The 1973 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

's (NHL) 1972–73 season, and the culmination of the

1973 Stanley Cup playoffs Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

. It was contested between the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, a rematch of the 1971 Final. The Canadiens won the best-of-seven series, four games to two.

Paths to the Finals

Chicago defeated the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

4–1 and the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

4–1 to advance to the final. Montreal defeated the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

4–2 and the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...

4–1 to set up an "Original Six" final.

Game summaries

Yvan Cournoyer Yvan Serge Cournoyer (born November 22, 1943) is a Canadian former professional hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens from 1963 to 1979. In 1972, Cournoyer scored the tying goal in the deciding ...

and

Jacques Lemaire Jacques Gerard Lemaire (born September 7, 1945) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward and head coach who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984. He spent his entire twelve-year National Hockey League (NHL) playing career with the Mo ...

would both have 12 points in the finals for the Canadiens. The Conn Smythe Trophy went to Cournoyer, who had six goals. It was

Henri Richard Joseph Henri Richard (February 29, 1936 – March 6, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played centre with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1955 to 1975. He was nicknamed "Pocket Rocket" aft ...

's eleventh and last win of the Stanley Cup and

Scotty Bowman William Scott Bowman, OC (born September 18, 1933) is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) head coach. He holds the record for most wins in league history, with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup playoffs and ...

's first.

Team rosters

Montreal Canadiens

Chicago Black Hawks

Note: '' Stan Mikita served as the Black Hawks unofficial team captain during the

. Mikita was the alternate captain with the longest tenure in the league on the roster at the time of the playoffs.

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1973 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Henri Richard by NHL President

Clarence Campbell Clarence Sutherland Campbell, (July 9, 1905 – June 24, 1984) was a Canadian ice hockey executive, referee, and soldier. He refereed in the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1930s, served in the Canadian Army during World War II, th ...

following the Canadiens 6–4 win over the Black Hawks in game six. The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup 1972–73 Montreal Canadiens

Notes

References

* * {{Navboxes, list1= {{Stanley Cup Finals {{1972–73 NHL season by team {{Chicago Blackhawks {{Montreal Canadiens {{NHL on NBC {{Hockey Night in Canada Stanley Cup Stanley Cup Finals Chicago Blackhawks games Montreal Canadiens games Stanley Cup Finals Stanley Cup Finals Sports competitions in Montreal Sports competitions in Chicago 1970s in Montreal 1973 in Quebec Stanley Cup Finals 1970s in Chicago