NHL Eastern Division

The East Division of the National Hockey League existed from 1967, when the NHL was made up of a single division, until 1974 when the league realigned its format into two conferences of two divisions each.

In 1967, the NHL doubled in size, going from six teams to twelve. The Original Six, as the pre-1967 teams were known, were grouped into the East Division, while the expansion teams were placed into the new NHL Western Division. This was done in order to keep teams of similar strength in the same division, regardless of geographic location. This competitive imbalance would lead to East Division teams winning the Stanley Cup in five of the six years the league was divided into two divisions. Another consequence was that in 1969–70, the Montreal Canadiens, who had scored 92 points (more than any team in the West Division), missed the playoffs – the only time between 1948–49 and 1993–94 that they did so.

When the NHL expanded again in 1970, the two new teams, the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres, were placed into the stronger East Division. To create a more balanced alignment, the Chicago Black Hawks were transferred into the West Division. The NHL expanded again in 1972; each division was given one of the expansion clubs, with the New York Islanders joining the East Division and the Atlanta Flames joining the West Division.

By 1974, another two teams (the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts) entered the NHL, and as a result the league underwent a major overhaul. The East and West Divisions were renamed the Prince of Wales and Clarence Campbell Conferences, respectively, composed of nine teams each. The conferences were further divided into two divisions: the Norris and Adams Divisions for the Wales Conference, and the Patrick and Smythe Divisions for the Campbell Conference. Because the Conferences were not geographically-based, the league opted to name the conferences and divisions after historical figures associated with the NHL.

Composition of the East Division

• Montreal Canadiens (1967–74)
• New York Rangers (1967–74)
• Boston Bruins (1967–74)
• Chicago Black Hawks (1967–70)
• Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–74)
• Detroit Red Wings (1967–74)
• Buffalo Sabres (1970–74)
• Vancouver Canucks (1970–74)
• New York Islanders (1972–1974)

Final standings, 1968–74

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

1967–68

1967–68	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Montreal Canadiens	74	42	22	10	94	236	167	700
New York Rangers	74	39	23	12	90	226	183	673
Boston Bruins	74	37	27	10	84	259	216	1043
Chicago Black Hawks	74	32	26	16	80	212	222	606
Toronto Maple Leafs	74	33	31	10	76	209	176	634
Detroit Red Wings	74	27	35	12	66	245	257	759

1968–69

1968–69	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Montreal Canadiens	76	46	19	11	103	271	202	780
Boston Bruins	76	42	18	16	100	303	221	1297
New York Rangers	76	41	26	9	91	231	196	806
Toronto Maple Leafs	76	35	26	15	85	234	217	961
Detroit Red Wings	76	33	31	12	78	239	221	885
Chicago Black Hawks	76	34	33	9	77	280	246	842

1969–70

1969–70	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Chicago Black Hawks	76	45	22	9	99	250	170	901
Boston Bruins	76	40	17	19	99	277	216	1196
Detroit Red Wings	76	40	21	15	95	246	199	907
New York Rangers	76	38	22	16	92	246	189	853
Montreal Canadiens	76	38	22	16	92	244	201	892
Toronto Maple Leafs	76	29	34	13	71	222	242	898

1970–71

1970–71	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Boston Bruins	78	57	14	7	121	399	207	1154
New York Rangers	78	49	18	11	109	259	177	952
Montreal Canadiens	78	42	23	13	97	291	216	1271
Toronto Maple Leafs	78	37	33	8	82	248	211	1133
Buffalo Sabres	78	24	39	15	63	217	291	1188
Vancouver Canucks	78	24	46	8	56	229	296	1371
Detroit Red Wings	78	22	45	11	55	209	308	988

1971–72

1971–72	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Boston Bruins	78	54	13	11	119	330	204	1112
New York Rangers	78	48	17	13	109	317	192	1010
Montreal Canadiens	78	46	16	16	108	307	205	783
Toronto Maple Leafs	78	33	31	14	80	209	208	887
Detroit Red Wings	78	33	35	10	76	261	262	850
Buffalo Sabres	78	16	43	19	51	203	289	831
Vancouver Canucks	78	20	50	8	48	203	297	1092

1972–73

1972–73	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Montreal Canadiens	78	52	10	16	120	329	184	783
Boston Bruins	78	51	22	5	107	330	235	1097
New York Rangers	78	47	23	8	102	297	208	765
Buffalo Sabres	78	37	27	14	88	257	219	940
Detroit Red Wings	78	37	29	12	86	265	243	893
Toronto Maple Leafs	78	27	41	10	64	247	279	716
Vancouver Canucks	78	22	47	9	53	233	339	943
New York Islanders	78	12	60	6	30	170	347	881

1973–74

1973–74	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Boston Bruins	78	52	17	9	113	349	221	968
Montreal Canadiens	78	45	24	9	99	293	240	761
New York Rangers	78	40	24	14	94	300	251	782
Toronto Maple Leafs	78	35	27	16	86	274	230	903
Buffalo Sabres	78	32	34	12	76	242	250	787
Detroit Red Wings	78	29	39	10	68	255	319	917
Vancouver Canucks	78	24	43	11	59	224	296	952
New York Islanders	78	19	41	18	56	182	247	1075

East Division Champions

See Prince of Wales Trophy

Stanley Cup champions produced

As the East Division was composed of the Original Six franchises, these teams had a competitive advantage over the West Division teams for several years.

• 1967–68 - Montreal Canadiens
• 1968–69 - Montreal Canadiens
• 1969–70 - Boston Bruins
• 1970–71 - Montreal Canadiens
• 1971–72 - Boston Bruins
• 1972–73 - Montreal Canadiens