Ralph Backstrom: the Montreal great had just one shot that night; luckily it happened to be an overtime game-winner - The Game I'll Never Forget

Hockey Digest, April, 2003 by Chuck O'Donnell

WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I remember watching Montreal Canadiens general manager Frank Selke being interviewed one night on TV. I was playing in juniors at the time. Selke was explaining that even though Rocket Richard only got one shot on goal that particular night, he made that shot--an overtime game-winner--count.

I'm not comparing myself to the Rocket by any means, but as I was sitting there waiting for overtime to start in our playoff game with the Boston Bruins in 1969, I was thinking about how I was now in the same situation. There I was, wondering whether I could score on my first shot of the night. I remember thinking that as clear as can be. It's always stuck with me.

That series I had the dubious honor of playing against Phil Esposito. He was my man, especially at home, because we had the last line change.

I remember playing against him all night. In that series, I know he was quoted in the papers a few times saying that he was glad the series was shifting to Boston so he wouldn't have to face me all the time. It was quite a compliment.

When I was matched up against him, I tried to keep it pretty simple. When I was forechecking, I would do my regular forechecking job. Then if the puck was coming up the ice, I would be looking for Phil in the neutral zone. Then in the defensive zone, it was me on top of Phil. That was my game: forecheck, catch him in the neutral zone, and in the defensive zone, I was right on top of him. That was the way I approached the game.

It was a challenge for me to play against a guy like him. He was a great player and I respected him. All the great things they've said about him over the years--they're all true. He was certainly one of the biggest challenges I ever faced, and I mean that both literally and figuratively. He was a big guy and real strong. Very strong. He had a strong will to get to the puck and to get it at your net and in your net, and it took everything you had to keep him from doing that.

Being a center for the Canadiens, I played behind Jean Beliveau and Henri Richard almost my whole career in Montreal. I had to do what I was asked to do. If I was relegated to the third line in more of a defensive role, I accepted it.

A lot of people ask me what I thought about playing most of my career behind Beliveau and Richard. They say that on another team I could have been a first- or second-line center. But you know what? There's a tradeoff here.

I feel personally that maybe I could have been a first- or second-line center on a lot of other teams. But on the other hand, I probably wouldn't have won six Stanley Cups with another team.

So, when I look back on my career, would I have changed things? I ended up scoring 278 goals. I might have ended up scoring another 150 goals with another team. But would you rather have the 150 more goals or the six Stanley Cups? I don't think so. I'll take the six Stanley Cups every time.

We had quite a rivalry brewing with the Bruins back then. It went way back. We would play each other in the playoffs, it seemed, every year. And it seemed we always beat them. Don't ask me why, but we went years and years without losing to them in the playoffs. We always had history on our side.

They had the makings of a great team. Not only did they have Esposito up front, but they had Johnny Bucyk, Ken Hodge, Wayne Cashman, John McKenzie, and Fred Stanfield. On defense, Bobby Orr was fantastic, and they also had guys like Teddy Green and Dallas Smith who were tough to play against And their goalie was Gerry Cheevers, who was also fantastic. So, they already had the makings of the great teams that would go on to win two Stanley Cups in the following years.

But in 1970, we were just a little better than they were. It was very close, and there was a lot of exciting hockey being played, but we came away winners. Here's how close it was: Three of the six games with the Bruins in that series went to overtime, including Game 1--the game I'll never forget.

I remember thinking clear as day, wouldn't it be something if I could duplicate what Rocket did and score the winning goal in overtime on my first shot. Well, that's just what happened.

It was early in overtime, maybe the opening minute. I was carrying the puck in across the blue line. Orr was back on defense in front of me. I just gave a little fake like I was going to shoot and Orr went down to block it. I knew he was such a great player that he would do whatever he could to stop the shot. He always had a habit of going down on one knee to block shots, so I thought I could fake him out of position.

When I faked, he went down. As soon as he went down, I fired the shot. I got a good piece of the puck and put it over Cheevers' right shoulder, I believe, and under the crossbar.

That was a sign of things to come because in Game 2, Mickey Redmond scored in overtime. And in the sixth and final game, Beliveau scored in overtime to wrap up the series. Then we went on to win the Stanley Cup, again.

History was on our side, again.

--As told to Chuck O'Donnell