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Boston Bruins

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Boston Bruins
File:Boston Bruins.gif
ConferenceEastern
DivisionNortheast
Founded1924
HistoryBoston Bruins
1924 - present
Home arenaTD Banknorth Garden
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Team colorsBlack and Gold
MediaNESN
WBZ (1030 AM)
Owner(s)United States Jeremy Jacobs
General managerCanada Peter Chiarelli
Head coachCanada Dave Lewis
CaptainSlovakia Zdeno Chára
Minor league affiliatesProvidence Bruins (AHL)
Long Beach Ice Dogs (ECHL)
Stanley Cups1928-29, 1938-39, 1940-41, 1969-70, 1971-72
Conference championships1987-88, 1989-90
Division championships1927-28, 1928-29, 1929-30, 1930-31, 1932-33, 1934-35, 1937-38, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1973-74, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1992-93, 2001-02, 2003-04

The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Franchise history

The Pre-World War II years

In 1924, at the convincing of Boston grocery magnate Charles Adams, the National Hockey League decided to expand into the United States. As a long-time hockey hotbed, Boston was a natural choice for the NHL's first American team. Adams' first act was to hire Art Ross as general manager. Ross would stay with the team for thirty years, including four separate stints as coach.

Adams directed Ross to come up with a nickname that would portray an untamed animal displaying speed, agility, and cunning. Ross came up with "Bruins," after the brown bear. The nickname also went along with the team's colors of brown and yellow, which came from Adams' grocery chain, Brookside Stores. The team finished dead last in its inaugural season, but rebounded to finish just a point out of the playoffs a year later.

File:Ditclapper.jpg
Dit Clapper, longtime Bruins' captain and coach.

In only their third season, 1926-27, the team's fortune changed. Ross took advantage of the collapse of the Western Hockey League to purchase several western stars, including the team's first great star, a defenseman from Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan named Eddie Shore. The Bruins reached the Stanley Cup Final despite finishing only one game above .500, but lost to the Ottawa Senators. Boston won its first Cup two years later by defeating the New York Rangers behind stars like Shore, Harry Oliver, Dit Clapper, Dutch Gainor and superstar goaltender Tiny Thompson. That season was also the first in the legendary Boston Garden, which Adams had built after guaranteeing his backers $500,000 in gate receipts over the next five years. The season after that, 1929-30, the Bruins posted the best-ever regular season winning percentage in the NHL (an astonishing .875, winning 38 out of 44 games, and a record which still stands), but would lose to the Montreal Canadiens in the Final.

Except for a couple seasons, the Bruins would remain excellent through the 1930s with superb players such as Shore, Thompson, Clapper, Babe Siebert and Cooney Weiland, but failed to capture their second Cup until 1939, the season the team's colors changed from brown and yellow to the current black and gold. That year, in a move then considered insane by hockey pundits, Ross dealt Thompson in favor of then-untried rookie goaltender Frank Brimsek. "Mr. Zero" Brimsek would electrify the league in his rookie season, winning the Vezina and Calder Trophies and becoming the first rookie ever to make the NHL First All-Star Team, and headlined by the "Kraut Line" of hard-nosed center Milt Schmidt, elegant right winger Bobby Bauer, and tenacious left winger Woody Dumart, playmaking wizard Bill Cowley, Shore, Clapper (who reportedly was convinced that as Brimsek was a Slovenian American, he couldn't succeed) [citation needed], and unexpected hero "Sudden Death" Mel Hill (who scored three overtime goals in one playoff series), the Bruins won the Cup. Shore was dealt to the struggling New York Americans for his final NHL season the next year, but the following season, the Bruins — having led the league with a magnificent regular season that saw them lose only eight games — won their third Stanley Cup with Weiland as their new coach, behind the brilliance of Cowley, the Krauts, and Brimsek. It was their last Stanley Cup for 29 years.

World War II and the "Original Six" Era

Unfortunately, World War II decimated the Bruins worse than most teams; Brimsek and the "Krauts" all enlisted after the 1940-41 Cup win, and lost the most productive years of their careers at war. Cowley, assisted by elder statesmen Clapper and Busher Jackson, was the team's remaining star. Even though the NHL had by 1943 pared down to the six teams that would in the modern era be — erroneously — called the "Original Six", talent was depleted enough that freak seasons could predominate, as in 1944, when Bruin Herb Cain would set the then-NHL record for points in a season with 82. But the Bruins didn't make the playoffs that season, and Cain would be out of the NHL two years later.

