Let's Watch... (1971/4/8) Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs Game 2 - Montreal at Boston

Fenway

HF Bookie and Bruins Historian
Sponsor
Sep 26, 2007
68,589
98,267
Cambridge, MA
This is a watershed game in NHL history.

Montreal coach Al MacNeil knew going into the playoffs he would be reassigned at the end of the season back to AHL Nova Scotia because he could not speak French. In the first round, the Habs met powerhouse Boston and MacNeil rolled the dice with by starting Ken Dryden in goal.

upload_2019-8-29_3-42-34.png


upload_2019-8-29_3-45-16.png




A tiny UHF station in Boston kept the archive - and there were strong rumors that the West End Gang in Montreal tampered with the outcome. The third period video speaks for itself.

The Bruins never recovered and a month later the Habs won the Cup in Chicago



CBC/SRC tapes of that game were lost in a fire in Ottawa - The Game 7 snippets against Chicago come from the Blackhawks closed-circuit feed.

Here is the unknown - Al MacNeil had to be considering pulling Dryden when the Bruins took a 5-1 lead but didn't.

Previous editions:
(1968/3/10) Toronto at Chicago
(1959/4/07) SCSF Game 7 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins

(1966/4/14) Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens
(1960/4/7) Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs
(1963/4/18) Toronto Maple Leafs vs Detroit Red Wings
(1963/12/7) Toronto Maple Leafs vs Chicago Black Hawks
(1965/4/1) Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs
 
Last edited:

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->