Hockey Cover of the Week

THE SPORTING NEWS

February 21st 1970

Tony Esposito of the Chicago Blackhawks

Magazine Cover of the Week

Hockey Digest

June 1980

Tony Esposito 

(Chicago Black Hawks)

1972 NHL AWARDS

1972 NHL AWARDS

(Left to Right)

Tony Esposito (Vezina Trophy) Chicago Blackhawks

 Jean Ratelle (Lady Byng Trophy) New York Rangers

 Bobby Orr (Hart and Norris Trophy) Boston Bruins

Ken Dryden (Calder Trophy) Montreal Canadiens

Today in NHL History (March 29th)

1970 

Tony Esposito (Chicago Black Hawks) recorded his 15th shutout. It was an NHL record for rookie goalies and the most shut outs in the modern era.  Tony would win the Calder as Rookie of the Year and Vezina Trophy for 1970.

2013

Jaromir Jagr (Dallas Stars) scored is 1,000th assist in a game against the Minnesota Wild. He was the 12th NHL player to reach 1,000 points and the first non-Canadian NHL player to reach the mark.

Hockey Magazine Cover of the Week

March 29th 1971

Phil and Tony Esposito 

NHL AWARDS 1969

1969 - Boston Bruins Tony Esposito (left) wins the first of his 2 Hart trophies as NHL MVP and his 1st of 5 Art Ross trophies as the NHL top point getter in the regular season.  Bobby Orr (right) wins the 2nd of his 8 consecutive Norris trophies as the NHL's top defenseman.

Happy Birthday Tony Esposito

April 23rd 2014

Tony Esposito is 71

We Love Hockey!

The 1969-1970 Season saw Tony Esposito (center) recorded an NHL record 15 shutouts with the help of Bobby Hull (left) and Gary Pinder (right).
This led the Blackhawks from last in their division in 1968-69 to division champions in 1969-1970. They were swept in the Stanley Cup semi-finals by eventual Cup champions Boston Bruins.

Stat of the Day for June 16th 2012

Here are the Top Ten most watched Stanley Cup Games on network television from 1966-2011

10 - Boston vs Philadelphia  (5/19/1974) Game 6 - 7.85 million NBC
9  -  Pittsburgh vs Detroit  (6/12/2009)  Game 7 - 7.99 million NBC
8  -  Boston vs NY Rangers  (5/7/1972)  Game 4 - 8.26 million CBS
7  -  Chicago vs Philadelphia  (6/09/2010)  Game 6 - 8.28 million NBC
6  -  Boston vs Philadelphia  (5/12/1974)  Game 3 - 8.30 million NBC
5  -  NY Rangers vs Boston  (4/30/1972)  Game 1 - 8.51 million CBS
4  -  Boston vs Vancouver  (6/15/2011)  Game 7 - 8.54 million NBC
3  -  Montreal vs Chicago  (5/10/1973)  Game 6  -  9.41 million NBC
2  -  Boston vs NY Rangers  (5/11/1972)  Game 6 - 10.93 million CBS
1  -  Montreal vs Chicago  (5/18/1971)  Game 7 - 12.41 million CBS
 

1970 Stanley Cup Finals

Today in 1970 game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals saw the Boston Bruins sweep the St Louis Blues and win the Cup .


Bobby Orr scored what is arguably the most famous goal in Stanley Cup history in Overtime to bring the Cup to Boston.
The fourth game of the finals was the closest of the four games since Boston had won the first 2 games 6-1 and 6-2, the third game 4-1 and the final game in OT was 4-3.

Phil Esposito led all players with 27 points (13 goals,14 assist)which set a new playoff record for points, but Bobby Orr would win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Finals MVP.
On their way to the finals the Bruins swept the regular season champion Chicago BlackHawks in the Eastern Division finals. The Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in a close series, 4 games to 2 in the Western Division Finals.

The regular season awards were dominated by Bruins superstar defenseman Bobby Orr, he took home the Art Ross Trophy (a first for a defenseman), the Hart Trophy as league MVP and the Norris Trophy as well as leading the league in Plus/Minus rating.

The Calder Trophy for the Rookie of the year and the Vezina for the top goaltender went to the Blackhawks Tony Esposito as he backstopped the Hawks to the leagues best record of 45-22-9, giving up only 170 goals.

The Lady Byng Trophy went to St Louis center Phil Goyette. He career highs with 29 goals, 49 assist for 78 points.
He was soon to be named the first head coach of the expansion New York Islanders, even though he would be replaced midway through the first season after a 6-38-4 start. He would never coach in the NHL again.