Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader® Shoots and Scores: Updated & Expanded Edition by Bathroom Readers’ Institute

Author:Bathroom Readers’ Institute [Bathroom Readers’ Institute]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Portable Press

LENGTHY STAYS ON THE THRONE

The Canadiens top the list of teams that won the Stanley Cup in streaks to earn the “dynasty” title.

Compared to the great ones of history, say, the Bourbon dynasty which ruled France for 200 years, the hockey teams that have earned that name have had rather short rules. Hockey’s longest run at the top was the five consecutive Stanley Cup championships won by the Montreal Canadiens from 1956 to 1960—the icebound equivalent of the Bourbon run.

BUT WHO SHOT J. R.?

The number of teams earning the dynasty sobriquet is not long, partly because the Cup has been so dominated by the Canadiens’ three lengthy stretches of success. In addition to the five in a row, the Montreal club won four consecutive crowns from 1976 to 1979, and four in five years within a string of six in nine from 1965 to 1973.

The New York Islanders had four Cup triumphs in a row from 1980 to 1982 while the Toronto Maple Leafs were the first to win three consecutive Cups—from 1946 to 1949—making it four in five in 1951, and earned another three in a row in the early 1960s. The Edmonton Oilers collected four titles in five seasons, five in seven from 1984 to 1990. In the early years of Cup competition, two teams—the Ottawa Silver Seven and Montreal Victorias—had lengthy stays in the throne room.

RICHARD’S REIGN (HENRI, THAT IS)

A couple of goals in the right places and the Canadiens’ Cup streak in the 1950s would have been eight in a row. They won in 1953, then lost two seven-game finals to the powerful Detroit Red Wings before launching their record run of five crowns. On that roll, the Canadiens won 40 games and lost only nine, and in only two of ten series did their opponents win two games.

The Canadiens had it all: size, speed, offensive power, defensive acumen, great motivation and spirit—plus tough taskmaster in coach Toe Blake, who kept the team’s ambition at a high level. The best testimonial to the team’s greatness is that 11 members are in the Hockey Hall of Fame: Blake and general manager Frank Selke, goalie Jacques Plante, defencemen Doug Harvey and Tom Johnson, forwards Maurice “Rocket” and Henri “Pocket Rocket” Richard, Jean Béliveau, Dickie Moore, Bernie Geoffrion, and Bert Olmstead.

TWO BIG GUNS, TWO BIG RUNS

Béliveau and Henri Richard were holdovers into the 1960s when the Canadiens started another splendid stretch in the 1964–65 season with excellent young players developed in their farm system. They won the Cup in 1965 and 1966, were upset by the Leafs in 1967, then won back-to-back titles in 1968 and 1969. With fantastic young goalie Ken Dryden and a cast of solid veterans, they added victories in 1971 and 1973, the latter with Scotty Bowman as coach.

While the Philadelphia Flyers were bullying their way to two wins, the Canadiens were building an extraordinary team with Dryden, defencemen Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard, and forwards Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Jacques Lemaire, and Bob Gainey.

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