1975-76 NHL season

The 1975-76 NHL season was the 59th season of the National Hockey League. Eighteen teams each played 80 games.

This season also marked the final time that Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television in Canada would air radio broadcasts of games, with HNIC moving exclusively to television the next season.

Regular Season

The Montreal Canadiens set records in wins with 58 and points with 127, beginning a four-year stretch where they dominated the league in the regular season and win four straight Stanley Cup titles. The Philadelphia Flyers tied the record set by the 1929–30 Boston Bruins for most consecutive home ice wins, with 20.

During the regular season, between December 28 and January 10, "Super Series '76" took place as two teams from the Soviet Championship League played eight exhibitions against NHL teams. HC CSKA Moscow (the "Red Army Club"), defending Soviet champion, played against the New York Rangers, Montreal, Boston and, on January 11, the defending NHL champion, the Philadelphia Flyers, while Krylya Sovetov Moscow ("the Soviet Wings") played against Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Chicago and the New York Islanders.

The blockbuster trade of the year saw the Boston Bruins send superstar center Phil Esposito and star defenceman Carol Vadnais to the New York Rangers for star center Jean Ratelle and superstar defenceman Brad Park. Both Ratelle and Park excelled for the Bruins for years to come, while Esposito's days as the preeminent scorer in the NHL were behind him.

On February 7, 1976, Darryl Sittler set an NHL record that still stands for most points scored in one game. He recorded 10 points (six goals, four assists) against the Boston Bruins.

Final Standings

Prince of Wales Conference

Adams Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Boston Bruins	80	48	15	17	313	237	113
Buffalo Sabres	80	46	21	13	339	240	105
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	34	31	15	294	276	83
California Golden Seals	80	27	42	11	250	278	65

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.

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	80	58	11	11	337	174	127
Los Angeles Kings	80	38	33	9	263	265	85
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	35	33	12	339	303	82
Detroit Red Wings	80	26	44	10	226	300	62
Washington Capitals	80	11	59	10	224	394	32

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.

Clarence Campbell Conference

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Philadelphia Flyers	80	51	13	16	348	209	118
New York Islanders	80	42	21	17	297	190	101
Atlanta Flames	80	35	33	12	262	237	82
New York Rangers	80	29	42	9	262	333	67

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.

Smythe Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Chicago Black Hawks	80	32	30	18	254	261	82
Vancouver Canucks	80	33	32	15	271	272	81
St. Louis Blues	80	29	37	14	249	290	72
Minnesota North Stars	80	20	53	7	195	303	47
Kansas City Scouts	80	12	56	12	190	351	36

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.

Scoring Leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Guy Lafleur	Montreal Canadiens	80	56	69	125	36
Bobby Clarke	Philadelphia Flyers	76	30	89	119	136
Gilbert Perreault	Buffalo Sabres	80	44	69	113	36
Bill Barber	Philadelphia Flyers	80	50	62	112	104
Pierre Larouche	Pittsburgh Penguins	76	53	58	111	33
Jean Ratelle	Boston Bruins / New York Rangers	80	36	69	105	18
Pete Mahovlich	Montreal Canadiens	80	34	71	105	76
Jean Pronovost	Pittsburgh Penguins	80	52	52	104	24
Darryl Sittler	Toronto Maple Leafs	79	41	59	100	90
Syl Apps, Jr.	Pittsburgh Penguins	80	32	67	99	24

Leading Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Player	Team	GP	MIN	GA	GAA	W	L	T	SO
Ken Dryden	Montreal Canadiens	62	3580	121	2.03	42	10	8	8
Chico Resch	N.Y. Islanders	44	2546	88	2.07	23	11	8	7
Dan Bouchard	Atlanta Flames	47	2671	113	2.54	19	17	8	2
Wayne Stephenson	Philadelphia Flyers	66	3819	164	2.58	40	10	13	1
Billy Smith	N.Y. Islanders	39	2254	98	2.61	19	10	9	3
Gilles Gilbert	Boston Bruins	55	3123	151	2.90	33	8	10	3
Tony Esposito	Chicago Black Hawks	68	4003	198	2.97	30	23	13	4
Rogatien Vachon	L.A. Kings	51	3060	160	3.14	26	20	5	5
Wayne Thomas	Toronto Maple Leafs	64	3684	196	3.19	28	24	12	2
Gary Simmons	California Seals	40	2360	131	3.33	15	19	5	2

