1976 Stanley Cup Final

The 1976 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1975–76 season, and the culmination of the 1976 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers, making their third consecutive finals appearance, and the Montreal Canadiens. This was the Canadiens first appearance in the Final since their Cup win in 1973. The Canadiens swept the series to win their 19th Stanley Cup in franchise history, denying the Flyers a three-peat.

1976 Stanley Cup Final
1 2 3 4 Total Montreal Canadiens 4 2 3 5 4 Philadelphia Flyers 3 1 2 3 0
Location(s)	Montreal: Montreal Forum (1, 2) Philadelphia: Spectrum (3, 4)
Coaches	Montreal: Scotty Bowman Philadelphia: Fred Shero
Captains	Montreal: Yvan Cournoyer Philadelphia: Bobby Clarke
National anthems	Montreal: Roger Doucet Philadelphia: Kate Smith
Referees	Ron Wicks (1) Dave Newell (2) Wally Harris (3) Lloyd Gilmour (4)
Dates	May 9–16, 1976
MVP	Reggie Leach (Flyers)
Series-winning goal	Guy Lafleur (14:18, third, G4)
Hall of Famers	Canadiens: Yvan Cournoyer (1982) Ken Dryden (1983) Bob Gainey (1992) Guy Lafleur (1988) Guy Lapointe (1993) Jacques Lemaire (1984) Larry Robinson (1995) Serge Savard (1986) Steve Shutt (1993) Flyers: Bill Barber (1990) Bobby Clarke (1987) Bernie Parent (1984) Coaches: Scotty Bowman (1991) Fred Shero (2013)
Networks	Canada: (English): CBC (French): SRC United States: (English): NHL Network (national), WTXF-TV (Philadelphia)
Announcers	(CBC) Danny Gallivan and Dick Irvin Jr. (SRC) Rene Lecavalier and Gilles Tremblay (NHLN) Marv Albert (1, 3–4), Ted Darling (2), Stan Mikita (1), Garry Unger (2), Chico Resch (3), and Curt Bennett (4) (WTXF-TV) Don Earle and Gene Hart
← 1975 Stanley Cup Final 1977 →

This marked the first of what is currently six consecutive losses in the Cup Final for the Flyers, as they would lose in the Final again in 1980, 1985, 1987, 1997, and 2010.

Paths to the Finals

Montreal defeated the Chicago Black Hawks 4–0 and the New York Islanders 4–1 to advance to the final.

Philadelphia defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 and the Boston Bruins 4–1 to make it to the final.

Game summaries

Guy Lafleur scored the first two finals goals in his career, both game-winners.

Reggie Leach scored four goals in the Finals, and nineteen times in total in the playoffs to win the Conn Smythe Trophy even though the Flyers lost the Cup to the Canadiens. He is one of the only two non-goaltenders in NHL history to be named MVP of the playoffs in an unsuccessful cause, and the third of only six as of 2024. His accomplishment followed Roger Crozier (Detroit Red Wings, in 1966) and Glenn Hall (St. Louis Blues, 1968) and preceded Ron Hextall (Philadelphia, 1987), Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 2003) and Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers, 2024).

May 9	Philadelphia Flyers		3–4		Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Forum	Recap
Reggie Leach (16) - 00:21 Ross Lonsberry (4) - 13:22		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			4:04 - Jimmy Roberts (3) 6:30 - Larry Robinson (3)
Larry Goodenough (3) - pp - 5:17		Third period			10:02 - Jacques Lemaire (2) 18:38 - Guy Lapointe (3)
Wayne Stephenson		Goalie stats			Ken Dryden

May 11	Philadelphia Flyers		1–2		Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Forum	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			15:19 - sh - Jacques Lemaire (3)
Dave Schultz (2) - 17:35		Third period			2:41 - Guy Lafleur (6)
Wayne Stephenson		Goalie stats			Ken Dryden

May 13	Montreal Canadiens		3–2		Philadelphia Flyers	The Spectrum	Recap
Steve Shutt (5) - pp - 3:17		First period			8:40 - pp - Reggie Leach (17) 18:14 - Reggie Leach (18)
Steve Shutt (6) - pp - 1:09		Second period			No scoring
Pierre Bouchard (1) - 9:16		Third period			No scoring
Ken Dryden		Goalie stats			Wayne Stephenson

May 16	Montreal Canadiens		5–3		Philadelphia Flyers	The Spectrum	Recap
Steve Shutt (7) - pp - 5:35 Pierre Bouchard (2) - pp - 11:48		First period			00:40 - Reggie Leach (19) 18:20 - pp - Bill Barber (6)
Yvan Cournoyer (3) - pp - 19:49		Second period			13:59 - pp - Andre Dupont (2)
Guy Lafleur (7) - 14:18 Peter Mahovlich (4) - 15:16		Third period			No scoring
Ken Dryden		Goalie stats			Wayne Stephenson

Montreal won series 4–0

Reggie Leach won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Team rosters

