1971–72 Minnesota North Stars season

1971–72 Minnesota North Stars
Division	2nd West
1971–72 record	37–29–12
Goals for	212
Goals against	191
Team information
General manager	Wren Blair
Coach	Jack Gordon
Captain	Ted Harris
Alternate captains	J. P. Parisé Charlie Burns Barry Gibbs
Arena	Met Center
Team leaders
Goals	Bill Goldsworthy (31)
Assists	Jude Drouin (43)
Points	Bill Goldsworthy (62)
Penalty minutes	Barry Gibbs (128)
Wins	Cesare Maniago (20)
Goals against average	Gump Worsley (2.12)

The 1971–72 Minnesota North Stars season was the team's 5th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The North Stars finished 2nd in the West Division and lost in the Quarter-finals to the St. Louis Blues 4 games to 3.

Regular Season

Doug Roberts scores his first goal for Boston off the head of Gump Worsley, March 8, 1972.

Down 4-2 to Minnesota on March 8, the Boston Bruins rallied with goals by Garnet Bailey and Doug Roberts, playing his first game for Boston. Roberts had earlier hit Cesare Maniago in the mask, knocking him out of the game, to be replaced by Gump Worsley. Roberts one-timed a Bobby Orr shot that bounced off the boards and hit a prone Worsley in the head to tie the game 4-4. Worsley was so angry, he threw the puck at the goal judge. John Bucyk scored the winner from an Orr rebound shot while Orr was sliding on his behind.

Final Standings

West Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Chicago Black Hawks	78	46	17	15	256	166	107
Minnesota North Stars	78	37	29	12	212	191	86
St. Louis Blues	78	28	39	11	208	247	67
Pittsburgh Penguins	78	26	38	14	220	258	66
Philadelphia Flyers	78	26	38	14	200	236	66
California Golden Seals	78	21	39	18	216	288	60
Los Angeles Kings	78	20	49	9	206	305	49

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

Regular Season Results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 9, 1971	4–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	1–0–0
2	T	October 14, 1971	1–1	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	1–0–1
3	L	October 16, 1971	2–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	1–1–1
4	W	October 17, 1971	3–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	2–1–1
5	W	October 20, 1971	7–0	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	3–1–1
6	W	October 23, 1971	5–1	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	4–1–1
7	W	October 24, 1971	6–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	5–1–1
8	W	October 27, 1971	2–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	6–1–1
9	W	October 28, 1971	2–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	7–1–1
10	T	October 30, 1971	1–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	7–1–2
11	L	October 31, 1971	2–5	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	7–2–2
12	W	November 3, 1971	2–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	8–2–2
13	W	November 6, 1971	5–1	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	9–2–2
14	W	November 7, 1971	3–0	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	10–2–2
15	L	November 10, 1971	1–2	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	10–3–2
16	L	November 13, 1971	1–5	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	10–4–2
17	W	November 16, 1971	5–1	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	11–4–2
18	W	November 18, 1971	4–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	12–4–2
19	W	November 20, 1971	4–1	New York Rangers (1971–72)	13–4–2
20	T	November 21, 1971	1–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	13–4–3
21	W	November 23, 1971	2–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	14–4–3
22	W	November 26, 1971	2–1	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	15–4–3
23	W	November 27, 1971	3–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	16–4–3
24	W	December 1, 1971	4–1	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	17–4–3
25	W	December 4, 1971	3–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	18–4–3
26	L	December 5, 1971	1–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	18–5–3
27	L	December 8, 1971	1–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	18–6–3
28	L	December 11, 1971	3–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	18–7–3
29	L	December 12, 1971	3–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	18–8–3
30	W	December 15, 1971	4–1	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	19–8–3
31	L	December 18, 1971	1–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	19–9–3
32	T	December 19, 1971	1–1	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	19–9–4
33	W	December 21, 1971	3–2	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	20–9–4
34	L	December 25, 1971	1–2	New York Rangers (1971–72)	20–10–4
35	L	December 26, 1971	1–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	20–11–4
36	T	December 30, 1971	2–2	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	20–11–5
37	W	January 1, 1972	3–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	21–11–5
38	W	January 5, 1972	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	22–11–5
39	L	January 8, 1972	1–5	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	22–12–5
40	T	January 11, 1972	2–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	22–12–6
41	L	January 12, 1972	0–2	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	22–13–6
42	L	January 15, 1972	2–7	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	22–14–6
43	L	January 16, 1972	2–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	22–15–6
44	T	January 18, 1972	1–1	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	22–15–7
45	W	January 19, 1972	4–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	23–15–7
46	W	January 22, 1972	4–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	24–15–7
47	W	January 23, 1972	5–3	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	25–15–7
48	W	January 27, 1972	6–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	26–15–7
49	W	January 29, 1972	4–2	New York Rangers (1971–72)	27–15–7
50	T	January 30, 1972	1–1	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	27–15–8
51	L	February 2, 1972	2–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	27–16–8
52	L	February 3, 1972	1–6	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	27–17–8
53	T	February 5, 1972	3–3	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	27–17–9
54	L	February 6, 1972	0–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	27–18–9
55	W	February 9, 1972	4–1	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	28–18–9
56	W	February 10, 1972	3–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	29–18–9
57	W	February 12, 1972	5–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	30–18–9
58	W	February 16, 1972	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	31–18–9
59	L	February 19, 1972	4–6	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	31–19–9
60	W	February 20, 1972	2–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	32–19–9
61	L	February 24, 1972	2–4	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	32–20–9
62	L	February 26, 1972	2–3	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	32–21–9
63	L	March 2, 1972	0–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	32–22–9
64	L	March 4, 1972	2–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	32–23–9
65	W	March 5, 1972	2–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	33–23–9
66	L	March 8, 1972	4–5	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	33–24–9
67	T	March 12, 1972	2–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	33–24–10
68	L	March 14, 1972	3–4	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	33–25–10
69	W	March 16, 1972	6–2	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	34–25–10
70	L	March 18, 1972	3–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	34–26–10
71	L	March 19, 1972	3–7	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	34–27–10
72	W	March 21, 1972	4–2	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	35–27–10
73	T	March 23, 1972	4–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	35–27–11
74	L	March 25, 1972	2–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	35–28–11
75	W	March 26, 1972	5–0	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	36–28–11
76	T	March 28, 1972	2–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	36–28–12
77	W	March 31, 1972	2–1	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	37–28–12
78	L	April 2, 1972	1–4	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	37–29–12

Playoffs

St. Louis Blues 4, Minnesota North Stars 3

This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with St. Louis winning two of the three previous series. Kevin O’Shea scored the series winner in overtime in Game 7.

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	April 5, 1972	3–0	St. Louis Blues	1–0
2	W	April 6, 1972	6–5 (OT)	St. Louis Blues	2–0
3	L	April 8, 1972	1–2	@ St. Louis Blues	2–1
4	L	April 9, 1972	2–3	@ St. Louis Blues	2–2
5	W	April 13, 1972	4–3	St. Louis Blues	3–2
6	L	April 15, 1972	2–4	@ St. Louis Blues	3–3
7	L	April 18, 1972	1–2 (OT)	St. Louis Blues	3–4

Awards and Records

• The North Stars did not win any awards this season.

Gallery

Bobby Orr scores, October 31, 1971.

John McKenzie and Gump Worsley, March 19, 1972.

See Also

• 1971–72 NHL season

References

• 1971–72 Minnesota North Stars Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-21.