This Day in Hockey History – November 14, 1971 – Cheevers Achieves

Nov 14, 2018

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Gerry Cheevers’s claim to fame started with 30 stitches drawn on his facemask, but his greatest achievement was an unbeaten streak of 32 games. Cheevers began his professional career with the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise in the early 1960s but really began playing in the NHL with the Boston Bruins in the mid-1960s. With the Bruins, Cheevers had won the Stanley Cup in 1970 and had a surprise upset early in the 1971 playoffs. For the 1971-72 season, he and Eddie Johnston shared time in the Bruins’ net. Although they both posted excellent records that season, Cheevers stood out by beginning a streak on November 14.

Going into the game, Cheevers had three wins and three losses. The streak began with Cheevers stopping 29 (of 31) shots by the Los Angeles Kings. To top that off, his teammates Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito (among others) kept finding the Kings’ net. The game ended with a score of 11-2. From that point, Cheevers was not defeated for the next 32 games he played achieving 24 wins and 8 tied games. Meantime, the Bruins with Johnston in net only lost five games. Cheevers ended his streak with a tie on March 25 before backing the Bruins’ for two of the three straight losses between March 29 and April 1. Fortunately, on April 2, the Bruins (with Johnston) won their final game of the season.

Boston Bruins/NHL, via
Wikimedia Commons

When the 1971-72 season ended, the records for Cheevers (27-5-8) and Johnston (27-8-3) gave the Bruins 54 wins, 13 losses, and 11 ties. Their 119 points put them first in the East Division. For the playoffs, Cheevers received credit for six wins and two losses, and Johnston had six wins and one loss. Of his final game during those playoffs, Cheevers said, “I have never played in a game where the puck went by me so often without going in! . . . We were two men short in the second period and the puck went by me five times! Eventually, you think, ‘This is going to be our night!’” That was indeed his night when he shutout the New York Rangers in the final game of the Stanley Cup finals. He reminisced, “That was a great feeling winning the Cup in New York in ’72.”

For Cheevers, his team held precedence over his own record. He once said, “I don’t care much about my average. My philosophy has always been that the other team can fill the net on me as long as we get one more goal.” Shortly after his big finish, in 1972, Cheevers was drafted into the WHA, and he briefly played with the Cleveland Crusaders. He returned to the Bruins in 1976 after refusing to play for the Crusaders, and he remained in Boston to 1980. He holds numerous Bruins career records like most ties, most points, most penalty minutes, most playoff games/minutes played, most playoffs shutouts and season records for most points, most penalty minutes, and most playoff shutouts. Five years after retiring, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The 32-game unbeaten streak crushed the 23-game record set by Frank Brimsek in 1940-41. Thus far, Cheevers’s streak remains unbeaten. The only goaltender to come close was fellow-Bruins Pete Peeters, who had a 31-game unbeaten streak during the 1982-83 season. The Bruins coach at the time was Gerry Cheevers.