Milt Schmidt, a Hockey Hall of Famer and the captain of the Bruins in the early 1950s.

The stars would return for 1945-46, and Clapper led the team all the way back to the Final as player-coach. He retired as a player after the next season, becoming the first player in history to play twenty NHL seasons, but stayed behind the bench for two more years. Unfortunately, Brimsek was not as good as he was pre-War, and after 1946 the Bruins lost in the first playoff round three straight years, resulting in Clapper's resignation. Brimsek was traded to the last-place Chicago Black Hawks in 1949, citing a wish to help his brother with a business he was starting, and an ominous bit of misfortune came with the banning of young star Don Gallinger for life on suspicion of gambling. The only remaining quality young player who stayed with the team for any length was forward Johnny Peirson, who would later be the team's TeleVision color commentator in the 1970s.

The 1950s began with Charles Adams' son Weston (who had been team president since 1936), facing financial trouble. He was forced to accept a buyout offer from Walter A. Brown, the owner of the National Basketball Association's Boston Celtics and the Garden, in 1951. Although there were some flashes of success (such as making the Stanley Cup Final in 1953, 1957, and 1958, only to lose to the Montreal Canadiens each time), the Bruins mustered only four winning seasons between 1947 and 1967. They missed the playoffs eight straight years between 1960 and 1967, but fan support remained high — the Bruins consistently outdrew the Celtics even though they won eight straight basketball world championships.

During this period, the farm system of the Bruins was not as expansive or well-developed as most of the other five teams. The Bruins sought players not protected by the other teams and in 1958 signed Willie O'Ree, the first black player in the NHL. In like fashion, the team signed Tommy Williams from the 1960 Olympic-gold medal winning American national men's hockey team — at the time the only American player in the NHL — in 1962. Boston fans were desperate to have something to take their minds off a very long Stanley Cup drought. The "Uke Line" — named for the Ukrainian heritage of Johnny Bucyk and Vic Stasiuk (their linemate, Bronco Horvath, was largely Hungarian), came to Boston and enjoyed four productive seasons even as the Bruins were struggling overall.

Expansion and the Big, Bad Bruins

File:BobbyOrr.jpg
Bobby Orr won eight consecutive James Norris Memorial Trophies from 1968-75 and the greatest blue-liner ever.

Weston Adams repurchased the Bruins in 1964 after Brown's death and set about rebuilding the team. Adams drafted a defenseman from Parry Sound, Ontario named Bobby Orr, who entered the league in 1966 and would become, in the eyes of many, the greatest player of all time. He was announced that season's winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year and named to the Second NHL All-Star Team. When asked about Orr's NHL debut game, October 19, 1966, against the Detroit Red Wings, then-Bruins coach Harry Sinden recalled:

"Our fans had heard about this kid for a few years now. There was a lot of pressure on him, but he met all the expectations. He was a star from the moment they played the national anthem in the opening game of the season."

[citation needed]

The Bruins then obtained young forwards Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, and Fred Stanfield from Chicago in one of the most one-sided deals in history. Hodge and Stanfield became key elements in the Bruins' powerhouse, and Esposito, who centered a line with Hodge and Wayne Cashman, would blossom into the league's top goal-scorer, becoming the first NHL player to break the 100-point mark and setting many goal- and point-scoring records. Esposito remains one of four players to win the Art Ross Trophy four consecutive seasons (the other three are Jaromir Jagr, Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe). With other stars like forwards Bucyk, John McKenzie, Derek Sanderson and Hodge, steady defenders like Dallas Smith and goaltender Gerry Cheevers, the "Big, Bad Bruins" became one of the league's top teams from the late 1960s through the 1970s, combining a rugged, barroom style of play with one of the greatest offensive juggernauts the NHL had ever seen.

In 1970, a 29-year Stanley Cup drought came to an end in Boston, as the Bruins smashed the St. Louis Blues in four games in the Final. Orr scored the game-winning goal in overtime to clinch the Cup. The same season was Orr's epiphany — the third of eight consecutive years he won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the top defenseman in the NHL — and he won the Art Ross Trophy, the Conn Smythe Trophy, and the Hart Memorial Trophy, the only player to win those four awards all in the same season. The famous image of Orr being tripped up by Blue Noel Picard and flying through the air after scoring "The Goal", his arms raised in victory, remains perhaps the best-known photograph in professional hockey to this day. Sanderson, who fed Orr the puck that day, commented, "Bobby was the one guy who could finish a play like that."[citation needed]

