Houle key to '71 Stanley Cup

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Houle key to '71 Stanley Cup
By John McGourty | NHL.com
March 22, 2005

The Montreal Canadiens have won 25 Stanley Cups, none more satisfying than 1971 when they roared back from a rare year out of the playoffs to upset the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks. The two victories rank among the biggest upsets in Stanley Cup history and Rejean Houle had a hand in both.

Houle would go on to win four more Stanley Cups as a player and later became the Canadiens' Vice President and General Manager from 1995-2000.

"The Canadiens decided to put younger people in the lineup and bigger players, like (Frank) Mahovlich, a big left wing with a lot of experience, (Guy) Lapointe, (Phil) Roberto and (Pierre) Bouchard," Houle said. "We had an average team at the start of the year and Boston was a lot stronger. But when (Ken) Dryden came up he played fantastically well. That helped us beat Boston and Chicago."

- tinyurl.com/4gwul

[CentreHice]

That 1971 Cup was amazing. Beliveau's last stand. He was outstanding in every series.

Memories of that season for me:

The Collins-Redmond-Charron to Detroit trade for Frank Mahovlich. Whoever would have thought the Big M could wear the Big CH? I think he set a scoring record in those playoffs....27 points.

John Ferguson scoring the winner (I was listening to the game on the radio) in that 7-5 Game 2 comeback against Boston....then Frank Mahovlich icing it.

An often overlooked fact about those playoffs is that the Habs did it without Serge Savard, who was nursing his second broken leg.

Watching Jacques Laperriere, Terry Harper, and J.C. Tremblay play great defense. J.C. scoring the 3-1 goal in Game 7 vs. Boston. But the best goal of that game was the 4-1 goal in the third period. Bobby Orr lost the puck in his skates near centre ice, Lemaire stole it from him and went in on a 2-on-0 breakaway with the Big M. A sweet pass over to Frank.....wide open net.

The final vs. Chicago saw the home team win every game....until Game 7 in Chicago. Feeling really down when the Habs were behind 2-0 in that game. Energized when Lemaire's long shot from centre beat Espo. Elated when Richard tied it up before the second period ended.

Early in the third....watching the Pocket fend off Keith Magnuson on the left side.....sweep in on Espo....Tony goes for one of his big poke check sprawls...and Henri puts it over him. Dryden's big save on Pappin...Clarence Campbell presents Big Jean with his 10th and final Cup.

And of course....each play called by the best...Danny Gallivan.

Just bought the official Stanley Cup team photo of that season....framed and on the wall.

A classic team win...beating the odds against a Bruins' team who had destroyed the record book. Perhaps the North Stars series going 6 was a bit of a letdown after the Boston upset....but they sure got it together to go toe-to-toe with the Blackhawks.

A team in transition....Believeau in his final year....Richard in his 3rd last....a rookie replacement coach....a rookie goaltender. Cournoyer and Lemaire in their prime--scary whenever they touched the puck. Trader Sam sending Ralph Baskstrom to LA so that the Kings would finish ahead of the Seals, whose #1 pick the Habs' held....resulting in Guy Lafleur...the next wave begins.

I was 12 years old....and I remember it like it was yesterday.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Houle was also a star for the Jr. Canadiens in their heyday. The line was Gilbert Perrault, Rejean Houle and Marc Tardif. Houle was the star of the team and helped the other two greatly.
Houle was a good person. Always trying hard, always working and never complaining. It wasn't his fault he was offered a job he couldn't refuse and wasn't able to handle. Unlike Serge Savard, he tried his best.

[jkr]

CentreHice said:

Dryden's big save on Pappin...

I can still see that clearly and I never get tired of seeing the highlight ... Pappin raising his stick in celebration, Dryden's right leg snaking out. It sounds corny but it still gives be goose bumps.

And I am 5-6 years older than you.

[NostalgHab]

Even though I was young at the time (was turning 6 years old that year), I'm fascinated with the 1971 Canadiens playoff run.

I'm a vintage hockey video collector and have been looking for a long time for TV highlights of that playoff year.

A few years ago, I was very excited to obtain video hi-lites of the Canadiens 7-5 comeback win against the Bruins. I also have a few hi-lites of game 7 and some hi-lites of the Canadiens vs Stars and Canadiens vs Black Hawks final. By the way, hi-lites of the last game vs Hawk are available on a commercial tape that came out in the late 80's called Great plays from Great Games. If someone is really interested in watching these hi-lites, I could make a copy for you. My e-mail is [e-mail]