Bruins honor 1972 Stanley Cup championship team

BOSTON --The Boston Bruins honored their 1972 Stanley Cup winning team before their game against the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden on Thursday.

Ken Hodge, Rick Smith, Don Marcotte, Garry Peters, Dallas Smith, Don Awrey, John Bucyk and family members of the late Ace Bailey and John McKenzie were honored by the Bruins with a commemorative video and a ceremonial puck drop. Members of the team, in addition to Boston's coaches and staff, wore pins honoring the 1971-72 team's 50th anniversary.
"Basically it was a good time for the guys. … We just all came together. Naturally, we had Bobby [Orr] and [Phil Esposito]," Hodge said Thursday morning. "We had so much fun in the era that I played, with the team we had and the guys we had. I wouldn't say it was a family atmosphere, but it was a great atmosphere to be a part of the Boston Bruins back in that time."
The Bruins defeated the New York Rangers in six games in the 1972 Stanley Cup Final and won the series on May 11, 1972. It was Boston's fifth Stanley Cup title and the second time Boston won the Stanley Cup against New York, with the first coming in 1929, its first title.
"Our nemesis was [the Montreal Canadiens] in that era, and, you know, going to New York, there's a little satisfaction about winning in New York because we had a great rivalry with the Rangers," Hodge said. "We paired up well with them, as far as the teams were concerned, and we played hard. It was a great rivalry between the Rangers and the Bruins in that era."
The playoff run finished off a 54-13-11 season that saw Esposito have 133 points (66 goals, 67 assists) and Orr 117 (37 goals, 80 assists) to lead the NHL in scoring.

The Bruins won in five games against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs before sweeping the St. Louis Blues in four games to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
In Game 6 against New York at Madison Square Garden, Orr opened the scoring and had an assist, and Wayne Cashman scored two goals. Gerry Cheevers made 33 saves in the 3-0 shutout. Esposito and Hodge each had two assists. Orr won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the postseason.
"It was a great feeling," Hodge said. "The only sad thing about it was we had to go to Madison Square Garden to win the [dang] Cup. We blew it here in the fifth game, and it was just too bad because it would have been nice to win it at home, especially in the old [Boston] Garden."
It was Boston's second Stanley Cup in three seasons after it swept St. Louis in four games in 1970 for its first title since 1941 against the Detroit Red Wings.
"Well, actually, after the '70 team and then the '71 disaster [losing in seven games to Montreal in the first round], basically '72 was almost a comeback" Hodge said. "You know, we actually should have had three Stanley Cups, but we only had two out of three."