1971 was, in retrospect, the high watermark of the Seventies for Boston. While Sinden temporarily retired from hockey to enter business (he was replaced by ex-Bruin and Canadien defenseman Tom Johnson) the Bruins' dominance was nothing less than cataclysmic, shattering dozens of offensive scoring records. They had seven of the league's top ten scorers — a feat not achieved before or since — set the record for wins in a season, and in a league that had never seen a 100-point scorer before 1969 (Esposito had 126), the Bruins had four that year. All four (Orr, Esposito, Bucyk and Hodge) were named First Team All-Stars, a feat matched in the expansion era only by the 1976-77 Canadiens. Boston looked poised to repeat as Cup champions, but ran into a roadblock in the playoffs. Up 5-1 at one point in game two of the quarterfinals against the Canadiens (and rookie goaltender Ken Dryden), the Bruins squandered the lead to lose 7-5, while Montreal star left wing Frank Mahovlich was en route to a then-playoff record 14 goals. The Bruins never recovered and lost the series in seven games.

While the Bruins were not quite as dominant the next season (although only three points behind the 1971 pace), Esposito and Orr were once again one-two in the scoring standings (followed by Bucyk in ninth place) and they returned to glory in the playoffs, defeating a strong challenge from the New York Rangers in six games in the Cup Final behind Orr's wizardry. The 1972 Cup win is Boston's most recent to date. Rangers blueliner Brad Park, who came runner-up to Orr's five-year (then) monopoly, said, "Bobby Orr was — didn't make — the difference."[citation needed] From here, the Bruins were still great, but another drink of champagne from Lord Stanley's Mug was no longer "in the cards".

Boston continued to dominate through the 1970s (despite losing Cheevers, McKenzie, Sanderson, and other stars to the renegade World Hockey Association), only to come up short in the playoffs. Although they had three 100-point scorers on the team (Esposito, Orr, and Hodge), they lost the 1974 Final to the rough Philadelphia Flyers. Broad Street Bullies center Bobby Clarke had lured Orr into hauling him down in Game Six, while Philly led 1-0. With Orr sitting in the penalty box, time expired and the Flyers soared over the Bruins.

The flamboyant Don Cherry stepped behind the bench as the new coach in 1974-75. The Bruins stocked themselves with enforcers and grinders, and remained a threat under Cherry's reign, the so-called "Lunch Pail A.C.," behind players such as slick Gregg Sheppard, rugged Terry O'Reilly and Stan Jonathan, and high-scoring Peter McNab.

Orr, however, did not. After declaring betrayal at the hands of his now-disgraced ex-agent, Alan Eagleson, he left the Bruins for the Hawks in 1976, and retired after many knee operations in 1979. The Bruins excelled without him, picking up Brad Park from the Rangers (along with Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi) in a blockbuster trade for Esposito and Carol Vadnais as they made the semifinals again, losing to the Flyers.

Cheevers returned from the WHA in 1976, and the Bruins got past the Flyers in the semifinals, but lost to the Canadiens in the Final for the Cup. The story would repeat itself in 1978 as the Bruins made the Final once more, but lost to a Canadiens team that had recorded the best regular season in modern history, after which Johnny Bucyk retired, holding virtually every Bruins' career longevity and scoring mark to that time.

The 1979 semifinal series against the Habs proved to be Cherry's undoing. In the deciding seventh game, the Bruins, up by a goal, were called for having too many men on the ice in the late stages of the third period. Montreal tied the game on the ensuing power play and won in overtime. Never popular with Harry Sinden, by then the Bruins' general manager, Cherry left the team in the off-season for the Colorado Rockies.

The Eighties and Nineties

File:Boston Home uniforms.gif
Away jersey (1995-2003); current home (2003-present)

Coupled with front-office dislike of Cherry's outspoken ways, 1979 saw new head coach Fred Creighton, a newly-retired Cheevers the following year, and the coming of Ray Bourque. The defenseman — one of the true greats in NHL history — was an icon for the team for over two decades.

The Bruins made the playoffs every year through the 1980s behind stars such as Park, Bourque, and Rick Middleton — and had the league's best record in 1983 behind a Vezina Trophy-winning season from ex-Flyer goaltender Pete Peeters — but usually did not get very far in the playoffs.

