4 4 Dates May 3–10, 1970 Start date May 3, 1970 | 4 4 Champion Boston Bruins MVP Bobby Orr | |
 | ||
Location(s) St. Louis, MO (St. Louis Arena) (1,2)
Boston, MA (Boston Garden) (3,4) Coaches St. Louis: Scotty Bowman
Boston: Harry Sinden Captains St. Louis: Al Arbour
Boston: Vacant Similar 1969 Stanley Cup Finals, 1972 Stanley Cup Finals, 1959 Stanley Cup Finals, 1960 Stanley Cup Finals, 1980 Stanley Cup Finals | ||
The 1970 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues, appearing in their third straight finals. The Bruins were making their first appearance in the final since 1958. The Bruins would win the series 4–0, their first Stanley Cup victory in 29 years. Bobby Orr scored the Cup-winning goal on Glenn Hall, with an assist from Derek Sanderson, at forty seconds of overtime, and the subsequent image of Orr flying through the air, his arms raised in victory — he had been tripped by Blues' defenseman Noel Picard at the moment of shooting — is one of the most famous and recognized hockey images of all time.
Contents
Paths to the final
Boston defeated the New York Rangers 4–2 and the Chicago Black Hawks 4–0 to advance to the final.
St. Louis defeated the Minnesota North Stars 4–2 and the Pittsburgh Penguins 4–2.
The series
At 3:57 of the first period, a hard shot from Fred Stanfield was deflected and struck Jacques Plante in the forehead of his face mask, splitting the mask in half and injuring Plante. Plante was finished for the series. Doctors later said if he hadn't been wearing the mask, he surely would have been killed. Ernie Wakely took over in goal but only held off the Bruins for a few minutes before becoming a rather easy mark for Bruins sharpshooters.
Quotes
Bobby Orr... behind the net to Sanderson to OOOORR! BOBBY OOOORR! ...scores and the Boston Bruins have won the Stanley Cup!
"The Flight"
The most commonly seen video clip of Bobby Orr's famous overtime goal ("The Flight") in Game 4 is the American version broadcast on CBS as called by Dan Kelly. This archival clip can be considered a rarity, since surviving kinescopes or videotapes of the telecasts of hockey games from this era usually emanate from CBC's coverage. According to Dick Irvin, Jr.'s book My 26 Stanley Cups (Irvin was in the CBC booth with Danny Gallivan during the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals), he was always curious why even the CBC typically uses the CBS replay of the Bobby Orr goal (with Dan Kelly's commentary) instead of Gallivan's call. The explanation that Irvin received was that the CBC's master tape of the game (along with others) was thrown away in order clear shelf space at the network.
The New England Sports Network has played the CBS video of the goal but has used the original WBZ-FM radio call with Fred Cusick and Johnny Peirson.