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1971–72 Minnesota North Stars
1971–72 Minnesota North Stars
Division	2nd West
1971–72 record	37–29–12
Goals for	212
Goals against	191
Team information
General manager	Wren Blair
Coach	Jack Gordon
Captain	Ted Harris
Team leaders
Goals	Bill Goldsworthy (31)
Assists	Jude Drouin (43)
Points	Bill Goldsworthy (62)
Penalty minutes	Barry Gibbs (128)
Wins	Cesare Maniago (20)
Goals against average	Gump Worsley (2.12)
	← 1970–71 1972–73 →

The 1971–72 Minnesota North Stars season was the Stars' fifth season of operation in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Stars finished in second place in the West Division and qualified for the playoffs, where they lost in the first round to the St. Louis Blues.

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

West Division^[1]
v
t
e
		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Chicago Black Hawks	78	46	17	15	256	166	+90	107
2	Minnesota North Stars	78	37	29	12	212	191	+21	86
3	St. Louis Blues	78	28	39	11	208	247	−39	67
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	78	26	38	14	220	258	−38	66
5	Philadelphia Flyers	78	26	38	14	200	236	−36	66
6	California Golden Seals	78	21	39	18	216	288	−72	60
7	Los Angeles Kings	78	20	49	9	206	305	−99	49

Record vs. opponents

Vs. West Division

1971–72 NHL records^[2]
Team	CAL	CHI	LAK	MIN	PHI	PIT	STL	Total
California	—	1–4–1	3–2–1	1–4–1	2–4	2–2–2	0–3–3	9–19–8
Chicago	4–1–1	—	5–1	5–1	3–2–1	5–0–1	6–0	28–5–3
Los Angeles	2–3–1	1–5	—	0–6	2–3–1	1–4–1	2–4	8–25–3
Minnesota	4–1–1	1–5	6–0	—	3–1–2	4–2	4–2	22–11–3
Philadelphia	4–2	2–3–1	3–2–1	1–3–2	—	2–3–1	1–2–3	13–15–8
Pittsburgh	2–2–2	0–5–1	4–1–1	2–4	3–2–1	—	3–3	14–17–5
St. Louis	3–0–3	0–6	4–2	2–4	2–1–3	3–3	—	14–16–6

Vs. East Division

1971–72 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	DET	MTL	NYR	TOR	VAN	Total
California	2–4	3–0–3	2–2–2	0–3–3	1–4–1	2–3–1	2–4	12–20–10
Chicago	1–4–1	3–2–1	5–0–1	1–2–3	1–2–3	4–0–2	3–2–1	18–12–12
Los Angeles	1–4–1	3–2–1	2–3–1	0–5–1	0–6	1–4–1	5–0–1	12–24–6
Minnesota	0–5–1	2–2–2	4–2	1–4–1	3–1–2	2–2–2	3–2–1	15–18–9
Philadelphia	0–6	2–2–2	2–3–1	2–3–1	0–6	2–2–2	5–1	13–23–6
Pittsburgh	1–2–3	1–2–3	2–4	1–4–1	1–3–2	2–4	4–2	12–21–9
St. Louis	1–4–1	4–1–1	3–2–1	1–4–1	1–5	2–4	2–3–1	14–23–5