By the late 1980s, Boston forced back. Bourque, the indomitable Cam Neely, Keith Crowder and Bob Sweeney would lead the Bruins to another Finals appearance in 1988 against the Edmonton Oilers. The Bruins lost in a four-game sweep, but created a memorable moment in the would-be fourth game when the lights at the Boston Garden went out due to a sudden and immediate blown fuse during the second period with the game tied 3-3. The rest of the game was cancelled and the series shifted to Edmonton. The Oilers completed the sweep, 6-3, back at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, in what was originally scheduled in game five.

Boston returned to the Stanley Cup Final in 1990 (with Neely, Bourque, Craig Janney, Bobby Carpenter and rookie Don Sweeney, and former Oiler goalie Andy Moog and Rejean Lemelin splitting goaltending duties), but would again lose to the Oilers, this time in five games.

In 1988, 1990-92, and 1994, they defeated their Original Six arch-nemesis in the playoffs, the Montreal Canadiens, getting some revenge for a rivalry which had up to then been lopsided in the Canadiens' favor in playoff action. In 1991 and 1992, they suffered two consecutive Conference Final losses to the eventual Cup champion, the Mario Lemieux-led Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 1993 season and beyond would not be kind to the Bruins. Despite picking up more talent like Adam Oates, Rick Tocchet, and Jozef Stumpel, they have not since gotten past the second round of the playoffs. The 1993 season ended on a sour note for several reasons. Despite finishing with the second-best regular season record after Pittsburgh, Boston was swept in the first-round in a shocking upset by the Buffalo Sabres. During the postseason awards ceremony, Bruin players finished as runner-up on many of the honors (Bourque for the Norris, Oates for the Art Ross and Lady Byng Trophy, Joé Juneau [who had broken the NHL record for assists in a season by a left-winger, a mark he still holds] for the Calder Trophy, Dave Poulin for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, Moog for the William M. Jennings Trophy, and Brian Sutter for the Jack Adams Award), although Bourque made the NHL All-Star First Team and Juneau the NHL All-Rookie Team.

File:Boston Away uniforms.gif
Home jersey (1995-2003); current away (2003-present)

In 1997, Boston missed the playoffs for the first time in thirty years, having set the North American major professional record for most consecutive seasons in the playoffs.

The late 1990s also saw the Bruins move from the storied Boston Garden, to their new home, the FleetCenter, now known as the TD Banknorth Garden.

Their bitterest archrivals have historically been the Montreal Canadiens, but Montreal's lack of success in recent years has helped to mute the century-old rivalry.

The 21st century

File:Boston alternate.gif
Third jersey, 1996-2006

Despite a fifteen-point improvement from the previous season, the Bruins missed the playoffs in 2000-01. Leading scorer Jason Allison led the Bruins.

The following season, 2001-02, saw the Bruins with a thirteen-point improvement, winning their first Northeast Division title since 1993 under a core built around Joe Thornton, Sergei Samsonov, Brian Rolston, Bill Guerin, and the newly acquired Glen Murray. Their regular season success didn't translate to the postseason, though, as they bowed out in six games to the underdog eighth-place Canadiens in the first round.

The 2002-03 season found the Bruins platooning their goaltending staff between Steve Shields and John Grahame for most of the season. A mid-season trade, however, brought in veteran Jeff Hackett. The Bruins managed to finish seventh in the East, but lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils in five games.

In 2003-04, the Bruins began the season with ex-Toronto Maple Leaf goalie Felix Potvin between the pipes. Later in the season, the Bruins put rookie Andrew Raycroft into the starting role. Raycroft eventually won the Calder Award that season. The Bruins went on to win another division title and appeared destined to get out of the first round for the first time in five years with a 3-1 series lead on the rival Canadiens. The Canadiens rallied back, however, to win three straight games, upsetting the Bruins.

The 2004-05 NHL season was wiped out by a lockout, and the Bruins had a lot of space within the new salary cap implemented for 2005-06. Bruins management eschewed younger free agents in favor of older veterans such as Alexei Zhamnov and Brian Leetch. The newcomers were oft-injured, and by the end of November, the Bruins team traded their captain and franchise player, Joe Thornton (who would go on to win the Art Ross and Hart Trophies that season). In exchange, the Bruins received Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau from the San Jose Sharks.

