1975–76 NHL season

The 1975–76 NHL season was the 59th season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, defeating the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers in the final.

Regular season
The Montreal Canadiens set records in wins with 58 and points with 127, beginning a four-year stretch where they would dominate the league in the regular season and win four straight Stanley Cup titles. The Philadelphia Flyers tied the record set by the 1929–30 Boston Bruins for most consecutive home ice wins, with 20.

During the regular season, between December 28 and January 10, "Super Series '76" took place as two teams from the Soviet Championship League played eight exhibitions against NHL teams. HC CSKA Moscow (the "Red Army Club"), defending Soviet champion, played against the New York Rangers, Montreal, Boston and, on January 11, the defending NHL champion, the Philadelphia Flyers, while Krylya Sovetov Moscow ("the Soviet Wings") played against Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Chicago and the New York Islanders.

The New York Rangers got off to their worst start since 1965–66. Under pressure, Emile Francis traded Derek Sanderson to St. Louis and put goaltender Eddie Giacomin on waivers. Detroit claimed him, and then the blockbuster trade of the year saw the Boston Bruins send superstar center Phil Esposito and star defenceman Carol Vadnais to the New York Rangers for star center Jean Ratelle and superstar defenceman Brad Park.

Both Ratelle and Park would excel for the Bruins for years to come, while Esposito's days as the preeminent scorer in the NHL were behind him. Trades did not help the Rangers, as they gave up 333 goals against and finished last in the Patrick Division, which cost Emile Francis his job as general manager, and coach Ron Stewart was fired as well. John Ferguson Sr. took over both jobs.

The Kansas City Scouts established a dubious distinction, winning only one of their final 44 games.

On February 7, 1976, Darryl Sittler set an NHL record that still stands for most points scored in one game. He recorded ten points (six goals, four assists) against the Boston Bruins.

Final standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

Playoff seeds
The twelve teams that qualified for the playoffs are ranked 1–12 based on regular season points.

Note: Only teams that qualified for the playoffs are listed here.


 * 1) Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 127 points
 * 2) Philadelphia Flyers, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 118 points
 * 3) Boston Bruins, Adams Division champions – 113 points
 * 4) Buffalo Sabres – 105 points
 * 5) New York Islanders – 101 points
 * 6) Los Angeles Kings – 85 points
 * 7) Toronto Maple Leafs – 83 points
 * 8) Pittsburgh Penguins – 82 points (35 wins, 5 points head-to-head vs. Atlanta)
 * 9) Atlanta Flames – 82 points (35 wins, 3 points head-to-head vs. Pittsburgh)
 * 10) Chicago Black Hawks, Smythe Division champions – 82 points (32 wins)
 * 11) Vancouver Canucks – 81 points
 * 12) St. Louis Blues – 72 points

Playoff bracket

 * Division winners earned a bye to the quarterfinals
 * Teams were re-seeded based on regular season record after the Preliminary and Quarterfinal rounds

(1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (8) St. Louis Blues
The Buffalo Sabres were the first seed of the preliminary round and fourth overall with 105 points. The St. Louis Blues were the eighth seed of the preliminary round and twelfth overall with 72 points. This was the first playoff series between these two teams. The Buffalo Sabres won this year's regular season series earning 5 of 8 points.

(2) New York Islanders vs. (7) Vancouver Canucks
The New York Islanders were the second seed in the preliminary round and fifth overall with 101 points. The Vancouver Canucks were the seventh seed in the preliminary round and eleventh overall with 81 points. This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Vancouver won this year's regular season series earning 8 of 10 points.

(3) Los Angeles Kings vs. (6) Atlanta Flames
The Los Angeles Kings were the third seed of the preliminary round and sixth overall 85 points. The Atlanta Flames were the sixth seed of the preliminary round and ninth overall with 82 points, losing the tie-breaker to Pittsburgh in head-to-head points (5 to 3). This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Los Angeles won this year's regular season series earning 6 of 8 points.

(4) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (5) Pittsburgh Penguins
The Toronto Maple Leafs were the fourth seed in the preliminary round and seventh overall with 83 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins were the fifth seed in the preliminary round and eighth overall with 82 points, winning the tiebreaker over Atlanta in head-to-head points (5 to 3). This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Pittsburgh won this year's regular season series earning 8 of 10 points.

