be on the bench).

Here's a representative press clipping:

Don Cherry gave credit in the press specifically to Stephenson (and Reggie Leach) as keys to the Flyers' series win over Boston.

 

[Doctor No]

And here's part of a Finals Game Two preview in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

 

[Canadiens1958]

Similar to Plante in 1953 replacing McNeil for game seven of the semis vs the Hawks and the start of the finals vs the Bruins because McNeil had the yips. About a week after the finals the Montreal Herald published a dressing room photo of McNeil on crutches with an ankle injury suffered in practice between game 6 and 7 of the semis.

 

[Doctor No]

Similar to Plante in 1953 replacing McNeil for game seven of the semis vs the Hawks and the start of the finals vs the Bruins because McNeil had the yips. About a week after the finals the Montreal Herald published a dressing room photo of McNeil on crutches with an ankle injury suffered in practice between game 6 and 7 of the semis.

Since you brought this example up here, then presumably you have actual evidence of a Parent injury suffered during the 1976 playoffs?

Or are we going to have to wait another 42 years to find out?

 

[Canadiens1958]

Since you brought this example up here, then presumably you have actual evidence of a Parent injury suffered during the 1976 playoffs?

Or are we going to have to wait another 42 years to find out?

Here you go. Tim Burke's column after game 1:

The Montreal Gazette - Recherche d'archives de Google Actualités

Bernie Parent, a Montreal native, knew a lot of the writers from his junior days with the Bombardiers de Rosemont and word got out.

 

[Doctor No]

Thanks! I don't see mention of an injury to Parent in that Burke article - other than Savard mentioning that they've "lost" Parent (which could mean a number of things). What was the injury?

I think you know this, but one of my goals is to catalog all NHL goaltender injuries from days past, partly because these have been insufficiently documented in the public record and I think it's important for people to realize how dangerous the position has been in the past. I'd love to get this right in the data.

 

[Doctor No]

This is from May 15, so if word got out a week earlier (per the above) surely it'd be public by this point:

Without further documentation, here's where I'm willing to go - Parent never really got back into game shape after having surgery on October 14 to remove the bone spur on the disk in his neck. As a result, he wore down and Shero decided that a 100% Stephenson was better than a tired Parent.

 

[tony d]

Before my time, got to think though if Parent was healthy Philly maybe threepeats? I don't know but they probably don't get swept.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Thanks! I don't see mention of an injury to Parent in that Burke article - other than Savard mentioning that they've "lost" Parent (which could mean a number of things). What was the injury?

I think you know this, but one of my goals is to catalog all NHL goaltender injuries from days past, partly because these have been insufficiently documented in the public record and I think it's important for people to realize how dangerous the position has been in the past. I'd love to get this right in the data.

Sadly hiding hockey injuries especially to NHL goalies is very common.

Canadiens last three seasons have done it with Carey Price. Though watching him getting back to his feet at times it is obvious that he is hurt.

 

[Doctor No]

I'm not saying that there wasn't an additional injury to Parent that we haven't managed to find out about since.

What I'm saying is that the most likely explanation is consistent with what I described three posts up - Parent never got back into game shape when he returned from his first injury.

If you want to boldly claim that Parent was injured and that that's why Stephenson played, you're free to do that - I can't prove that you're wrong. However, from all publicly available knowledge, there are more reasonable conclusions to be made.

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Before my time, got to think though if Parent was healthy Philly maybe threepeats? I don't know but they probably don't get swept.

The Flyers would have won three Cups in a row if they were facing another team besides Montreal. The Canadiens were just too deep at all positions and were the worse possible match-up for the Flyers. Montreal still would have defeated Philly even with a healthy Parent and Rick MacLeish in the lineup. Maybe Montreal wins in 5 or 6 instead of a sweep.

 

[BadgerBruce]

Few teams could survive injuries to their #1 (Clarke, torn knee ligaments) and #2 (MacLeish (even worse torn up knee) centres. MacLeish missed the entire season/playoffs.

A hobbled Clarke managed to play but the loss of MacLeish from the lineup really hurt. He was an excellent penalty killer, an important part of the Flyers’ powerplay, and in the two Stanley Cup runs he led the league in playoff points both times. Add to this the fact that Parent simply ran out of time to regain his form following serious neck surgery and you’ve got a Flyers’ team that simply didn’t have the depth to overcome an opponent as formidable as Montreal.

My suspicion is that a healthy Flyers team would have pushed the Habs more than they did, but at the end still would have fallen. But with 3 of the team’s top 5 players (Clarke, MacLeish, Parent) either hobbled or out of the lineup, they had little chance.

By the way, this Cup run was really Lafleur’s coming out party as an elite playoff performer — his first 2 goals in a Stanley Cup final series were both game winners.

