1970-71 marked a definite change in the offensive aspect of the NHL hockey game. Phil Esposito shattered the record for most goals and most points in a single season and Bobby Orr set marks for most assists and most points for a defenseman in a single season that still stand today.

Despite the league now consisting of fourteen teams, two more than the season before with the addition of the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks, all of the NHL’s top ten scorers were from Original Six teams. Amazingly, seven of the top ten point getters played for the Boston Bruins. Of the seven, four Bruins made up the top four and all four were over the 100 point plateau.

Phil Esposito won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading point getter. Esposito’s 152 points shattered his own record of 126 set in the 1968-69 season. His 76 goals were eighteen more than Bobby Hull’s previous record of 58 set also in 1968-69. Both these scoring records would be broken by none other than Wayne Gretzky a decade later. Gretzky still holds the mark for most goals in a season with 92, set in 1981-82. Gretzky broke Esposito’s points record in 1980-81 with 164 and holds the current record of 215 points in a single season.

Bobby Orr finished second to Esposito with 139 points. On two other occasions, Orr was the recipient of the Art Ross but with less total points than during the 1970-71 season. Bobby remains the only defenseman to win the NHL scoring title. His 102 assists and 139 points in 1970-71 remain as NHL records for most assists and points by a defenseman in a single NHL season.

Rounding out the top four scorers were John Bucyk and Ken Hodge of the Bruins. Bucyk finished with 51 goals, second to Esposito in that category, and 116 points. Hodge beat the 100 point plateau by five. The other Bruins in the top ten were Wayne Cashman at number seven with 79 points, John McKenzie at number eight with 77 points but in only 65 games and Fred Stanfield tied for number nine with 76 points.

Slipping into the number five position was Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks with 96 points in what would prove to be his second last season before jumping to the World Hockey Association. Norm Ullman of the Toronto Maple Leafs followed Hull with 85 points. Tied with Stanfield at the number nine position were a couple of future Hall of Famers, Dave Keon of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Jean Beliveau of the Montreal Canadiens. It would the last year of Belliveau’s illustrious NHL career.