Quick Change

It is the most infamous substitution in hockey history, and 20 years later no one, not even those in the building at the time, can tell you exactly what happened.

The Boston Bruins were 2 minutes 34 seconds from reaching the Stanley Cup finals and about to face down their demons. Fans in the Montreal Forum, packed to the rafters, were stressed as their Canadiens, the three-time defending champions, trailed, 4-3, in Game 7 of the 1979 semifinals.

Then . . . the Bruins were called for having too many men on the ice. The Canadiens used the man advantage to tie the score with 1:14 left, then won the game in overtime and went on to collect another Stanley Cup title.

To this day, people--especially those in Boston--scratch their heads.

“We never really determined for sure what happened,” said Harry Sinden, in his 28th season as the Bruins’ general manager. “We looked at the films and still weren’t sure. Something happened on a line change.”

In no other major sport is the substitution of players as frenetic. In no other major sport does it happen while play continues. Teams change their lineups on the fly, shuffling players from the bench to the ice and back again in what resembles a high-speed game of tag.

Those coming off file through a narrow gate, while those going on barely wait for their teammates to exit before hopping over the boards--and watch that first step, it can be a doozy.

“It’s really simple,” Mighty Duck left wing Jim McKenzie said. “You know when your shift is coming up. You’re going in for one guy. When he comes off, you go in. Easy.”

Yeah, try selling that to the folks in Boston.

“That game was devastating for the Bruins,” Sinden said. “It spelled Stanley Cup if we would have won.”

The Old Double Shift

So what happened in Montreal?

“We think [Montreal’s] Guy Lafleur pulled a double shift on us,” former Bruin left wing Rick Middleton said. “Don Marcotte was supposed to shadow him. He went back out there and our other left wing, who was going in, didn’t notice.”

Oops.

The strategy hasn’t changed since the days of old-time hockey--eh?

Lester Patrick, the legendary coach of the New York Rangers in the 1920s and ‘30s, is credited with being the first to change on the fly. He kept substituting players even while play continued, wearing down opponents.

An innovation at the time, but pretty basic stuff today . . . usually.

Most coaches call out the center’s name to designate a line. There are minor differences in execution. King Coach Andy Murray has his equipment manager, Peter Millar, use a stop watch, calling out the time in five-second intervals.

“If you can outchange a team, in the end, you may outscore them,” Murray said. “We are trying to limit our shifts to 40 seconds.”

At the pace hockey is played, after 40-45 seconds, most players are gassed.

“You push yourself until you’re exhausted, then you get back to the bench,” Duck left wing Marty McInnis said. “The question I get asked all the time is, ‘How do you guys know when to go in?’ My grandmother used to ask me that all the time. When you’re on the bench, you have a feel for when a change is coming. You’re alert and ready.”

Like in Chicago two weeks ago?

The Ducks were called for too many men on the ice. Tony Amonte scored on the power play, giving the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead. The game ended in a 5-5 tie.

“Real hockey fans understand the line change,” McKenzie said. “But to a guy attending his first game, it must look like chaos. And, sometimes, it is chaos.”

Know When to Change

The scene was a couple degrees beyond chaos in Montreal 20 years ago.

“There was nothing like playing in the old Montreal Forum, especially in a seventh game,” Middleton said. “The fans were going crazy and all you could hear was the guy sitting next to you on the bench.”

But not the coach. Bruin Coach Don Cherry is given much of the blame by Sinden.

“The last few minutes of a tight game, the coach has ahold of a player’s shirt and either pushes them on or pulls them off,” Sinden said. “Our coach was gabbing with the fans, yelling at them. I think he lost track of what was going on.”

The head coach may be in charge, but it is actually a two-man system. The head coach usually handles the forwards, while an assistant calls out the changes for defensemen.

“The biggest thing is knowing when to change,” Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “You’ve got to dump the puck deep. You don’t ever want to get caught changing when the puck is in the neutral zone. That puts your defensemen at a huge disadvantage.”

Defensemen huddle to the side of the bench closest to their goal to await their shift.

“Where you get in trouble is with a stealth change,” Washington assistant coach Tim Army said. “A guy will come to the bench and not say anything. Then you’re a man down.”

It cost the Capitals a goal last Tuesday. The Kings’ Ziggy Palffy found the hole and fed Rob Blake, who scored the tying goal in a 5-2 King victory.

“There was a battle for the puck along the boards and one of our guys came to the bench,” Army said. “Everyone was looking at the play and the guy didn’t say anything. It created a vacuum.”

The second period of each game is particularly dicey for defensemen. The teams have switched goals, so now the defensemen sit further from their zone.

“Defensemen have to be a little more careful with their changes,” said Phoenix scout Tom Kurvers, who spent 11 seasons as a defenseman in the NHL. “A forward can trail the play and make a change. A defenseman can’t make a mistake.

“There was this one time Wayne Gretzky caught us in a change. He broke out of his zone and knew he had a 3-on-1. He always seemed to know that. Our guys got nervous and messed up the change. We had three defensemen out there and Gretzky is skating up the ice with the puck yelling ‘Too many men, too many men.’ I was laughing.”

No Need to Tip the Doorman

Even at the time, Cherry--who did not respond to interview requests--took the blame and could only joke about Game Seven in Montreal.

“Too many men on the ice is the coach’s fault,” Cherry said afterward. “I grabbed two more or we would have had eight guys on the ice.”

Want hockey humor? Talk line changes.

“One time, I went over the boards and didn’t see there was a towel there,” McInnis said. “I went face-first onto the ice. I don’t care if you’re made of stone or the game is tight, you have to laugh at that.”

It brings new meaning to changing on the fly. Hopping over the boards is the fastest path to the ice.

Players coming off the ice file smoothly through the gate, provided the reserve goalie is on the ball. He acts as doorman--what else is there for him to do?

“All I did in St. Louis is open and shut that door because I never played,” Duck goalie Guy Hebert said. “I almost made the all-star team for that one year.”

Slip and Fall

It was May 10, 1979.

Montreal had beaten Boston in the Stanley Cup finals in 1977 and ’78. The Bruins had lost 14 consecutive games and nine straight playoff games in the Forum.

Middleton scored with 3:59 left.

The Canadiens were frantic.

Then . . . what?

“I was 10 years old and I was a big Montreal fan,” McKenzie said. “All I remember is we won. You had to be in the building to know what happened.”

Sinden?

“Unless you were a coach or a player, it is difficult to know for sure,” he said.

Middleton?

“I found the tape of that game five years ago,” he said. “I hadn’t seen it in 15 years. It brought back some emotions.

“It’s hard to pick up what went on. But you can see that patented drop pass from [Jacques] Lemaire to Lafleur and the goal. In overtime, there is [Canadien goalie] Ken Dryden down and Marcotte’s shot hits him in the chest. There is [Yvon] Lambert’s goal to end it.

“It was a mighty mental error. That little slip cost us the game and probably the cup. I guess that’s why that game has reached folklore status.”

All off a line change.