1976 Stanley Cup Finals

Updated on Dec 29, 2023

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5 4 Champion Montreal Canadiens MVP Reggie Leach		Dates May 9–16 Start date May 9, 1976

Location(s) Montreal (Montreal Forum) (1,2) Philadelphia (Spectrum) (3,4) Coaches Montreal: Scotty Bowman Philadelphia: Fred Shero Captains Montreal: Yvan Cournoyer Philadelphia: Bobby Clarke Referees Ron Wicks (1) Dave Newell (2) Wally Harris (3) Lloyd Gilmour (4) Similar 1978 Stanley Cup Finals, 1944 Stanley Cup Finals, 1931 Stanley Cup Finals, 1924 Stanley Cup Finals, 1973 Stanley Cup Finals

1976 stanley cup finals film clash for the cup

The 1976 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers, making their third-straight final appearance and the Montreal Canadiens. This was the Canadiens first appearance in the final since their Cup win in 1973. The Canadiens would win the best-of-seven series four games to none.

Paths to the final

Montreal defeated the Chicago Black Hawks 4–0 and the New York Islanders 4–1 to advance to the final.

Philadelphia defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 and the Boston Bruins 4–1 to make it to the final.

The series

Guy Lafleur scored the first two finals goals in his career, both game-winners.

Reggie Leach scored four goals in the Finals, and nineteen times in total in the playoffs to win the Conn Smythe Trophy even though the Flyers lost the Cup to the Canadiens. He is the only non-goaltender in NHL history to be named MVP of the playoffs in an unsuccessful cause, and the third of only five as of 2015. His accomplishment followed Roger Crozier (Detroit Red Wings, in 1966) and Glenn Hall (St. Louis Blues, 1968) and preceded Ron Hextall (Philadelphia, 1987) and Jean-Sébastien Giguère (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 2003).

Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Montreal wins the series 4–0.

Reggie Leach won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Roster

† left off cup, but qualified to be on it.

Stanley Cup engraving

Don Awrey played 72 regular-season games, and John van Boxmeer played 46 games. As neither player played in the playoffs, their names were not included on the Stanley Cup. The official rules says that players must play in the playoffs to be included on the Stanley Cup, but this rule was not followed very well. Players who played in playoffs were often left off, and many players who did not play in the playoffs were still engraved on it. The NHL changed the rules to say that any player who played at least 40 games (half the regular season game total) or more for the winning team, or one game in the Stanley Cup must be included. However, Awrey and Van Boxmeer were not added to the cup for 1976. Awrey's name is on the Cup in 1970, 1972 with Boston. Van Boxmeer's name does not appear on the Stanley Cup.

Between 1976 and 1985, an "A" (alternate captain) was no longer marked on players' sweaters. Only the captain was marked with a "C."

American Rick Chartraw was born in Venezuela, and was first South America born player to win the Stanley Cup.

References

1976 Stanley Cup Finals Wikipedia

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