NHL Hockey Trivia: Johnny Bucyk

Johnny Bucyk was a long-time Boston Bruins star that was an integral part of the ‘Big Bad Bruins’ era of the early 1970’s. Although, we’ll find out, Bucyk was not a regular in the penalty box like many of his teammates. Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of Johnny Bucyk with the following four trivia questions.

Q. What was Johnny Bucyk’s first National Hockey League team?

A. Bucyk played his first two seasons in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings. Before the 1957-58 season began, Johnny was traded to the Bruins for the legendary goaltender, Terry Sawchuk. Bucyk played the rest of his NHL career with Boston, retiring after the 1977-78 season. In 1955-56, Johnny played 38 games for the Red Wings, scoring one goal and totalling nine points. In 1956-57, he became a regular, appearing in 66 games, scoring ten goals and totalling 21 points.

As for Sawchuk, he was returned to Detroit, a team that traded him to Boston just before Bucyk started his National Hockey League career.

Q. With a career total of just 497 minutes in penalties over 1540 regular season games, how many times did the gentleman Johnny Bucyk win the Lady Byng Trophy?

A. Bucyk won the Lady Byng as the most gentlemanly player in 1970-71 and again in 1973-74. In each season, Johnny totalled just eight minutes in penalties with the Bruins. In two other seasons in which Bucyk played nearly a full schedule did he sit less than ten minutes in the box. In 1967-68, Johnny received four minor penalties over 72 games, yet Stan Mikita of the Chicago Blackhawks was awarded the Lady Byng with 14 PIM. In 1971-72, Bucyk sat just four minutes in the penalty box while playing the full 78 game schedule but the Lady Byng went to Jean Ratelle of the New York Rangers who spent an equal time in the sin bin.

Q. What jersey number was retired by the Boston Bruins in honour of Johnny Bucyk?

A. After his final season, 1977-78, the Bruins hung number 9 from the rafters of the Boston Garden in honour of the player that wore it for 21 seasons. Of course, in his first two years in the NHL, Bucyk did not wear number 9. As a member of the Detroit Red Wings, that number was already taken by Gordie Howe. Johnny wore number 20 while with Detroit. He took on number 9 right from his first game with Boston.

Q. During the 1970-71 season, at the age of 35, Johnny Bucyk became the oldest NHL player to do what?

A. With 51 goals, Bucyk became the oldest NHL player to surpass the 50 goal plateau. With an additional 65 assists for 116 points, Johnny finished third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy behind teammates Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. Another teammate, Ken Hodge, rounded out the top four that season with all four Bruins surpassing 100 points. Johnny’s 51 goals placed him second in the NHL, 25 goals behind teammate and league leader Phil Esposito.

Hockey Trivia: 1971-72 Boston Bruins

Before 2011, the 1972 Boston Bruins were the last to bring the Stanley Cup to Beantown. The 1971-72 Boston Bruins can be considered among the top National Hockey League teams of all time, losing just 13 of 78 games during the regular season and finishing ten points beyond the second place team before storming their way to the Stanley Cup victory.

Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of the 1972 Boston Bruins with the following four hockey trivia questions:

Q. What Bruins player was the team leader in both goals and points in 1971-72?

A. Phil Esposito, coming off a record 76 goals and 152 points in 1970-71, led the team with lower, but still impressive, numbers than the year before. Esposito finished out the year with 66 goals and 130 points.

There’s a bit of an asterix here as Esposito tied Bobby Orr for the team lead with 24 points during the playoffs. In the goals department, Esposito, John Bucyk and Ken Hodge all tied for the team lead in the post season with nine each. Assists? It was all Bobby Orr. Orr led the team during the regular season with 80 assists and led in the playoffs with 19.

Q. Each of the Boston Bruins goaltending tandem finished off the 1971-72 season with an equal 27 wins. Although Gerry Cheevers is thought of when the topic of Boston goaltenders from the 1970’s comes up, who was the goalie that platooned with Cheevers that season?

A. Eddie Johnston quietly had the same number of wins, although his goals against average was slightly higher than that of Gerry Cheevers. Johnston played in the National Hockey League from 1962-63 to 1977-78 with the Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks. His days in Chicago were limited to the final four games of his Eddie’s NHL career.

Q. What team did the Boston Bruins beat in the finals to win the 1972 Stanley Cup?

A. The Bruins met the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup finals and won the series in four games. The Rangers finished second overall in the NHL during the regular season, ten points behind the Bruins. The Rangers took out the Montreal Canadiens in the quarter-finals then swept the Chicago Black Hawks in the semi-finals to earn the match-up against Boston.

Even though the teams had both been in the NHL since the mid 1920’s, it was just the second time Boston and New York met in the Stanley Cup finals. The previous time came in 1928-29 with the Bruins sweeping the best of three series in two games.

Q. The Boston Bruins lost just thirteen games in 1971-72. One team was responsible for nearly a quarter of those losses. Which team did Boston lose three games to in the regular season?

A. Not too shockingly, the Bruins lost three to the Montreal Canadiens. Interestingly, two of the thirteen losses came at the hands of the lowly California Golden Seals. Seven of the thirteen losses came against teams that finished the year below .500.
 

1961-62 NHL Team Leaders

The Toronto Maple Leafs won the first of three consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 1961-62. The second place Leafs met the third place Chicago Black Hawks in the finals with Toronto coming out on top in six games. Montreal dominated the regular season while the Boston Bruins reached franchise lows. Boston’s .271 winning percentage that year still stands as the second lowest in team history today. The lowest came in their first year of existence, 1924-25, when the team won just 6 of its 30 games, equal to .200.

Bobby Hull – Chicago Black Hawks

Bobby Hull led the Chicago Black Hawks with 84 points and was awarded the Art Ross Trophy as league leader. Andy Bathgate of the New York Rangers also ended up with 84 points. Hull and Bathgate both played the full 70 game schedule but Hull was awarded the scoring championship on his 50 goals to Bathgate’s 28. It was the second of three times that Bobby received the Art Ross.

Andy Bathgate – New York Rangers

Andy Bathgate and the Rangers squeaked into the post season, four points better than fifth place Detroit. The Maple Leafs took six games to oust New York in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Andy was named to the First All-Star Team at right wing.

Gordie Howe – Detroit Red Wings

Gordie Howe’s consistent finish in the top five was not enough to push the Red Wings into the post season. Howe tied Chicago’s Stan Mikita for third in the NHL with 77 points. The team had only Gordie, Alex Delvecchio and Norm Ullman to rely on for offense. The trio scored 84 of the team’s 184 goals.

Frank Mahovlich – Toronto Maple Leafs

Frank Mahovlich led the Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs with 71 points, good enough for fifth in the NHL. However, surprisingly it was defenseman Tim Horton that led the team in the playoffs with 16 points in 12 games. Mahovlich contributed 12 points in 12 games, en route to the championship.

Ralph Backstrom – Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens finished first overall with an outstanding 98 points, 13 more than second place Toronto. The team scored 27 more goals than any other team and allowed 14 less than their next opponent. Yet, Ralph Backstrom led the team with just 65 points, a total that was good for seventh place in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. Despite their domination during the regular season, Montreal fell to the third place Black Hawks in the opening round of the playoffs.

Johnny Bucyk – Boston Bruins

Johnny Bucyk led the downtrodden Boston Bruins with 60 points. Boston’s 177 goals was the lowest in the league but the killer was the 306 they allowed. The next highest goals against belonged to the Red Wings at 219.