The 1978 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1977–78 season, and the culmination of the 1978 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Boston Bruins and the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, making their third straight appearance in the Finals. The series was a rematch of the 1977 Stanley Cup Finals. The Canadiens won the best-of-seven series, four games to two, to win their third consecutive Stanley Cup championship and their 21st overall.[1] This was the last time that both the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens met in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Canadiens eventually joined the Bruins in the Adams Division in 1982.
| 1978 Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| * indicates periods of overtime | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Montreal: Montreal Forum (1, 2, 5) Boston: Boston Garden (3, 4, 6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Montreal: Scotty Bowman Boston: Don Cherry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | Montreal: Yvan Cournoyer Boston: Wayne Cashman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | May 13–25, 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Larry Robinson (Canadiens) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Mario Tremblay (9:20, first, G6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Canadiens: Yvan Cournoyer (1982) Ken Dryden (1983) Bob Gainey (1992) Guy Lafleur (1988) Guy Lapointe (1993) Jacques Lemaire (1984) Larry Robinson (1995) Serge Savard (1986) Steve Shutt (1993) Bruins: Johnny Bucyk (1981; did not play) Gerry Cheevers (1985) Brad Park (1988) Jean Ratelle (1985) Coaches: Scotty Bowman (1991) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Networks | Canada: (English): CBC (French): SRC United States: (English): NHL Network | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | (CBC) Danny Gallivan (1–2, 5), Dan Kelly (3–4, 6), Chico Resch, and Dick Irvin Jr. (SRC) Rene Lecavalier and Gilles Tremblay (NHLN) Simulcast of CBC feed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Paths to the Finals
editMontreal defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4–1 and the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 to advance to the final.
Boston defeated the Chicago Black Hawks 4–0 and the Philadelphia Flyers 4–1 to make it to the final.
Game summaries
editDefenceman Larry Robinson of Montreal led all players with 17 assists, and finished tied with teammate Guy Lafleur with 21 points, to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.
| May 13 | Boston Bruins | 1–4 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Brad Park (6) – pp – 02:31 | First period | 04:31 – pp – Guy Lafleur (8) 09:53 – pp – Yvon Lambert (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 13:54 – Steve Shutt (7) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 03:55 – Yvan Cournoyer (7) | ||||||
| Gerry Cheevers 23 saves / 27 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 15 saves / 16 shots | ||||||
| May 16 | Boston Bruins | 2–3 | OT | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brad Park (7) – 03:57 | Second period | 07:00 – Steve Shutt (8) | ||||||
| Rick Smith (1) – 15:48 | Third period | 12:12 – Bob Gainey (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 13:09 – Guy Lafleur (9) | ||||||
| Gerry Cheevers 32 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 30 saves / 32 shots | ||||||
| May 18 | Montreal Canadiens | 0–4 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 00:59 – Gary Doak (1) 05:11 – Rick Middleton (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 02:54 – Peter McNab (7) 15:39 – Terry O'Reilly (5) | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 32 saves / 36 shots | Goalie stats | Gerry Cheevers 16 saves / 16 shots | ||||||
| May 21 | Montreal Canadiens | 3–4 | OT | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | ||
| Doug Risebrough (2) – 03:26 | First period | 00:25 – Gregg Sheppard (2) | ||||||
| Larry Robinson (3) – 07:00 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Guy Lafleur (10) – 19:27 | Third period | 09:19 – Peter McNab (8) 13:20 – Brad Park (8) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 06:22 – Bobby Schmautz (7) | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 20 saves / 24 shots | Goalie stats | Gerry Cheevers 27 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| May 23 | Boston Bruins | 1–4 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 07:46 – Larry Robinson (4) 11:10 – pp – Pierre Mondou (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 13:04 – pp Pierre Larouche (2) 18:42 – Jacques Lemaire (6) | ||||||
| Don Marcotte (5) – pp – 11:22 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gerry Cheevers 21 saves / 25 shots Ron Grahame 5 saves / 5 shots | Goalie stats | Ken Dryden 29 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| May 25 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–1 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Steve Shutt (9) – 07:01 Mario Tremblay (1) – 09:20 | First period | 04:05 – pp – Brad Park (9) | ||||||
| Mario Tremblay (2) – 13:37 Rejean Houle (3) – 17:46 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ken Dryden 15 saves / 16 shots | Goalie stats | Gerry Cheevers 20 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–2 | |
Team rosters
editBoston Bruins
edit
Montreal Canadiens
editStanley Cup engraving
editThe 1978 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Yvan Cournoyer by NHL President John Ziegler following the Canadiens 4–1 win over the Bruins in game six.
The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
1977–78 Montreal Canadiens
Players
- 10 Guy Lafleur
- 11 Yvon Lambert
- 12 Yvan Cournoyer (Captain)
- 14 Mario Tremblay
- 15 Rejean Houle
- 17 Murray Wilson†
- 22 Steve Shutt
- 23 Bob Gainey
Coaching and administrative staff
- Jacques Courtois (President), Sam Pollock (Vice President/General Manager)
- Jean Beliveau (Vice President - Director of Cooperate Relations), William Scotty Bowman (Head Coach)
- Peter Bronfman (Chairman/Owner/Director), Edward Bronfman (Executive Director/Owner)
- Al MacNeil (Director of Player Personnel), Eddy Palchak (Trainer), Pierre Meilleur (Asst. Trainer)
- Claude Ruel (Director of Player Development), Floyd Curry (Asst. General Manager), Ron Caron (Asst. General Manager)
Stanley Cup engraving
- †Murray Wilson only played 12 games due to spinal fusion surgery. His name was engraved on the Cup in 1978, even though he did not qualify.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Canadiens capture third straight cup after 4-1 win". St Petersburg Times (Page 32). May 26, 1978. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Stanley Cup. NHL.
- Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.