The Panther
Registered User
Anyone old enough to remember this one? Saw it?
1968-1969 was the first real year of the "Orr-Esposito" Bruins' run, with Espo getting 126 points, Orr winning his second straight Norris, and the Bruins jumping way up to 100 points (42-18-16).
In the playoffs, Boston swept aside Toronto in four straight, before falling to mighty Montreal in six games.
What I'm curious about is the playoff series with Toronto, and in particular, the way Boston completely destroyed the Leafs in games one and two at Boston Garden.
Looking at the stats, the Leafs had a decent team that season. They were only one to two years removed from their '67 Stanley Cup win, and put up a good 35-26-15 record (a considerable improvement on the previous season). They'd gone 2-4-2 against Boston that regular season and the scores all look competitive... until late in the season when the Leafs lost the second game of a home-at-home 11-3 at Boston (on March 16th, 1969). Tim Horton was -5 in that game, while five different Bruins had 4 points or more (Bobby Orr, amazingly, did not get a single point on the eleven goals scored!).
So maybe you chalk that bad loss up to being fatigued after the fast-trip to Boston for the second game in two days.
But then, the playoffs start. Toronto loses 10-0 in game one, and 7-0 in game two. How does that happen?
That means in three consecutive games in Boston Garden (from mid-March to early April), the Leafs -- two years removed from the Stanley Cup, having a winning record, and with nine Hall of Famers in the line-up -- lost by a combined score of 28-2.
Esposito scored 9 points in those two playoff games (Orr only two). Leafs allowed 91 shots on goal in the two games. Yikes!
The scores back in Toronto were close, Boston winning 4-3 and 3-2 (and putting another 73 shots on net).
Anyway, does anyone know if there was any major blow-back on the Leafs' organization for those humiliating losses? (If that happened today, Shanahan might be publicly flogged on Yonge Street.) A team laden with quality players and then still with a winning tradition losing 17-0 in consecutive playoff games is not normal.
What happened to the Leafs in April 1969?
1968-1969 was the first real year of the "Orr-Esposito" Bruins' run, with Espo getting 126 points, Orr winning his second straight Norris, and the Bruins jumping way up to 100 points (42-18-16).
In the playoffs, Boston swept aside Toronto in four straight, before falling to mighty Montreal in six games.
What I'm curious about is the playoff series with Toronto, and in particular, the way Boston completely destroyed the Leafs in games one and two at Boston Garden.
Looking at the stats, the Leafs had a decent team that season. They were only one to two years removed from their '67 Stanley Cup win, and put up a good 35-26-15 record (a considerable improvement on the previous season). They'd gone 2-4-2 against Boston that regular season and the scores all look competitive... until late in the season when the Leafs lost the second game of a home-at-home 11-3 at Boston (on March 16th, 1969). Tim Horton was -5 in that game, while five different Bruins had 4 points or more (Bobby Orr, amazingly, did not get a single point on the eleven goals scored!).
So maybe you chalk that bad loss up to being fatigued after the fast-trip to Boston for the second game in two days.
But then, the playoffs start. Toronto loses 10-0 in game one, and 7-0 in game two. How does that happen?
That means in three consecutive games in Boston Garden (from mid-March to early April), the Leafs -- two years removed from the Stanley Cup, having a winning record, and with nine Hall of Famers in the line-up -- lost by a combined score of 28-2.
Esposito scored 9 points in those two playoff games (Orr only two). Leafs allowed 91 shots on goal in the two games. Yikes!
The scores back in Toronto were close, Boston winning 4-3 and 3-2 (and putting another 73 shots on net).
Anyway, does anyone know if there was any major blow-back on the Leafs' organization for those humiliating losses? (If that happened today, Shanahan might be publicly flogged on Yonge Street.) A team laden with quality players and then still with a winning tradition losing 17-0 in consecutive playoff games is not normal.
What happened to the Leafs in April 1969?