Gerry Cheevers is a Hall of Fame netminder who played with the Boston Bruins from 1965 to 1972 before spending some time in the World Hockey Association (WHA) and returning to Beantown from 1975 to 1980. Interestingly, he played with Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito during their best seasons, capturing the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972.
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During his final season, at age 39, Cheevers skated alongside 19-year-old Ray Bourque, who would usher in a new era of Bruins hockey, eventually becoming their leading scorer 20 years later. Although he is fondly remembered for his “stitches” goalie mask, a tradition he started every time he made a save with his face, often lost among his career accolades is the fact he’s held the NHL record for the longest undefeated streak for over 50 years.
Historically, a Bruins netminder has owned the record since 1940-41, a total of 83 seasons, when Frank Brimsek set the standard at 23 games. Right now, only two goalies have won more games than that, Cheevers (1972) and Pete Peters, who achieved the feat on two occasions. First, with the Philadelphia Flyers (27) in 1980, while becoming only the second goalie in NHL history to surpass 30 games, finishing a 31-game undefeated streak in 1983.
So, now that we’ve laid out some context to how remarkable this undefeated record is, let’s revisit Cheevers’ special campaign in 1972, the year the Bruins would win their second Stanley Cup in three seasons.
Cheevers Unexpectably Starts a Streak
At the beginning of the 1971-72 season, Cheevers was 30 years old and picked up a 4-1 loss on opening night to the New York Rangers on Oct. 10, 1971, at Boston Garden. After just three starts in the month, he was 1-2-0 with a .897 save percentage (SV%), 10 goals against, and a single penalty for delay of game.
In the first three games in November, he performed much better with a 2-1-0 record and an improved .938 SV% while surrendering just five goals and earning a slashing penalty. Despite sporting an even record (3-3-0) heading into the Nov. 14, 1971 contest against the Los Angeles Kings, little did anyone know that Cheevers was about to begin the most incredible undefeated streak in NHL history, one that would last 136 days.
Thanks to an Orr hat trick, Boston destroyed the visitors on home ice 11-2 for Cheevers’ fourth win of the season. By the end of the month, the streak was at 3-0-1 before growing to 7-0-3 after a win over the Minnesota North Stars on Dec. 30, 1971. During the first 10 games, he registered a .934 SV%, giving up 21 goals for a 2.10 goals-against average (GAA), while picking up 12 penalty minutes in a heated contest with the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 24, 1971. He played 600 minutes and made 295 saves on 316 shots.
Cheevers Remains Undefeated in Early 1972
In January 1972, Cheevers played in seven games, picking up his first shutout of the streak on Jan. 18 against the St. Louis Blues on the road. Then, having the night off in the next contest at the Montreal Canadiens, he made a relief appearance in an 8-5 win, not factoring into the decision, playing only 20 minutes. Overall, he went 4-0-2 in the month, giving up 12 goals for a 1.71 GAA and .933 SV% while picking up a roughing penalty in the first game of the new year.
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Since Cheevers was splitting time with Eddie Johnston, he only played in eight games in February, starting this stretch of games with a shutout win over the Rangers on Feb. 2. Statistically, this month was the best time of the stretch (record-wise) since he was 7-0-1, the only month he participated in a single tie during the entire streak while earning a .932 SV% to go along with a 2.12 GAA.
As the calendar flipped to March, it was business as usual for Cheevers and the Bruins, who went 5-0-2 in his first seven appearances. However, the grind of the season and the then 26-game win streak were starting to get to the player and team. Uncharacteristically, he gave up three or more goals in six of those seven games to have a 3.42 GAA and a weaker .894 SV%.
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Thanks to a win over the Detroit Red Wings on Mar. 4, Cheevers tied Brimsek for the NHL record (27) and surpassed him with a victory over the North Stars a few nights later on Mar. 8. After those historic contests, he tied the Pittsburgh Penguins on Mar. 12 and picked up three straight over the Kings (Mar. 16), North Stars (Mar. 19), and Rangers (Mar. 25), before earning a 5-5 tie in game 32 against the Chicago Blackhawks on Mar. 25.
In the second to last contest of the 78-game season, Boston traveled to Toronto to play in the historic Maple Leafs Garden against the Maple Leafs, where Cheevers would suffer his first defeat (4-1) in four and half months. Despite making 44 saves, his third-highest total of the year, he could not slow down the Toronto offense that night, led by Ron Ellis, Jim McKenny, and Norm Ullman, who had two points apiece.
Overall, Cheevers went 24-0-8 during his record 32-game undefeated streak, posting a .924 SV% and giving up 76 goals (2.30 GAA) while playing 1940:00. Meanwhile, he made 930 saves on 1,006 shots, earned two shutouts and collected 21 penalty minutes. Statistically, he surrendered the most goals (six) in a tie with the Blues while limiting opponents to two or fewer goals in 20 games, even though the league scoring average that season was 3.06 goals per game.
Furthermore, he faced the Penguins (1-0-3), Flyers (4-0-0), Rangers (4-0-0), and North Stars (3-0-1) a total of 16 times, accounting for 48.4% of the undefeated streak.
Cheevers’ Career After the Undefeated Streak
Besides losing the undefeated streak to the Maple Leafs on Mar. 29, 1972, Cheevers would lose the final game of the season (6-2) to the Canadiens as the Bruins would finish the year with the best record 54-13-11 and 119 points, 10 more than the Rangers. During that postseason run, which resulted in a Stanley Cup triumph over New York, he earned a 6-2-0 record with a .915 SV% and 2.62 GAA.
After a brief successful run with the Bruins, he jumped leagues to the WHA in 1972, playing with the Cleveland Crusaders for four seasons before returning to the NHL and Boston late in the 1975-76 season. Over the final four seasons with the club, he earned an 87-35-24 record with a .878 SV% and 2.86 GAA, guiding the team to the 1977 and 1978 Stanley Cup Finals, both losses.
Cheevers retired at the end of the 1979-80 season, finishing second in the Vezina Trophy voting with his partner Gillies Gilbert. Immediately following his retirement, Cheevers coached the Bruins from 1980 to 1985, earning a 204-126-46 record before being fired, never advancing to the Stanley Cup Final as head coach. In 1985, he became the 25th netminder to earn enshrinement into the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF). Interestingly, he is among a select few who never won the Vezina Trophy (15) or was named an NHL All-Star (13) out of the 40 goalies in the HHOF as of 2024.
Since setting the undefeated record in 1972, only Peters has won more than 25 games, with Glenn Resch (23), Grant Fuhr (23), Michel Laroque (22), Chris Osgood (21), Ken Dryden (20), and Mike Richer (20) the only netminders to reach the 20-game plateau. Even though 50 goalies have recorded an undefeated streak of 10 or more games this century, only Nikolai Khabibulin and Marty Turco ran their total to 16 games, half the distance to the milestone Cheevers obtained in 1972.
Although most people talk about how unbreakable Wayne Gretzky’s records are, it is safe to say that we may never see another goalie go undefeated for 33 games in our lifetime, making Cheevers’ achievement one of the most remarkable runs in NHL history.