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 9, 1971	4–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	1–0–0
2	T	October 14, 1971	1–1	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	1–0–1
3	L	October 16, 1971	2–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	1–1–1
4	W	October 17, 1971	3–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	2–1–1
5	W	October 20, 1971	7–0	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	3–1–1
6	W	October 23, 1971	5–1	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	4–1–1
7	W	October 24, 1971	6–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	5–1–1
8	W	October 27, 1971	2–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	6–1–1
9	W	October 28, 1971	2–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	7–1–1
10	T	October 30, 1971	1–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	7–1–2
11	L	October 31, 1971	2–5	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	7–2–2
12	W	November 3, 1971	2–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	8–2–2
13	W	November 6, 1971	5–1	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	9–2–2
14	W	November 7, 1971	3–0	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	10–2–2
15	L	November 10, 1971	1–2	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	10–3–2
16	L	November 13, 1971	1–5	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	10–4–2
17	W	November 16, 1971	5–1	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	11–4–2
18	W	November 18, 1971	4–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	12–4–2
19	W	November 20, 1971	4–1	New York Rangers (1971–72)	13–4–2
20	T	November 21, 1971	1–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	13–4–3
21	W	November 23, 1971	2–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	14–4–3
22	W	November 26, 1971	2–1	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	15–4–3
23	W	November 27, 1971	3–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	16–4–3
24	W	December 1, 1971	4–1	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	17–4–3
25	W	December 4, 1971	3–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	18–4–3
26	L	December 5, 1971	1–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	18–5–3
27	L	December 8, 1971	1–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	18–6–3
28	L	December 11, 1971	3–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	18–7–3
29	L	December 12, 1971	3–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	18–8–3
30	W	December 15, 1971	4–1	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	19–8–3
31	L	December 18, 1971	1–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	19–9–3
32	T	December 19, 1971	1–1	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	19–9–4
33	W	December 21, 1971	3–2	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	20–9–4
34	L	December 25, 1971	1–2	New York Rangers (1971–72)	20–10–4
35	L	December 26, 1971	1–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	20–11–4
36	T	December 30, 1971	2–2	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	20–11–5
37	W	January 1, 1972	3–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	21–11–5
38	W	January 5, 1972	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	22–11–5
39	L	January 8, 1972	1–5	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	22–12–5
40	T	January 11, 1972	2–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	22–12–6
41	L	January 12, 1972	0–2	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	22–13–6
42	L	January 15, 1972	2–7	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	22–14–6
43	L	January 16, 1972	2–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	22–15–6
44	T	January 18, 1972	1–1	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	22–15–7
45	W	January 19, 1972	4–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	23–15–7
46	W	January 22, 1972	4–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	24–15–7
47	W	January 23, 1972	5–3	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	25–15–7
48	W	January 27, 1972	6–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	26–15–7
49	W	January 29, 1972	4–2	New York Rangers (1971–72)	27–15–7
50	T	January 30, 1972	1–1	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	27–15–8
51	L	February 2, 1972	2–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	27–16–8
52	L	February 3, 1972	1–6	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	27–17–8
53	T	February 5, 1972	3–3	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	27–17–9
54	L	February 6, 1972	0–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	27–18–9
55	W	February 9, 1972	4–1	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	28–18–9
56	W	February 10, 1972	3–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	29–18–9
57	W	February 12, 1972	5–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	30–18–9
58	W	February 16, 1972	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	31–18–9
59	L	February 19, 1972	4–6	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	31–19–9
60	W	February 20, 1972	2–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	32–19–9
61	L	February 24, 1972	2–4	Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	32–20–9
62	L	February 26, 1972	2–3	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	32–21–9
63	L	March 2, 1972	0–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	32–22–9
64	L	March 4, 1972	2–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	32–23–9
65	W	March 5, 1972	2–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	33–23–9
66	L	March 8, 1972	4–5	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	33–24–9
67	T	March 12, 1972	2–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	33–24–10
68	L	March 14, 1972	3–4	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	33–25–10
69	W	March 16, 1972	6–2	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	34–25–10
70	L	March 18, 1972	3–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72)	34–26–10
71	L	March 19, 1972	3–7	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	34–27–10
72	W	March 21, 1972	4–2	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	35–27–10
73	T	March 23, 1972	4–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	35–27–11
74	L	March 25, 1972	2–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	35–28–11
75	W	March 26, 1972	5–0	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	36–28–11
76	T	March 28, 1972	2–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	36–28–12
77	W	March 31, 1972	2–1	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	37–28–12
78	L	April 2, 1972	1–4	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	37–29–12

Playoffs

For the fourth time in their first five seasons, the North Stars were in the playoffs. Once again, they had a matchup with the Blues in the postseason.^[3] The two teams would not meet again in the postseason until 1984.

Stanley Cup Quarterfinals

Game	Date	Location	Score	Record
1	April 5	Minnesota	3–0	1–0
2	April 6	Minnesota	6–5 (OT)	2–0
3	April 8	St. Louis	1–2	2–1
4	April 9	St. Louis	2–3	2–2
5	April 13	Minnesota	4–3	3–2
6	April 15	St. Louis	2–4	3–3
7	April 18	Minnesota	1–2 (OT)	3–4

St. Louis Blues win 4–3

Player statistics

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

Minnesota's draft picks at the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	21	Rod Norrish	Canada	Regina Pats (WCHL)
3	35	Ron Wilson	Canada	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
4	49	Mike Legge	Canada	Winnipeg Jets (WCHL)
5	63	Brian McBratney	Canada	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
6	77	Alan Globensky	Canada	Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
7	91	Bruce Abbey	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
8	105	Russ Friesen	Canada	Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
12	113	Mike Antonovich	United States	University of Minnesota (WCHA)
15	117	Richard Coutu	Canada	Rosemont National (QMJHL)