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 two-time 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 to win their 19th Stanley Cup in franchise history.

1976 Stanley Cup Finals
1234Total
Montreal Canadiens42354
Philadelphia Flyers31230
Location(s)Montreal: Montreal Forum (1, 2)
Philadelphia: Spectrum (3, 4)
CoachesMontreal: Scotty Bowman
Philadelphia: Fred Shero
CaptainsMontreal: Yvan Cournoyer
Philadelphia: Bobby Clarke
National anthemsMontreal: Roger Doucet
Philadelphia: Kate Smith
RefereesRon Wicks (1)
Dave Newell (2)
Wally Harris (3)
Lloyd Gilmour (4)
DatesMay 9–16, 1976
MVPReggie Leach (Flyers)
Series-winning goalGuy Lafleur (14:18, third, G4)
Hall of FamersCanadiens:
Yvan Cournoyer (1982)
Ken Dryden (1983)
Bob Gainey (1992)
Guy Lafleur (1988)
Guy Lapointe (1993)
Jacques Lemaire (1984)
Larry Robinson (1995)
Serge Savard (1986)
Steve Shutt (1993)
Flyers:
Bill Barber (1990)
Bobby Clarke (1987)
Bernie Parent (1984)
Coaches:
Scotty Bowman (1991)
Fred Shero (2013)
NetworksCanada:
(English): CBC
(French): SRC
United States:
(English): NHL Network
Announcers(CBC) Danny Gallivan and Dick Irvin Jr.
(SRC) Rene Lecavalier and Gilles Tremblay
(NHLN) Marv Albert (1, 3–4), Ted Darling (2), Stan Mikita (1), Garry Unger (2), Chico Resch (3), and Curt Bennett (4)
← 1975Stanley Cup Finals1977 →

Paths to the Finals

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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

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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 2023. 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).


May 9Philadelphia Flyers3–4Montreal CanadiensMontreal ForumRecap 
Reggie Leach (16) - 00:21
Ross Lonsberry (4) - 13:22
First periodNo scoring
No scoringSecond period4:04 - Jimmy Roberts (3)
6:30 - Larry Robinson (3)
Larry Goodenough (3) - pp - 5:17Third period10:02 - Jacques Lemaire (2)
18:38 - Guy Lapointe (3)
Wayne StephensonGoalie statsKen Dryden
May 11Philadelphia Flyers1–2Montreal CanadiensMontreal ForumRecap 
No scoringFirst periodNo scoring
No scoringSecond period15:19 - sh - Jacques Lemaire (3)
Dave Schultz (2) - 17:35Third period2:41 - Guy Lafleur (6)
Wayne StephensonGoalie statsKen Dryden
May 13Montreal Canadiens3–2Philadelphia FlyersThe SpectrumRecap 
Steve Shutt (5) - pp - 3:17First period8:40 - pp - Reggie Leach (17)
18:14 - Reggie Leach (18)
Steve Shutt (6) - pp - 1:09Second periodNo scoring
Pierre Bouchard (1) - 9:16Third periodNo scoring
Ken DrydenGoalie statsWayne Stephenson
May 16Montreal Canadiens5–3Philadelphia FlyersThe SpectrumRecap 
Steve Shutt (7) - pp - 5:35
Pierre Bouchard (2) - pp - 11:48
First period00:40 - Reggie Leach (19)
18:20 - pp - Bill Barber (6)
Yvan Cournoyer (3) - pp - 19:49Second period13:59 - pp - Andre Dupont (2)
Guy Lafleur (7) - 14:18
Peter Mahovlich (4) - 15:16
Third periodNo scoring
Ken DrydenGoalie statsWayne Stephenson
Montreal won series 4–0


Reggie Leach won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Team rosters

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Montreal Canadiens

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No.NatPlayerPosS/GAgeAcquiredBirthplace
1 Michel LarocqueGL241972Hull, Quebec
2 Bill NyropDL231972Washington, D.C.
3 John Van BoxmeerDR231972Petrolia, Ontario
5 Guy LapointeDL281969Montreal, Quebec
6 Jimmy RobertsRWR361971Toronto, Ontario
8 Doug RisebroughCL221974Guelph, Ontario
10 Guy LafleurRWR241971Thurso, Quebec
11 Yvon LambertLWL251971Drummondville, Quebec
12 Yvan Cournoyer (C)RWL321963Montreal, Quebec
14 Mario TremblayRWR191974Alma, Quebec
17 Murray WilsonCL241971Toronto, Canada
18 Serge SavardDL301966Landrienne, Quebec
19 Larry RobinsonDL241971Winchester, Ontario
20 Peter MahovlichCL291969Timmins, Ontario
21 Doug JarvisCL211975Brantford, Ontario
22 Steve ShuttLWL231972North York, Ontario
23 Bob GaineyLWL211973Peterborough, Ontario
24 Don AwreyDL321975Kitchener, Ontario
25 Jacques LemaireCL301967LaSalle, Quebec
26 Pierre BouchardDL281965Longueuil, Quebec
27 Rick ChartrawDR211974Caracas, Venezuela
29 Ken DrydenGL281964Hamilton, Ontario

Philadelphia Flyers

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No.NatPlayerPosS/GAgeAcquiredBirthplace
1 Bernie ParentGL311973Montreal, Quebec
3 Tom BladonDR231972Edmonton, Alberta
5 Larry GoodenoughDR231973Toronto, Ontario
6 Andre DupontDL261972Trois-Rivières, Quebec
7 Bill BarberLWL231972Callander, Ontario
8 Dave SchultzLWL261969Waldheim, Saskatchewan
9 Bob KellyLWL251970Oakville, Ontario
10 Mel BridgmanCL211975Trenton, Ontario
11 Don SaleskiRWR261972Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
12 Gary DornhoeferRWR331967Kitchener, Ontario
14 Joe WatsonDL321967Smithers, British Columbia
15 Terry CrispCL321973Parry Sound, Ontario
16 Bobby Clarke (C)CL261969Flin Flon, Manitoba
18 Ross LonsberryLWL291972Watson, Saskatchewan
20 Jim WatsonDL231972Smithers, British Columbia
25 Terry MurrayDL251975Shawville, Quebec
26 Orest KindrachukCL251972Nanton, Alberta
27 Reggie LeachRWR261974Riverton, Manitoba
29 Jack McIlhargeyDL241975Edmonton, Alberta
35 Wayne StephensonGL311974Fort William, Ontario

Stanley Cup engraving

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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

1975–76 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.
  • Murray Wilson's name was misspelled in 1973, 1976, 1977 as MURRY WILSON missing an "A". Murray Wilson was spelled correctly on the Stanley Cup in 1978. Wilson's name was also spelled correctly all 4 times on the Replica 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

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Notes

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References

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External videos
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 Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup champions

1976
Succeeded by