1976 Stanley Cup Finals

The 1976 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1975–76 season, and the culmination of the 1976 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers, making their third consecutive finals 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.

1976 Stanley Cup Finals
1234 Total
Montreal Canadiens 4235 4
Philadelphia Flyers 3123 0
Location(s)Montreal: Montreal Forum (1, 2)
Philadelphia: Spectrum (3, 4)
CoachesMontreal: Scotty Bowman
Philadelphia: Fred Shero
CaptainsMontreal: Yvan Cournoyer
Philadelphia: Bobby Clarke
RefereesRon Wicks (1)
Dave Newell (2)
Wally Harris (3)
Lloyd Gilmour (4)
DatesMay 9 – May 16
MVPReggie Leach (Flyers)
Series-winning goalGuy Lafleur (14:18, third, G4)
NetworksCBC (Canada-English)
SRC (Canada-French)
NHL (United States)

Paths to the Finals

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.

Game summaries

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 2019. 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-Sebastien Giguere (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 2003).

Montreal won series 4–0


Reggie Leach won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Team rosters

Montreal Canadiens
# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
1 Michel Larocque G L 24 1972 Hull, Quebec
2 Bill Nyrop D L 23 1972 Washington, D.C.
3 John Van Boxmeer D R 23 1972 Petrolia, Ontario
5 Guy Lapointe D L 28 1969 Montreal, Quebec
6 Jimmy Roberts RW R 36 1971 Toronto, Ontario
8 Doug Risebrough C L 22 1974 Guelph, Ontario
10 Guy Lafleur RW R 24 1971 Montreal, Quebec
11 Yvon Lambert LW L 25 1971 Drummondville, Quebec
12 Yvan Cournoyer (C) RW L 32 1963 Montreal, Quebec
14 Mario Tremblay RW R 32 1963 Alma, Quebec
17 Murray Wilson C L 24 1971 Toronto, Canada
18 Serge Savard D L 30 1966 Landrienne, Quebec
19 Larry Robinson D L 24 1971 Winchester, Ontario
20 Peter Mahovlich C L 29 1969 Timmins, Ontario
21 Doug Jarvis C L 21 1975 Brantford, Ontario
22 Steve Shutt LW L 23 1972 Willowdale, Ontario
23 Bob Gainey LW L 21 1973 Peterborough, Ontario
24 Don Awrey D L 32 1975 Kitchener, Ontario
25 Jacques Lemaire C L 30 1967 LaSalle, Quebec
26 Pierre Bouchard D L 28 1965 Longueuil, Quebec
27 Rick Chartraw D R 21 1974 Caracas, Venezuela
29 Ken Dryden G L 28 1964 Hamilton, Ontario

Philadelphia Flyers
# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
1 Bernie Parent G L 31 1973 Montreal, Quebec
3 Tom Bladon D R 23 1972 Edmonton, Alberta
5 Larry Goodenough D R 23 1973 Toronto, Ontario
6 Andre Dupont D L 26 1972 Trois-Rivières, Quebec
7 Bill Barber LW L 23 1972 Callander, Ontario
8 Dave Schultz LW L 26 1969 Waldheim, Saskatchewan
9 Bob Kelly LW L 25 1970 Oakville, Ontario
10 Mel Bridgman C L 21 1975 Trenton, Ontario
11 Don Saleski RW R 26 1972 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
12 Gary Dornhoefer RW R 33 1967 Kitchener, Ontario
14 Joe Watson D L 32 1967 Smithers, British Columbia
15 Terry Crisp C L 32 1973 Parry Sound, Ontario
16 Bobby Clarke (C) C L 26 1969 Flin Flon, Manitoba
18 Ross Lonsberry LW L 29 1972 Watson, Saskatchewan
20 Jim Watson D L 23 1972 Smithers, British Columbia
25 Terry Murray D L 25 1975 Shawville, Quebec
26 Orest Kindrachuk C L 25 1972 Nanton, Alberta
27 Reggie Leach RW R 26 1974 Riverton, Manitoba
29 Jack McIlhargey D L 24 1975 Edmonton, Alberta
35 Wayne Stephenson G L 31 1974 Fort William, Ontario

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1976 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Yvan Cournoyer by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Canadiens 5–3 win over the Flyers in game four.

The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1976 Montreal Canadiens

Players

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

Coaching and administrative staff

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 Finals 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.

See also

Notes

    References
    External video
    1976 Stanley Cup Final, Game 4 on YouTube
    • 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.
    Preceded by
    Philadelphia Flyers
    1975    		 Montreal Canadiens
    Stanley Cup champions
    1976    		 Succeeded by
    Montreal Canadiens
    1977
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