THE GREATEST THE NHL HAD TO OFFER

Since the mid 1940’s, to the mid-1960’s the ‘Golden Age of Hockey played across the Canadian-US border. From the original 6 teams of the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens, it has grown to over 30 teams crossing both the US and Canada from east to west, settling on both coasts in both countries. It is probably the fastest growing expansion that any professional sport has witnessed or enjoyed.

After reviewing the best of the NFL and NBA, it is time to look at the best of the NHL through the years.

1976-77 Montreal Canadiens

60-8-12 (132 points); Stanley Cup champions

The 19776-77 Montreal Canadiaens set records for victories, topped only by Detroit in 1995-96 in a 82-game schedule and set a record of 132 points. . They were the league's best offensive team with 4.8 goals per game outscoring opponents 387-171and best defensive team at 2.1—a differential of 2.7 goals per game. A well balanced lineup of; Steve Shutt who led the league with 60 goals and Guy Lafleur with 56 goals while topping all players with 136 points. Throw into the mix defensemen Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe who combined for 44 goals, teaming with Serge Savard known as the "Big Three." The Vezina trophy goalie Ken Dryden went 41-6-8 with an amazing 10 shutouts and a 2.14 goals-against average; while backup goalie Bunny Larocque was 19-2-4 with a 2.09 goals-against and four shutouts. The canadiens skated through a 12-2 postseason, including the Stanley Cup finals sweep of the Boston Bruins, outscoring the Bruins 16-6. Nine players on that roster are now in the Hockey Hall of Fame—Lafleur, Shutt, Robinson, Lapointe, Dryden, Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer, Savard and Bob Gainey—plus coach Scotty Bowman, who directed his third of nine Stanley Cup winners.

1955-56 Montreal Canadiens

45-15-10 (100 points), Stanley Cup champions

This older version of the Canadiens set a record with 45 wins, ending Detroit’s seven-year dominance of the regular-season championship to become the third team, after the 1950-51 and ’51-52 Red Wings, to have 100 points in a season. Montreal’s roster of 10 Hall of Famers included right-winger Maurice “Rocket” Richard and a 24-year-old center named Jean Beliveau. Led by another Hall of Famer and rookie headcoach Toe Blake, the Habs went on to their first of a record five consecutive Stanley Cups; and Blake would garner eight Cups in his 13 seasons behind the bench. The Montreal Canadiens steamrolled with the goal-scoring onslaught of: Beliveau (47), Richard (38) and Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion (29), combining for more than half of Montreal’s league-high 222 goals. Beliveau won the Art Ross and Hart trophies that season, and goalie Jacques Plante, won the first of seven Vezina trophies with a 1.86 goals-against average in the regular season and 1.80 in the playoffs!

1983-84 Edmonton Oilers

57-18-5 (119 points), Stanley Cup champions

The Oilers of 1983-84 ended the Islanders’ run of four consecutive Stanley Cup championships with a five-game victory in the Stanley Cup finals. Wayne Gretzky helped set a single-season record for goals of 446, scoring 87, along with 54 from Glenn Anderson, 52 from Jari Kurri, 40 from defenseman Paul Coffey and 37 from Mark Messier. The powerhouse and fast skatimg team went on a 15-4 playoff run against Winnipeg, Calgary, Minnesota and the Islanders, outscoring those teams 94-56. Gretzky (13) and Kurri (14) combined for 27 playoff goals. Gretzky had second of four 200-point seasons. Three other members of the team also had more than 100 points -- Coffey (126), Kurri (113) and Messier (101).

That’s all I wrote, folks!