Then There Were Four

In the final scramble for Stanley Cup play-off slots, the National Hockey League's East Division almost came apart. Along with winners and losers, the battle produced a controversy that will undoubtedly lead to major changes in how teams qualify for Cup play.

Into the center of the excitement skated New York's hot-and-cold Rangers. On top of the standings for 3 1/2 months, they had fallen into an injury-riddled slump. With only one game remaining, they were in fifth place, virtually eliminated from the four-team playoffs. Their only hope was to defeat the Detroit Red Wings in the final game--and pray that the Chicago Black Hawks would obligingly beat the fourth-place Montreal Canadiens. That would produce a tie for fourth. Then the prized play-off slot would go to the team that had scored the most goals during the season. In that department, Montreal had a formidable margin of five.

The Rangers did not fold. Instead, they simply blew Detroit off the Madison Square Garden ice. In the process, New York stickhandlers took an astounding 65 shots at Goalie Roger Crozier; he stopped only 56, and the Rangers won 9-5, their highest score of the year. Now if only Chicago could beat Montreal and hold them to four goals or less, the Rangers would have their shot at the Cup.

Empty Net. That night, the New Yorkers clustered around their radios, picking up the game on such distant stations as CBM, Montreal, and WBJ, Boston. With half a period left, things looked good: Chicago's Rookie Goalie Tony Esposito (TIME, March 9) was in top form as the Black Hawks led Montreal 5-2.

At that point, Canadien Coach Claude Ruel, knowing his team was not only beaten but behind New York in goals scored, pulled his goalie in favor of an extra forward--just as the Rangers had yanked their goalie that afternoon in order to pile up scores against Detroit. But the Canadien strategy backfired: Chicago's defense held, and the Hawks poured five goals of their own into the empty Canadien net to win a 10-2 fiasco. For the first time in the history of the league, a play-off spot was determined by goals scored: New York 246, Montreal 244.

It was also the first time in 22 years that Montreal was not a Cup contender. The prospect miffed the Canadiens: many of them felt that Detroit had rolled over and played dead against New York. "That was an awful way for the Red Wings to finish up the season," said Yvan Cournoyer. "Those guys have no pride." His fellow-Canadiens felt that many Detroit regulars--Aging Stars Alex Delvecchio and Gordie Howe among them--had been used too sparingly. They were incensed when Detroit's Gary Unger cheerily admitted on TV that the team had stayed up late the night before the final game, celebrating its own play-off berth. Red Wing Coach Sid Abel, looking ahead to the playoffs, did nothing to soothe Montreal: "Why should I tell my guys to go out there and bang their heads against the wall? I can rest my players if I want to. That's my prerogative."

N.H.L. President Clarence Campbell obviously agreed, and talk of "investigation" soon faded. Even so, Campbell seemed certain to push for the elimination of the goals-scored criterion as a means of choosing between otherwise deadlocked teams. "Every sporting event implies an offense and a defense," he said, and in the empty-net games in New York and Chicago "no defense was required. That's not the way to play; I'm not satisfied with the system." Among the most logical alternatives under consideration: how the teams involved fared against each other during the course of the season.

Dramatic Turnabout. All but overlooked in the rhubarb was the fact that Chicago, sixth and last in the East Division in 1969, had beaten out Boston for first place in the regular season standings--the most dramatic turnabout in N.H.L. history. The Hawks had been inspired by Esposito and Rookie Defenseman Keith Magnuson, yet their first-round Cup series with the Red Wings promised to revolve around the play of Old Pros Bobby Hull, Chicago's blond bomber, and Howe, Detroit's Mr. Everything. In the other Eastern semifinal, the revitalized Rangers were paired against Boston's Bruins, led by Bobby Orr--the first defenseman ever to win the league scoring title. But New York had a spark-plug defenseman of its own in young All-Star Brad Park. While Park was out with a broken ankle, the Rangers lost 10 of 16 games; his return in the final week was vital to the team's success.

As the play-offs began, Boston and Chicago both jumped off to 2-0 series leads, thanks to decisive home-ice victories. Regardless of the outcome, that agonizing last weekend had produced one final twist: with Montreal and Toronto finishing out of the money, the Stanley Cup was a strictly U.S. affair for the first time in the history of the league.

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