Stanley Cup Playoffs

Playoff Bracket

	Preliminary Round					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
						1	Montreal Canadiens	4
						8	Chicago Black Hawks	0
											1	Montreal Canadiens	4
										4	New York Islanders	1
	1	Buffalo Sabres	2
	8	St. Louis Blues	1
						4	Buffalo Sabres	2
						5	New York Islanders	4
	2	New York Islanders	2
	7	Vancouver Canucks	0
																1	Montreal Canadiens	4
																2	Philadelphia Flyers	0
						2	Philadelphia Flyers	4
						7	Toronto Maple Leafs	3
	3	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
	6	Pittsburgh Penguins	1
											2	Philadelphia Flyers	4
										3	Boston Bruins	1
						3	Boston Bruins	4
						6	Los Angeles Kings	3
	4	Los Angeles Kings	2
	5	Atlanta Flames	0

Finals

The two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Philadelphia Flyers, once again made it to the finals, but were swept in four games by the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Date	Visitors	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 9	Philadelphia	3	Montreal	4
May 11	Philadelphia	1	Montreal	2
May 13	Montreal	3	Philadelphia	2
May 16	Montreal	5	Philadelphia	3

NHL Awards

Prince of Wales Trophy:	Montreal Canadiens
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl:	Philadelphia Flyers
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy:	Rod Gilbert, New York Rangers
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
Conn Smythe Trophy:	Reggie Leach, Philadelphia Flyers
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers
Jack Adams Award:	Don Cherry, Boston Bruins
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Denis Potvin, New York Islanders
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Jean Ratelle, New York Rangers/Boston Bruins
Lester B. Pearson Award:	Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
NHL Plus/Minus Award:	Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers
Vezina Trophy:	Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens
Lester Patrick Trophy:	Stan Mikita, George A. Leader, Bruce A. Norris

All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Ken Dryden, Montreal Canadiens	G	Glenn Resch, New York Islanders
Denis Potvin, New York Islanders	D	Borje Salming, Toronto Maple Leafs
Brad Park, Boston Bruins	D	Guy Lapointe, Montreal Canadiens
Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers	C	Gilbert Perreault, Buffalo Sabres
Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens	RW	Reggie Leach, Philadelphia Flyers
Bill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers	LW	Rick Martin, Buffalo Sabres

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1975-76 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Willi Plett, Atlanta Flames
• Dennis Maruk, California Golden Seals
• Bob Murray, Chicago Black Hawks
• Doug Jarvis, Montreal Canadiens
• Doug Risebrough, Montreal Canadiens
• Mario Tremblay, Montreal Canadiens
• Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
• Mel Bridgman, Philadelphia Flyers

Last Games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1975-76 (listed with their last team):

• Gary Bergman, Kansas City Scouts
• Bryan Hextall Jr., Minnesota North Stars
• Chico Maki, Chicago Black Hawks
• Bob Nevin, Los Angeles Kings
• Mickey Redmond, Detroit Red Wings
• Bill White, Chicago Black Hawks
• Terry Crisp, Philadelphia Flyers
• Andre Boudrias, Vancouver Canucks
• Tommy Williams, Washington Capitals

See Also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1975 NHL Amateur Draft
• 29th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• List of WHA seasons

Gallery

John Bucyk scores his 500th goal, October 30, 1975.

John Bucyk scores his 500th goal, October 30, 1975.

Bobby Orr and Brad Park play together, November 16, 1975.

Video

Over five minutes of game footage from the January 28, 1976 North Stars-Scouts game.

Minnesota North Stars 1975-76

Over ten minutes of the Canadiens-Black Hawks 1976 Quarter-finals Game 4.

1976-Last time Chicago and Montreal met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com