1969 - 70 NHL season The 1969 - 70 NHL season was the 53rd season of the National Hockey League . Twelve teams each played 76 games . For the third straight season , the St . Louis Blues reached the Stanley Cup finals , and for the third straight year , they were swept four games to none . This time , however , it was the Boston Bruins , not the Montreal Canadiens , who swept them for the Stanley Cup . Regular season . Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins became the first defenceman in NHL history to win the league scoring championship . He did it by setting a new record for assists with 87 and totalling 120 points , only six shy of the point record set the previous season by teammate Phil Esposito . Along the way , he also won the Norris Trophy for the third straight year as the top defenceman , the Hart Trophy for league MVP , and the Conn Smythe Trophy for the playoff MVP . Gordie Howe finished the season within the ten leading NHL point scorers for an all time record of 21 consecutive seasons . For the third straight season , the St . Louis Blues easily won the West Division , being the only team in the division to have a winning record . The East Division , however , saw a temporary changing of the guard , as Montreal dropped from first the previous season to fifth , missing the playoffs on goal differential with New York . This led to an unusual incident where in their final game and down 5 - 2 to Chicago , the Canadiens would make the playoffs if they scored three more goals regardless of the game ' s outcome . Coach Claude Ruel pulled his goaltender with nearly nine minutes left in the third period in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to do so . Chicago would score five times into the empty Montreal net , to win 10 - 2 . It would be the only season Montreal failed to make the playoffs between 1948 and 1995 and set up the only playoffs in NHL history ( as of 2007 ) to feature no Canadian teams . These developments were instrumental in the decision to move Chicago to the West Division in conjunction with the 1970 expansion , and the adoption of " crossover " playoff series between East and West Division teams the following season . The continuing imbalance led to the exclusion of West Division teams from the Stanley Cup final for the next three seasons . The New York Rangers were in first place for a time , but injuries on the blueline doomed any hope of a first place finish . The Rangers obtained Tim Horton in desperation . The Bruins and the Black Hawks both tied for the lead in the East with 99 points , but Chicago was awarded first place because they had more wins . It was Chicago ' s first first - place finish in history . Final standings . " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , Pts = Points , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against , PIM = Penalties in minutes " < br > " Note : Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold " Scoring leaders . " Note : GP = Games Played , G = Goals , A = Assists , Pts = Points " Stanley Cup playoffs . The Boston Bruins and New York Rangers were paired in the East Division playoffs . The Bruins clobbered the Rangers 8 - 2 in game one and Ranger coach Emile Francis yanked Ed Giacomin when the score reached 7 - 1 . Terry Sawchuk took over in goal . Sawchuk replaced Giacomin in game two , but a new goaler was not the answer as Boston won 5 - 3 . Game three featured a disgraceful welcome of the Bruins when they skated out on Madison Square Garden ice . The fans booed and shouted obscenities at the Bruins players , shook their fists at them and made obscene gestures at them . Two Bruins players made obscene gestures at the fans . Gerry Cheevers , the Bruins goaltender , was the target of eggs , coins and rubber balls . The Bruins won the opening face - off and Giacomin made the save on Phil Esposito . The line of Derek Sanderson , Don Marcotte and Ed Westfall replaced the Esposito line to the boos of the crowd . Just before the face - off , Giacomin skated to Sanderson and reportedly said " We ' re being paid to get you tonight . " On the face - off , the puck went behind the Ranger net and Sanderson went after it . He was immediately smashed into the boards by Walt Tkaczuk and Arnie Brown . Then he collided with Dave Balon . Sanderson dropped his stick and gloves and went at Balon , which brought Brad Park and Bill Fairbairn into the fight . Don Marcotte joined in . Then the game erupted into a series of fights . The fans , turned on by the mayhem , threw eggs , apple cores , an aerosol shave cream container , oranges and other debris . When Sanderson was ejected from the game , he screamed at referee John Ashley . Police grappled with fans trying to attack the Bruins players at the Bruins players bench . The game erupted into more fights and brawls on the ice and fans threw eggs , nails , coins and other garbage . It took 19 minutes to play the first 91 seconds of the game . When the most violent , penalty - ridden game in playoff history [ to this time ] was over , the teams had set a record 38 penalties for 174 minutes . Almost forgotten was that the Rangers won 4 - 3 . Game four had Rod Gilbert score two goals in a 4 - 2 Ranger win . Giacomin was brilliant in goal for the Rangers and one of the highlights was stopping Derek Sanderson on a shorthanded breakaway . Game five was won by Boston 3 - 2 as Esposito scored two goals . Bobby Orr set up the winner when he stole a pass at center ice when the Rangers were foolishly caught on a line change . Game six was won easily by the Bruins and featured another disgraceful exhibition of fan abuse . Bobby Orr scored two goals , including the winner . Fans threw eggs , and ball bearings on the ice , and when the outcome was no longer in doubt , they set fires in the mezzanine of Madison Square Garden . In the Chicago - Detroit series , the Black Hawks swept the series , ironically , all four games by 4 - 2 scores . In the West Division playoffs , the St . Louis Blues ousted the Minnesota North Stars in six games . The Blues won the first two games at the St . Louis Arena . Game three at the Metropolitan Sports Center featured Gump Worsley ' s sharp goaltending and Bill Goldsworthy scoring two goals in a 4 - 2 win for the North Stars . Cesare Maniago played in goal for Minnesota in game four and picked up a 4 - 0 shutout , tying the series . Game five at St . Louis Arena was tied 3 - 3 when St Louis scored three goals in the third period by Red Berenson , Terry Gray and Jim Roberts and the Blues won 6 - 3 . In game six , Ab McDonald scored two goals as the Blues eliminated the North Stars by a score of 4 - 2 . In the Pittsburgh - Oakland series , in game one , Nick Harbaruk ' s goal midway through the third period was the winner as Pittsburgh won 2 - 1 . In game two , Gary Jarrett gave Oakland a 1 - 0 lead , but Pittsburgh came back to win 3 - 1 . Game three at Oakland featured a hat trick by Ken Schinkel of the Penguins as Pittsburgh won 5 - 2 . Game four featured Oakland having 1 - 0 and 2 - 1 leads , but the Seals just couldn ' t hold on and the game was tied 2 - 2 at the end of regulation time . Overtime was necessary and Michel Briere scored the series winning goal at 8 : 28 of overtime for Pittsburgh . In the East Division finals , Boston surprisingly beat Chicago in four straight games . In the West Division finals , the St . Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games . The Stanley Cup final would then be Boston vs . St . Louis . Finals . Boston Bruins vs . St . Louis Blues " Boston wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 0 " Phil Esposito of the Bruins led all playoff scorers with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points , at the time a new NHL playoff record , followed by Orr with 20 points and Johnny Bucyk of the Bruins with 19 points . Gerry Cheevers of the Bruins led all goaltenders with twelve wins , while Jacques Plante of the Blues led all goaltenders in goals against average in the playoffs with 1 . 48 . Debuts . The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1969 - 70 ( listed with their first team , asterisk ( * ) marks debut in playoffs ) : Last games . The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1969 - 70 ( listed with their last team ) :