File:Boston-alternate.gif
Alternate logo, 1996-2006-also used on shoulders of current uniform

After losing ten of eleven games before the trade (while the Sharks won Thornton's first seven games in San Jose), the Bruins came back with a 3-0 victory over the league-leading Ottawa Senators, as rookie goaltender Hannu Toivonen earned his first career NHL shutout victory. When Toivonen went down (for the rest of the season) with an injury in January, journeyman goalie Tim Thomas started sixteen straight games and brought the Bruins back into the playoff hunt. Two points out of eighth place at the Winter Olympic break, the Bruins fired general manager Mike O'Connell in March and the Bruins missed the playoffs for the first time in five years. They finished thirteenth in the Eastern Conference and earned the fifth pick in the NHL Draft Lottery, which they used to draft U.S. college player Phil Kessel, who dropped out of college early to sign with the team on August 17, 2006.

In May, former Ottawa assistant general manager Peter Chiarelli was hired as the new GM of the team. Head coach Mike Sullivan was fired and Dave Lewis, former coach of the Detroit Red Wings, was hired to replace him while Marc Habscheid was named associate coach. The Bruins then made headlines on the first day of free-agent signing when they inked Zdeno Chara, one of the most coveted defensemen in the NHL and a former NHL All-Star, from the Senators, and Marc Savard, who finished just three points short of a 100-point season in '05-'06 with the Atlanta Thrashers, to long-term deals. Bergeron was re-signed by the Bruins on August 22, 2006 to a multi-year contract, keeping the developing player on the team for some years to come. Goaltender Andrew Raycroft and defenseman Hal Gill both went to Toronto.

On August 20, 2006, The Boston Globe reported that the Bruins will get rid of their gold third jerseys for 2006-07 in favor of a new third jersey mimicking an ugly old rag the 1966-67 jerseys. The new third jersey will be used against Original Six opponents, and one matchup against the Ottawa Senators.

"Unofficial" Theme songs

When Boston television station WSBK began showing Bruins games on television in 1967, the television station's managers wanted to come up with a suitable piece of music to air for the introduction of each Bruins game. Because the Boston Ballet's annual Christmas performance of The Nutcracker had become closely identified with Boston, The Ventures' instrumental rock version of the Nutcracker's overture, known as "Nutty", was selected as the opening piece of music for Bruins telecasts. The song "Nutty" has been identified with the Bruins ever since, even though NESN, who now airs almost all of the Bruins' regular season and playoff games, has used a piece of original instrumental rock music for Bruins telecasts, that it also uses with all its Boston Red Sox televised games, for the 21st century. The song "Nutty" is still sometimes played at the TD Banknorth Garden during Bruins games, especially during the intermission times between periods-so it has not been forgotten-most prominently by Bruins fans who remember hearing it on the WSBK television broadcasts of games, when Bobby Orr was playing for the team some thirty-five years previously. "Nutty" has also been covered by popular Boston punk band, Dropkick Murphys. Dropkick Murphys have also written a song about the Bruins, called "Time To Go".

On ice, the song Paree has been played as an organ instrumental for decades, typically as the players enter the arena just before the start of each period. It was introduced by John Kiley, the organist for the Bruins, the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Celtics from the 1950s through the 1980s, and is still played during Bruins' games.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Records as of January 12, 2007. [1]