Montreal Canadiens

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
1		Michel Larocque	G	L	24	1972	Hull, Quebec
2		Bill Nyrop	D	L	23	1972	Washington, D.C.
3		John Van Boxmeer	D	R	23	1972	Petrolia, Ontario
5		Guy Lapointe	D	L	28	1969	Montreal, Quebec
6		Jimmy Roberts	RW	R	36	1971	Toronto, Ontario
8		Doug Risebrough	C	L	22	1974	Guelph, Ontario
10		Guy Lafleur	RW	R	24	1971	Thurso, Quebec
11		Yvon Lambert	LW	L	25	1971	Drummondville, Quebec
12		Yvan Cournoyer (C)	RW	L	32	1963	Montreal, Quebec
14		Mario Tremblay	RW	R	19	1974	Alma, Quebec
17		Murray Wilson	LW	L	24	1971	Toronto, Canada
18		Serge Savard	D	L	30	1966	Landrienne, Quebec
19		Larry Robinson	D	L	24	1971	Winchester, Ontario
20		Peter Mahovlich	C	L	29	1969	Timmins, Ontario
21		Doug Jarvis	C	L	21	1975	Brantford, Ontario
22		Steve Shutt	LW	L	23	1972	North York, Ontario
23		Bob Gainey	LW	L	21	1973	Peterborough, Ontario
24		Don Awrey	D	L	32	1975	Kitchener, Ontario
25		Jacques Lemaire	C	L	30	1967	LaSalle, Quebec
26		Pierre Bouchard	D	L	28	1965	Longueuil, Quebec
27		Rick Chartraw	D	R	21	1974	Caracas, Venezuela
29		Ken Dryden	G	L	28	1964	Hamilton, Ontario

Philadelphia Flyers

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
1		Bernie Parent	G	L	31	1973	Montreal, Quebec
3		Tom Bladon	D	R	23	1972	Edmonton, Alberta
5		Larry Goodenough	D	R	23	1973	Toronto, Ontario
6		Andre Dupont	D	L	26	1972	Trois-Rivières, Quebec
7		Bill Barber	LW	L	23	1972	Callander, Ontario
8		Dave Schultz	LW	L	26	1969	Waldheim, Saskatchewan
9		Bob Kelly	LW	L	25	1970	Oakville, Ontario
10		Mel Bridgman	C	L	21	1975	Trenton, Ontario
11		Don Saleski	RW	R	26	1972	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
12		Gary Dornhoefer	RW	R	33	1967	Kitchener, Ontario
14		Joe Watson	D	L	32	1967	Smithers, British Columbia
15		Terry Crisp	C	L	32	1973	Parry Sound, Ontario
16		Bobby Clarke (C)	C	L	26	1969	Flin Flon, Manitoba
18		Ross Lonsberry	LW	L	29	1972	Watson, Saskatchewan
20		Jim Watson	D	L	23	1972	Smithers, British Columbia
25		Terry Murray	D	L	25	1975	Shawville, Quebec
26		Orest Kindrachuk	C	L	25	1972	Nanton, Alberta
27		Reggie Leach	RW	R	26	1974	Riverton, Manitoba
29		Jack McIlhargey	D	L	24	1975	Edmonton, Alberta
35		Wayne Stephenson	G	L	31	1974	Fort William, Ontario

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1976 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Yvan Cournoyer by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Canadiens 5–3 win over the Flyers in game four.

The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1975–76 Montreal Canadiens

Players

  Centres

• 8 Doug Risebrough
• 20 Peter Mahovlich
• 21 Doug Jarvis
• 25 Jacques Lemaire

  Wingers

• 6 Jim Roberts
• 10 Guy Lafleur
• 11 Yvon Lambert
• 12 Yvan Cournoyer (Captain)
• 14 Mario Tremblay
• 17 Murray Wilson
• 22 Steve Shutt
• 23 Bob Gainey

  Defencemen

• 2 Bill Nyrop
• 5 Guy Lapointe
• 18 Serge Savard
• 19 Larry Robinson
• 26 Pierre Bouchard
• 27 Rick Chartraw

  Goaltenders

• 1 Michel Larocque
• 29 Ken Dryden

Coaching and administrative staff

• Jacques Courtois (President), Jean Beliveau (Vice President – Director of Cooperate Relations)
• Peter Bronfman (Chairman/Owner), Edward Bronfman (Executive Director/Owner)
• Sam Pollock (Vice President/General Manager), William Scotty Bowman (Head Coach)
• Eddy Palchak (Trainer), Pierre Meilleur (Asst Trainer)
• Claude Ruel (Director of Player Development)
• Floyd Curry (Asst. General Manager), Ron Caron* (Asst. General Manager)

Stanley Cup engraving

• #24 Don Awrey (D) played in 72 regular season games. #3 John van Boxmeer (D) played in 46 regular season games. As neither player played in the playoffs, their names were not included on the Stanley Cup. The official rules says that players must play in the playoffs to be included on the Stanley Cup, but this rule was not followed very well. Players who played in playoffs were often left off, and many players who did not play in the playoffs were still engraved on it. The NHL changed the rules to say that any player who played at least 40 games (half the regular season game total) or more for the winning team, or one game in the Stanley Cup Final must be included. However, Awrey and Van Boxmeer were not added to the cup for 1976. Awrey's name is on the Cup in 1970, 1972 with Boston. Van Boxmeer's name does not appear on the Stanley Cup.
• Murray Wilson's name was misspelled in 1973, 1976, 1977 as MURRY WILSON missing an "A". Murray Wilson was spelled correctly on the Stanley Cup in 1978. Wilson's name was also spelled correctly all 4 times on the Replica Cup.
• Between 1976 and 1985, an "A" (alternate captain) was no longer marked on players' sweaters. Only the captain was marked with a "C."
• American Rick Chartraw was born in Venezuela, and was first South American born player to win the Stanley Cup.

See also

• 1975–76 NHL season