1971 NHL Offseason News and Notes
Here are the stats leaders for the completed 1970-71 season.
Here are the goalie leaders.
Here are the playoff leaders.
Dave Keon somehow wins the Hart Trophy over
Jean Ratelle who again dominated the league in scoring.
Ratelle wins the Conn Smythe though, and I think that is fair.
Gilbert Perreault wins the ROY with a great season of 89 points!
The
NHL has 2 announcements to make. First, the league has announced a change in their playoff format. In the opening round, the #1 ranked team will now play the #4 ranked team, while #2 will play #3. The winners will still crossover in the semi finals. The
NHL has also announced they will be expanding by 2 more teams for the 1972/73 season. What this means…
Chicago, you can not keep
Esposito and
Dryden!! Trade one or lose one for nothing!!!!
It’s a loaded drafted this year, full of potential stars. Top pick
Marcel Dionne is ready right now, and teams up with
Bobby Clarke in
Pittsburgh.
Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Borje Salming, Rick Martin. It’s quite the draft. The last pick in the draft, by the
St. Louis Blues is Czechoslovakian
Milan Novy. He’s a very talented guy, but I don’t know if he can play in the NHL. Not sure what the game will allow, or the rules with European players at the time. I’ll keep an eye on him. He’s a first round talent. Here's a look at top pick
Dionne.
Tom Johnson has been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The former
Canadien and
Ranger won the Pilote Trophy 3 times in his career. He played over 1000 games, and was named a first team all star 6 times!
Johnson was one of the best defenseman of his era!