Season GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs
1924-25 30 6 24 0 — 12 49 119 264 6th, NHL Did not qualify
1925-26 36 17 15 4 — 38 92 85 279 4th, NHL Did not qualify
1926-27 44 21 20 3 — 45 97 89 521 2nd, American Won in Quarterfinals, 10-5 (TG) (Black Hawks)
Won in Semifinals, 3-1 (TG) (Rangers)
Lost in Finals, 0-2 (Senators)
1927-28 44 20 13 11 — 51 77 70 558 1st, American Lost in Semifinals, 2-5 (TG) (Rangers)
1928-29 44 26 13 5 — 57 89 52 472 1st, American Won in Semifinals, 3-0 (Canadiens)
Stanley Cup Champions, 2-0 (Rangers)
1929-30 44 38 5 1 — 77 179 98 449 1st, American Won in Semifinals, 3-1 (Maroons)
Lost in Finals, 0-2 (Canadiens)
1930-31 44 28 10 6 — 62 143 90 403 1st, American Lost in Semifinals, 2-3 (Canadiens)
1931-32 48 15 21 12 — 42 122 117 373 4th, American Did not qualify
1932-33 48 25 15 8 — 58 124 88 517 1st, American Lost in Semifinals, 2-3 (Maple Leafs)
1933-34 48 18 25 5 — 41 111 130 385 4th, American Did not qualify
1934-35 48 26 16 6 — 58 129 112 368 1st, American Lost in Semifinals, 1-3 (Maple Leafs)
1935-36 48 22 20 6 — 50 92 83 397 2nd, American Lost in Quarterfinals, 6-8 (TG) (Maple Leafs)
1936-37 48 23 18 7 — 53 120 110 303 2nd, American Lost in Quarterfinals, 1-2 (Maroons)
1937-38 48 30 11 7 — 67 142 89 284 1st, American Lost in Semifinals, 0-3 (Maple Leafs)
1938-39 48 36 10 2 — 74 156 76 251 1st, NHL Won in Semifinals, 4-3 (Rangers)
Stanley Cup Champions, 4-1 (Maple Leafs)
1939-40 48 31 12 5 — 67 170 98 330 1st, NHL Lost in Semifinals, 2-4 (Rangers)
1940-41 48 27 8 13 — 67 168 102 246 1st, NHL Won in Semifinals, 4-3 (Maple Leafs)
Stanley Cup Champions, 4-0 (Red Wings)
1941-42 48 25 17 6 — 56 160 118 349 3rd, NHL Won in Quarterfinals, 2-1 (Black Hawks)
Lost in Semifinals, 0-2 (Red Wings)
1942-43 50 24 17 9 — 57 195 176 364 2nd, NHL Won in Semifinals, 4-1 (Canadiens)
Lost in Finals, 0-4 (Red Wings)
1943-44 50 19 26 5 — 43 223 268 207 5th, NHL Did not qualify
1944-45 50 16 30 4 — 36 179 219 275 4th, NHL Lost in Semifinals, 3-4 (Red Wings)
1945-46 50 24 18 8 — 56 167 156 273 2nd, NHL Won in Semifinals, 4-1 (Red Wings)
Lost in Finals, 1-4 (Canadiens)
1946-47 60 26 23 11 — 63 190 175 463 3rd, NHL Lost in Semifinals, 1-4 (Canadiens)
1947-48 60 23 24 13 — 59 167 168 515 3rd, NHL Lost in Semifinals, 1-4 (Maple Leafs)
1948-49 60 29 23 8 — 66 178 163 434 2nd, NHL Lost in Semifinals, 1-4 (Maple Leafs)
1949-50 70 22 32 16 — 60 198 228 449 5th, NHL Did not qualify
1950-51 70 22 30 18 — 62 178 197 656 4th, NHL Lost in Semifinals, 1-4 (Maple Leafs)
1951-52 70 25 29 16 — 66 162 176 601 4th, NHL Lost in Semifinals, 3-4 (Canadiens)
1952-53 70 28 29 13 — 69 152 172 528 3rd, NHL Won in Semifinals, 4-2 (Red Wings)
Lost in Finals, 1-4 (Canadiens)
1953-54 70 32 28 10 — 74 177 181 685 4th, NHL Lost in Semifinals, 0-4 (Canadiens)
1954-55 70 23 26 21 — 67 169 188 863 4th, NHL Lost in Semifinals, 1-4 (Canadiens)
1955-56 70 23 34 13 — 59 147 185 929 5th, NHL Did not qualify
1956-57 70 34 24 12 — 80 195 174 978 3rd, NHL Won in Semifinals, 4-1 (Red Wings)
Lost in Finals, 1-4 (Canadiens)
1957-58 70 27 28 15 — 69 199 194 849 4th, NHL Won in Semifinals, 4-2 (Rangers)
Lost in Finals, 2-4 (Canadiens)
1958-59 70 32 29 9 — 73 205 215 838 2nd, NHL Lost in Semifinals, 3-4 (Maple Leafs)
1959-60 70 28 34 8 — 64 220 241 932 5th, NHL Did not qualify
1960-61 70 15 42 13 — 43 176 254 810 6th, NHL Did not qualify
1961-62 70 15 47 8 — 38 177 306 712 6th, NHL Did not qualify
1962-63 70 14 39 17 — 45 198 281 636 6th, NHL Did not qualify
1963-64 70 18 40 12 — 48 170 212 858 6th, NHL Did not qualify
1964-65 70 21 43 6 — 48 166 253 946 6th, NHL Did not qualify
1965-66 70 21 43 6 — 48 174 275 787 5th, NHL Did not qualify
1966-67 70 17 43 10 — 44 182 253 764 6th, NHL Did not qualify
1967-68 74 37 27 10 — 84 259 216 1043 3rd, East Lost in Quarterfinals, 0-4 (Canadiens)
1968-69 76 42 18 16 — 100 303 221 1297 2nd, East Won in Quarterfinals, 4-0 (Maple Leafs)
Lost in Semifinals, 2-4 (Canadiens)
1969-70 76 40 17 19 — 99 277 216 1196 2nd, East Won in Quarterfinals, 4-2 (Rangers)
Won in Semifinals, 4-0 (Black Hawks)
Stanley Cup Champions, 4-0 (Blues)
1970-71 78 57 14 7 — 121 399 207 1154 1st, East Lost in Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Canadiens)
1971-72 78 54 13 11 — 119 330 204 1112 1st, East Won in Quarterfinals, 4-1 (Maple Leafs)