 

[Bluesguru]

Game 1 of this series is on You Tube. Watch the game. Flyers dominated the early part of the game. Canadiens were very tentative. Philly should of won Gm 1. Even down, Leach just missed tying it in the final minute with a spin around wrister in the slot that went just wide. No doubt if Rick MacLeish was healthy, that the series would of been a 6 or 7 game series either way. Every game of this series was essentially a 1 goal game. MacLeish was an annual big time playoff performer at the time and his speed and skill would of made a big difference in the series. To dismiss his absence is short sighted. Rick was such a big time post season player that the Flyers losing him was like the Canadiens losing Lafleur.

 

[Staniowski]

Here's a SI article from 1976 that briefly describes the series:

BUT GOD BLESSED THE CANADIENS

 

[blood gin]

You could see as soon as Schultz and Robinson got in a scrum that Schultz had fear and uncertainty in his eyes. Robinson was 6'4 225 and had ridiculous strength. He has a long fuse but when it goes off he is terrifying. He literally scared the Devils back from a 3-1 deficit in 2000

 

[double5son10]

And here's part of a Finals Game Two preview in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

View attachment 139423

Interesting comment in the article by Savard about Van Impe. Ed played an important role for the Flyers as a crease clearer and defender of Parent, and trading him away for Gary Inness was a real loss. In 73-74 the Flyers had Van Impe and Ashbee, both superb defensive defensmen. The following year, they replaced the injured/retired Ashbee with Ted Harris, another crafty veteran presence, who was great in their end. With Harris' retirement and Van Impe traded their replacements were Larry Goodenough and Wolfman McIlhargy, neither of whom were anywhere near as good as the aforementioned defenders they replaced. Clearly the Flyers soon thought the same as they were both moved to Vancouver for Bill Dailey a year later. That whole series against Montreal the Flyers were guilty of giving up odd man rushes. Does the stay at home Van Impe help that problem? I think he does.

Obviously the loss of MacLeish looms large. That was a huge blow for the Flyers. He was, as noted, a tremendous playoff performer, and he was one of the few Flyers who had the wheels to keep up w/ the Habs. Yes, an in-shape Bernie might've made a difference too, but the fact of the matter is after the neck operation Parent was NEVER the same goalie he had been the previous two yrs.. People tend to forget that he was pulled in the following yrs. playoffs after an atrocious outing in gm.2 of the Flyers series against the Leafs and he was absolutely eaten alive by the Bruins in the '78 playoffs (83.97 Sv% in 5 games). Stephenson played great against the Bruins in '76 and other than a knuckle-ball given up to Shutt in Gm.3 of the Finals (a game in which he otherwise played superb) it's hard to point to him giving up bad goals against the Habs. One could even argue Stephenson outplayed Dryden in that series, as their numbers at least were almost identical. Either way, Stephenson wasn't the reason they were swept.

 

[double5son10]

Few teams could survive injuries to their #1 (Clarke, torn knee ligaments) and #2 (MacLeish (even worse torn up knee) centres. MacLeish missed the entire season/playoffs.

A hobbled Clarke managed to play but the loss of MacLeish from the lineup really hurt. He was an excellent penalty killer, an important part of the Flyers’ powerplay, and in the two Stanley Cup runs he led the league in playoff points both times. Add to this the fact that Parent simply ran out of time to regain his form following serious neck surgery and you’ve got a Flyers’ team that simply didn’t have the depth to overcome an opponent as formidable as Montreal.

My suspicion is that a healthy Flyers team would have pushed the Habs more than they did, but at the end still would have fallen. But with 3 of the team’s top 5 players (Clarke, MacLeish, Parent) either hobbled or out of the lineup, they had little chance.

By the way, this Cup run was really Lafleur’s coming out party as an elite playoff performer — his first 2 goals in a Stanley Cup final series were both game winners.

I disagree with that assertion. Lafleur was absolutely tremendous in the previous yrs. playoffs; 12 goals/19pts in 11 games. In spite of the Canadiens going down to Buffalo in six Lafleur had 7 goals/10pts in the series. Problem in '75 was the Canadiens were too run and gun, trying to match goals w/ the Sabres. They tightened up mightily the following yr. and it made all the difference.

 

[BadgerBruce]

I disagree with that assertion. Lafleur was absolutely tremendous in the previous yrs. playoffs; 12 goals/19pts in 11 games. In spite of the Canadiens going down to Buffalo in six Lafleur had 7 goals/10pts in the series. Problem in '75 was the Canadiens were too run and gun, trying to match goals w/ the Sabres. They tightened up mightily the following yr. and it made all the difference.

That’s fair.

Personally, I put performance in the Stanley Cup finals on a pedestal, and Lafleur’s first two career goals in a Stanley Cup final series were both game winners in 1976 against the defending champion Flyers. Biggest stage, brightest lights, elite performance to begin a dynasty cup run.

 

[JuniorNelson]

I saw the 76 Canadiens versus Canucks. Robinson controlled play to an outrageous degree.