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1969–70 NHL season
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1969–70 NHL season
The 1969–70 NHL season was the 53rd season of the National Hockey League. For the third straight season, the St. Louis Blues reached the Stanley Cup Finals, and for the third straight year, the winners of the expansion West Division were swept four games to none. This time, however, it was at the hands of the Boston Bruins, as the defending champions Montreal Canadiens narrowly missed the playoffs, something that did not happen again for the next quarter century. With both the Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs missing the 1970 Stanley Cup playoffs, it was the first time in league history that no Canadian team in the NHL (two Canadian teams at the time) qualified for the playoffs (something that has happened only once since, in 2016, when all seven NHL's Canadian teams missed the playoffs). It was also the final season that teams wore their colored jerseys at home until the 2003–04 season.
The 1969 NHL amateur draft was held on June 12 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Rejean Houle was selected first overall by the Montreal Canadiens.
Detroit owner Bruce Norris installed a phone at the Red Wing bench connected to his at his seat in the Olympia. When coach Bill Gadsby saw the phone, he ordered it removed. Gadsby was fired after three games
Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins became the first (and to date, the only) 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, being the only player in the NHL to win four individual awards in a single season.
Gordie Howe finished the season within the ten leading NHL point scorers for an all-time record of 21 consecutive seasons; it was the final season he did so.
For the second 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 the total goals scored tie-breaker with the New York Rangers. The Rangers were in first place for a time, but injuries on the blueline doomed any hope of a first-place finish, and they even obtained Tim Horton in desperation. It was the only season Montreal failed to make the playoffs between 1948 and 1995, and as the Toronto Maple Leafs also failed to make the postseason, this was the first playoffs in NHL history to feature no Canadian teams. These developments were 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 division crossover kept the newer expansion teams out of the Stanley Cup Finals for the next three seasons. The Bruins and the Black Hawks both tied for the lead in the East (and entire league) with 99 points, but Chicago was awarded first place because they had 5 more wins. It was Chicago's second first-place finish in team history (the first being 1966–67).
The last two playoff berths in the East Division were contested by three teams entering the final weekend of the season. The Detroit Red Wings were in third place with 93 points, followed by the Montreal Canadiens with 92 and the New York Rangers with 90. The Red Wings captured the third seed with a 6–2 win over the Rangers on Saturday night. The Canadiens needed just one victory to clinch the fourth and final berth. A New York win and a Montreal loss in their final games would give each team identical 38–22–16 records. At that time, the next tiebreaker was goals scored, in which the Canadiens held a 242–237 advantage. The Rangers had to outscore the Canadiens by at least five goals in order to qualify for the postseason. Scoring for the Blueshirts started early and often, leading 4-1 after the first period and 7-3 after two periods. Up 9-3 late in the third period, the Rangers pulled goaltender Eddie Giacomin in an attempt to pile on more goals and to pad the overall goal scoring lead, but instead surrendered two goals to Detroit. After the final buzzer, the Rangers peppered Red Wings goaltender Crozier with a franchise-record 65 shots on goal en route to a 9–5 triumph and a four-goal lead over Montreal.
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1969–70 NHL season AI simulator
(@1969–70 NHL season_simulator)
1969–70 NHL season
The 1969–70 NHL season was the 53rd season of the National Hockey League. For the third straight season, the St. Louis Blues reached the Stanley Cup Finals, and for the third straight year, the winners of the expansion West Division were swept four games to none. This time, however, it was at the hands of the Boston Bruins, as the defending champions Montreal Canadiens narrowly missed the playoffs, something that did not happen again for the next quarter century. With both the Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs missing the 1970 Stanley Cup playoffs, it was the first time in league history that no Canadian team in the NHL (two Canadian teams at the time) qualified for the playoffs (something that has happened only once since, in 2016, when all seven NHL's Canadian teams missed the playoffs). It was also the final season that teams wore their colored jerseys at home until the 2003–04 season.
The 1969 NHL amateur draft was held on June 12 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Rejean Houle was selected first overall by the Montreal Canadiens.
Detroit owner Bruce Norris installed a phone at the Red Wing bench connected to his at his seat in the Olympia. When coach Bill Gadsby saw the phone, he ordered it removed. Gadsby was fired after three games
Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins became the first (and to date, the only) 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, being the only player in the NHL to win four individual awards in a single season.
Gordie Howe finished the season within the ten leading NHL point scorers for an all-time record of 21 consecutive seasons; it was the final season he did so.
For the second 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 the total goals scored tie-breaker with the New York Rangers. The Rangers were in first place for a time, but injuries on the blueline doomed any hope of a first-place finish, and they even obtained Tim Horton in desperation. It was the only season Montreal failed to make the playoffs between 1948 and 1995, and as the Toronto Maple Leafs also failed to make the postseason, this was the first playoffs in NHL history to feature no Canadian teams. These developments were 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 division crossover kept the newer expansion teams out of the Stanley Cup Finals for the next three seasons. The Bruins and the Black Hawks both tied for the lead in the East (and entire league) with 99 points, but Chicago was awarded first place because they had 5 more wins. It was Chicago's second first-place finish in team history (the first being 1966–67).
The last two playoff berths in the East Division were contested by three teams entering the final weekend of the season. The Detroit Red Wings were in third place with 93 points, followed by the Montreal Canadiens with 92 and the New York Rangers with 90. The Red Wings captured the third seed with a 6–2 win over the Rangers on Saturday night. The Canadiens needed just one victory to clinch the fourth and final berth. A New York win and a Montreal loss in their final games would give each team identical 38–22–16 records. At that time, the next tiebreaker was goals scored, in which the Canadiens held a 242–237 advantage. The Rangers had to outscore the Canadiens by at least five goals in order to qualify for the postseason. Scoring for the Blueshirts started early and often, leading 4-1 after the first period and 7-3 after two periods. Up 9-3 late in the third period, the Rangers pulled goaltender Eddie Giacomin in an attempt to pile on more goals and to pad the overall goal scoring lead, but instead surrendered two goals to Detroit. After the final buzzer, the Rangers peppered Red Wings goaltender Crozier with a franchise-record 65 shots on goal en route to a 9–5 triumph and a four-goal lead over Montreal.