Won in Semifinals, 4-0 (Blues)
Stanley Cup Champions, 4-2 (Rangers)
1972-73 78 51 22 5 — 107 330 235 1097 2nd, East Lost in Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Rangers)
1973-74 78 52 17 9 — 113 349 221 968 1st, East Won in Quarterfinals, 4-0 (Maple Leafs)
Won in Semifinals, 4-2 (Black Hawks)
Lost in Finals, 2-4 (Flyers)
1974-75 80 40 26 14 — 94 345 245 1153 2nd, Adams Lost in Preliminary Round, 1-2 (Black Hawks)
1975-76 80 48 15 17 — 113 313 237 1195 1st, Adams Won in Quarterfinals, 4-3 (Kings)
Lost in Semifinals, 1-4 (Flyers)
1976-77 80 49 23 8 — 106 312 240 1065 1st, Adams Won in Quarterfinals, 4-2 (Kings)
Won in Semifinals, 4-0 (Flyers)
Lost in Finals, 0-4 (Canadiens)
1977-78 80 51 18 11 — 113 333 218 1237 1st, Adams Won in Quarterfinals, 4-0 (Black Hawks)
Won in Semifinals, 1-4 (Flyers)
Lost in Finals, 2-4 (Canadiens)
1978-79 80 43 23 14 — 100 316 270 1222 1st, Adams Won in Quarterfinals, 4-0 (Penguins)
Lost in Semifinals, 3-4 (Canadiens)
1979-80 80 46 21 13 — 105 310 234 1460 2nd, Adams Won in Preliminary Round, 3-2 (Penguins)
Lost in Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Islanders)
1980-81 80 37 30 13 — 87 316 272 1836 2nd, Adams Lost in Preliminary Round, 0-3 (North Stars)
1981-82 80 43 27 10 — 96 323 285 1266 2nd, Adams Won in Division Semifinals, 3-1 (Sabres)
Lost in Division Finals, 3-4 (Nordiques)
1982-83 80 50 20 10 — 110 327 228 1202 1st, Adams Won in Division Semifinals, 3-1 (Nordiques)
Won in Division Finals, 4-3 (Sabres)
Lost in Conference Finals, 2-4 (Islanders)
1983-84 80 49 25 6 — 104 336 261 1606 1st, Adams Lost in Division Semifinals, 0-3 (Canadiens)
1984-85 80 36 34 10 — 82 303 287 1825 4th, Adams Lost in Division Semifinals, 2-3 (Canadiens)
1985-86 80 37 31 12 — 86 311 288 1919 3rd, Adams Lost in Division Semifinals, 0-3 (Canadiens)
1986-87 80 39 34 7 — 85 301 276 1870 3rd, Adams Lost in Division Semifinals, 0-4 (Canadiens)
1987-88 80 44 30 6 — 94 300 251 2443 2nd, Adams Won in Division Semifinals, 4-2 (Sabres)
Won in Division Finals, 4-1 (Canadiens)
Won in Conference Finals, 4-3 (Devils)
Lost in Finals, 0-4 (Oilers)
1988-89 80 37 29 14 — 88 289 256 1929 2nd, Adams Won in Division Semifinals, 4-1 (Sabres)
Lost in Division Finals, 1-4 (Canadiens)
1989-90 80 46 25 9 — 101 289 232 1458 1st, Adams Won in Division Semifinals, 4-3 (Whalers)
Won in Division Finals, 4-1 (Canadiens)
Won in Conference Finals, 4-0 (Capitals)
Lost in Finals, 1-4 (Oilers)
1990-91 80 44 24 12 — 100 299 264 1694 1st, Adams Won in Division Semifinals, 4-2 (Whalers)
Won in Division Finals, 4-3 (Canadiens)
Lost in Conference Finals, 2-4 (Penguins)
1991-92 80 36 32 12 — 84 270 275 1752 2nd, Adams Won in Division Semifinals, 4-3 (Sabres)
Won in Division Finals, 4-0 (Canadiens)
Lost in Conference Finals, 0-4 (Penguins)
1992-93 84 51 26 7 — 109 332 268 1552 1st, Adams Lost in Division Semifinals, 0-4 (Sabres)
1993-94 84 42 29 13 — 97 289 252 1442 2nd, Northeast Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-3 (Canadiens)
Lost in Conference Semifinals, 2-4 (Devils)
1994-951 48 27 18 3 — 57 150 127 793 3rd, Northeast Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Devils)
1995-96 82 40 31 11 — 91 282 269 1039 2nd, Northeast Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Panthers)
1996-97 82 26 47 9 — 61 234 300 1369 6th, Northeast Did not qualify
1997-98 82 39 30 13 — 91 221 194 1117 2nd, Northeast Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Capitals)
1998-99 82 39 30 13 — 91 214 181 1182 3rd, Northeast Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-2 (Hurricanes)
Lost in Conference Semifinals, 2-4 (Sabres)
1999-00 82 24 33 19 6 73 210 248 865 5th, Northeast Did not qualify
2000-01 82 36 30 8 8 88 227 249 1325 4th, Northeast Did not qualify
2001-02 82 43 24 6 9 101 236 201 1454 1st, Northeast Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Canadiens)
2002-03 82 36 31 11 4 87 245 237 1370 3rd, Northeast Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Devils)
2003-04 82 41 19 15 7 104 209 188 1208 1st, Northeast Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Canadiens)
2004-052 — — — — — — — — — — —
2005-063 82 29 37 — 16 74 230 266 1162 5th, Northeast Did not qualify
2006-07 41 20 17 — 4 44 124 152 630 5th, Northeast
Totals 5509 2612 2052 791 54 6071 17807 16307 75608 — —

