The Avengers- The 1972 Bruins Season

This was one dollar.  I have been meaning to post this during hockey playoffs.  Chance are, if you are a hockey fan, that this years playoffs did not go as you had planned.  As an Oiler fan, you would figure I would be happy with this years performance given the last last, dismal ten years, but anything less than a Cup is a bit disappointing for me.  

If you are a Bruins’ fan, at least it was a quick exit for you.  I watched a bit of the Bruins/Sens series while switching between the Leafs/Caps.  In comparison, the speed and skill of the Caps/Leafs made the Bruins/Sens look super sluggish.  Almost like one of my men’s league games.

Anyway, back to this record, here is a season overview of the Boston Bruins’ glorious 1972 season, which saw them finish first in the league with 119 points as well as the overall Stanley Cup Winner. Phil Esposito won the Art Ross scoring title netting 66 goals along the way.  Bobby Orr finished second in scoring but had himself a busy year picking up the Norris, Hart, and Conn Smythe trophies. He also racked up 106 penalty minutes along the way.  The 70’s game was not today’s hockey and a superstar like Orr, as Don Cherry would say, was definitely not afraid to go.

Gerry Cheevers set a record which I believe still stands, going undeafeted for 33 games in a row. Other members such as Johnny Bucyk, Derek Sanderson, Wayne Cashman, and Ken Hodge also had solid seasons as well.  

This record highlights season and post season exploits of the Big Bad Bruins.  The moments of individual achievement as well as the payoff run are exciting.  It is also interesting to hear Derek Sanderson speak of his fear of flying as well as hear Garnet “Ace” Bailey speak of his game winning goal in Game One of the finals.  Bailey would pass away in one of the hijacked planes during 9/11.

As stated above, the Bruins path to the Cup lasted 5 games against the Maple Leafs, 4 against St Louis, and 6 games in the finals against the New York Rangers. Here, I believe is an excerpt from the Finals.

In general, I do not get too excited about spoken word albums and the fact that I am not a Bruins fan does not help much.  But this was a dollar and the 1972 Bruins were a great team.  This album is interesting enough for me.  Satisfactory enough.  For your Bruins fans and for most anybody else from a real hockey town, there is always next season.