The 1968 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1967–68 season, and the culmination of the 1968 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Montreal Canadiens and the St. Louis Blues. The Canadiens swept the Blues to win their 15th Stanley Cup championship.

This was the first Stanley Cup Final after the NHL expansion to twelve teams. Although the series was a sweep, it was a much more intense and close-fought series than anyone had expected, as all four games were decided by one goal, two went to overtime, and the other two saw the winning goal scored in the third period. The Blues were the only first-year franchise to play for the Stanley Cup in the post-expansion era, until the Vegas Golden Knights participated in the Stanley Cup Final a half-century later.

Paths to the Finals

This was the first Stanley Cup championship after the 1967 NHL expansion. All of the new teams were placed in the West Division, all the Original Six teams were put in the East Division, and the playoffs were organized so that divisional champions would play off for the Stanley Cup.

Montreal defeated the Boston Bruins and Chicago Black Hawks to advance to the finals as the East Division champion.

St. Louis would defeat the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars to advance to the finals as the West Division champion.

Game summaries

Game one

Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st STL Barclay Plager (2) Unassisted 09:19 1–0 STL MTL Henri Richard (3) Claude Larose (2) 09:42 1–1 2nd STL Dickie Moore (7) – pp Barclay Plager (5) and Red Berenson (2) 08:16 2–1 STL MTL Yvan Cournoyer (5) Ted Harris (4) and John Ferguson (3) 09:42 2–2 3rd None OT MTL Jacques Lemaire (7) Unassisted 01:41 3–2 MTL Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st STL Noel Picard Interference 06:38 2:00 MTL Carol Vadnais High-sticking 12:07 2:00 STL Dickie Moore High-sticking 12:07 2:00 MTL Claude Provost Cross-checking 14:03 2:00 2nd MTL Ted Harris Holding 07:21 2:00 STL Dickie Moore Holding 19:59 2:00 3rd MTL John Ferguson High-sticking 02:23 2:00 STL Bob Plager High-sticking 02:23 2:00 STL Barclay Plager Interference 06:49 2:00 OT None Shots by period Team 1 2 3 OT Total 13 13 11 1 38 6 18 11 1 36

Game two

Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st None 2nd None 3rd MTL Serge Savard (1) – sh Claude Provost (8) 02:17 1–0 MTL Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st MTL John Ferguson Roughing 04:16 2:00 STL Barclay Plager Roughing 04:16 2:00 STL Gary Sabourin Slashing 06:07 2:00 MTL Terry Harper Cross-checking 12:22 2:00 MTL Bobby Rousseau Slashing 15:03 2:00 1st STL Bob Plager Hooking 01:04 2:00 MTL Ted Harris Roughing 11:27 2:00 STL Noel Picard Slashing 14:49 2:00 STL Bob Plager Tripping 16:58 2:00 3rd MTL Dick Duff Elbowing 01:55 2:00 MTL Jacques Lemaire Elbowing 04:43 2:00 STL Red Berenson Slashing 06:07 2:00 MTL Jacques Lemaire Cross-checking 13:21 2:00 MTL Bobby Rousseau Holding 18:05 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 10 14 12 36 8 8 3 19