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (8) Chicago Black Hawks
The Montreal Canadiens finished first in the league with 127 points. The Chicago Black Hawks finished as the Smythe Division Champions as the eighth and lowest-remaining seed in the playoffs with 82 points. This was the 17th playoff series between these two teams. Montreal leads 11–5 in previous meetings. Their most recent meeting came in the 1973 Stanley Cup Finals, which Montreal won in six games. Montreal won this year's regular season series earning 5 of 8 points.

(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (7) Toronto Maple Leafs
The Philadelphia Flyers finished as Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions and second seed overall with 118 points. This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. This was a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Quarterfinals, which Philadelphia won in a four-game sweep. Philadelphia won this year's regular season series earning 7 of 8 points.

(3) Boston Bruins vs. (6) Los Angeles Kings
The Boston Bruins finished as the Adams Division regular season champions and third seed overall with 113 points. This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Boston won this year's regular season series earning 8 of 10 points.

(4) Buffalo Sabres vs. (5) New York Islanders
This was the first playoff series between these two teams. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) New York Islanders
This was the first playoff series meeting between these two teams.

(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (3) Boston Bruins
This was the second playoff series meeting between these two teams. Philadelphia won the only previous meeting in a major upset in the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals in six games.

Stanley Cup Finals
This was the second playoff series (and only Finals) meeting between these two teams. Montreal won the only previous meeting in the 1973 Stanley Cup Semifinals in five games.

The two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Philadelphia Flyers, once again made it to the finals, but were swept in four games by the Montreal Canadiens.

Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Other statistics

 * Plus-minus: Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers

Patrick Division

 * Atlanta Flames: Fred Creighton
 * New York Islanders: Al Arbour
 * New York Rangers: Ron Stewart and John Ferguson Sr.
 * Philadelphia Flyers: Fred Shero

Adams Division

 * Boston Bruins: Don Cherry
 * Buffalo Sabres: Floyd Smith
 * California Golden Seals: Jack Evans
 * Toronto Maple Leafs: Red Kelly

Norris Division

 * Detroit Red Wings: Alex Delvecchio
 * Los Angeles Kings: Bob Pulford
 * Montreal Canadiens: Scotty Bowman
 * Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc Boileau and Ken Schinkel
 * Washington Capitals: Milt Schmidt and Tom McVie

Smythe Division

 * Chicago Black Hawks: Billy Reay
 * Kansas City Scouts: Bep Guidolin, Sid Abel and Eddie Bush
 * Minnesota North Stars: Ted Harris
 * St. Louis Blues: Garry Young, Lynn Patrick and Leo Boivin
 * Vancouver Canucks: Phil Maloney

Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1975–76 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
 * Willi Plett, Atlanta Flames
 * Dennis Maruk, California Golden Seals
 * Bob Murray, Chicago Blackhawks
 * Gary Sargent, Los Angeles Kings
 * Doug Jarvis, Montreal Canadiens
 * Doug Risebrough, Montreal Canadiens
 * Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
 * Mel Bridgman, Philadelphia Flyers

Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1975–76 (listed with their last team):
 * Gary Bergman, Kansas City Scouts
 * Bryan Hextall Jr., Minnesota North Stars
 * Chico Maki, Chicago Black Hawks
 * Bob Nevin, Los Angeles Kings
 * Noel Price, Atlanta Flames
 * Mickey Redmond, Detroit Red Wings
 * Bill White, Chicago Black Hawks
 * Terry Crisp, Philadelphia Flyers
 * Andre Boudrias, Vancouver Canucks
 * Tommy Williams, Washington Capitals

NOTE: Boudrias finished his major professional career in the World Hockey Association.

Broadcasting
Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games. This was the last season that HNIC aired both radio and television broadcasts of games; the broadcasts would become exclusive to television the next season. This was also the last season that CTV regularly aired HNIC-produced Wednesday night regular season game telecasts before the network started to give the rights to these midweek games back to local stations. CBC did not televise any opening round playoff games this postseason, selling those rights back to the individual Canadian teams.

Unable to sign a U.S. national television contract, the league put together a broadcast syndication package called the NHL Network to have games aired on various American independent stations. The 1976 Stanley Cup Finals on the NHL Network marked the first time that the NHL's championship series was nationally televised in its entirety in the United States.

On January 4, 1976, CBS decided to televise the Soviet Wings–Buffalo Sabres Super Series game nationally in the U.S., but that was the network's only involvement in broadcasting an NHL team this season.