Game three

Glenn Hall was sensational, especially in game three when the Canadiens outshot the Blues 46–15. Wrote Red Burnett, the dean of hockey writers then: "A number of Hall's saves were seemingly impossible. Experts walked out of the Forum convinced no other goaltender had performed so brilliantly in a losing cause." In the overtime of game three, Hall made a spectacular save on Dick Duff and then, standing on his head, made another save. "It was a heartbreaker to see," said Burnett. "After the saves on Duff, Bobby Rousseau came and batted home the second rebound." Hall's heroics even in defeat earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st STL Frank St. Marseille (5) – pp Noel Picard (3) and Doug Harvey (4) 10:22 1–0 STL MTL Yvan Cournoyer (6) – pp Henri Richard (4) and John Ferguson (4) 14:24 1–1 2nd MTL Serge Savard (2) – sh Unassisted 01:23 2–1 MTL STL Red Berenson (4) Jean-Guy Talbot (2) 03:37 2–2 3rd MTL Ralph Backstrom (4) Yvan Cournoyer (7) and John Ferguson (5) 11:43 3–2 MTL STL Red Berenson (5) – sh Unassisted 17:25 3–3 OT MTL Bobby Rousseau (2) Dick Duff (4) 01:13 4–3 MTL Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st MTL Jacques Laperriere Charging 08:41 2:00 STL Jean-Guy Talbot Cross-checking 13:51 2:00 STL Barclay Plager Interference 17:03 2:00 2nd MTL Jacques Laperriere Hooking 01:06 2:00 STL Doug Harvey Holding 06:19 2:00 STL Noel Picard Tripping 15:44 2:00 3rd STL Bob Plager Boarding 16:41 2:00 STL Bob Plager Misconduct 16:41 10:00 OT None Shots by period Team 1 2 3 OT Total 7 3 5 0 15 11 18 13 4 46

Game four

With their backs against the wall, the Blues put everything to the test, rallying from an early one-goal deficit to take the lead into the third period. However, Montreal was not to be denied and won the Stanley Cup in game four as J. C. Tremblay fired home the winning goal. When the game ended, the fans came on the ice to celebrate, and balloons, hats and programs were thrown from the stands. Jean Beliveau, in a cast and crutches from his broken ankle, with Ralph Backstrom accepted the Cup from NHL president Clarence Campbell and the players did a victory lap with the Cup. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st MTL Dick Duff (3) Jacques Lemaire (3) 16:47 1–0 MTL 2nd STL Craig Cameron (1) Tim Ecclestone (2) and Al Arbour (3) 06:53 1–1 STL Gary Sabourin (4) – pp Gary Veneruzzo (2) and Frank St. Marseille (8) 07:50 2–1 STL 3rd MTL Henri Richard (4) J. C. Tremblay (6) 07:24 2–2 MTL J. C. Tremblay (3) Yvan Cournoyer (8) and Ralph Backstrom (3) 11:40 3–2 MTL Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st MTL Ted Harris High-sticking 06:23 2:00 STL Bob Plager Interference 12:03 2:00 2nd MTL Terry Harper Slashing 03:39 2:00 MTL Jacques Lemaire Slashing 06:57 2:00 STL Jim Roberts Tripping 08:16 2:00 MTL Bobby Rousseau Interference 13:16 2:00 STL Tim Ecclestone Tripping 16:45 2:00 STL Red Berenson Holding 18:30 2:00 MTL Yvan Cournoyer Slashing 19:18 2:00 STL Doug Harvey Holding 19:18 2:00 3rd MTL Jacques Laperriere High-sticking 05:41 2:00 STL Jean-Guy Talbot Interference 05:41 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 6 9 6 21 12 7 12 31

Aftermath Less than twelve minutes after the Canadiens won the Cup, Canadiens coach Toe Blake announced his retirement. He gave the reason that it had been a hard season, but the real reason was that his wife was dying of cancer and he wanted to spend his time with her. The celebration became a mournful event with players paying tribute to Blake, many in tears. He won eight Cups as the Canadiens' coach and three others as a player with the Canadiens and Montreal Maroons, the former being a record that stood for thirty-four years. None other than Bowman, the runner-up team's head coach in this Finals, would be the one to break Blake's record: he won the Cup with the Canadiens in , , , , and , with the Pittsburgh Penguins in , and with the Detroit Red Wings in , , and .

The Blues would return to the Cup Finals the next year, but were once again swept by the Canadiens. They would also reach the Finals in 1970, but were swept by the Boston Bruins. The Blues would have to wait until 2019 to finally win the Cup.

Stanley Cup engraving The 1968 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Canadiens 3–2 win over the Blues in Game 4.

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

1967–68 Montreal Canadiens

Notes

References