TG = Total Goals

1 Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.
2 Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
3 As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games tied after regulation will be decided in a 5 minute sudden-death overtime period. If game is still undecided, the game will then be decided by a shootout; SOL (Shootout losses) will be recorded as OTL in the standings.

Notable players

Current roster

As of January 11, 2007. [2]

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
30 United States Tim Thomas R 2002 Flint, Michigan
54 Finland Hannu Toivonen R 2002 Kalvola, Finland
Defensemen
# Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
6 Canada Brad Stuart L 2005 Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
23 United States Paul Mara L 2006 Ridgewood, New Jersey
25 Canada Jason York (Injured) R 2006 Nepean, Ontario
33 Slovakia Zdeno Chara - C L 2006 Trencin, Czechoslovakia
41 United States Andrew Alberts L 2001 Minneapolis, Minnesota
49 United States Matt Lashoff L 2005 East Greenbush, New York
68 Slovakia Milan Jurcina R 2001 Liptovsky Mikulas, Czechoslovakia
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
11 Sweden Per Johan Axelsson LW L 1995 Kungälv, Sweden
13 Russia Stanislav Chistov (Injured) LW R 2006 Chelyabinsk, U.S.S.R.
16 Germany Marco Sturm LW L 2005 Dingolfing, West Germany
17 Czech Republic Petr Tenkrat RW R 2006 Kladno, Czechoslovakia
18 United States Mark Mowers C R 2006 Decatur, Georgia
20 Canada Wayne Primeau C L 2005 Scarborough, Ontario
22 Canada Shean Donovan RW R 2006 Timmins, Ontario
26 Canada Brad Boyes RW R 2004 Mississauga, Ontario
27 Canada Glen Murray - A RW R 2001 Halifax, Nova Scotia
32 Canada Jeff Hoggan LW L 2006 Hope, British Columbia
37 Canada Patrice Bergeron - A C R 2003 L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec
81 United States Phil Kessel C R 2006 Madison, Wisconsin
91 Canada Marc Savard C L 2006 Ottawa, Ontario

Team captains


Hall of Famers

Players


Builders

Retired numbers

First-round draft picks


Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Bruins player

Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Ray Bourque D 1518 395 1111 1506 .99
Johnny Bucyk LW 1436 545 794 1339 .93
Phil Esposito C 625 459 553 1012 1.63
Rick Middleton RW 881 402 496 898 1.02
Bobby Orr D 631 264 624 888 1.41
Wayne Cashman LW 1027 277 516 793 .77
Ken Hodge RW 652 289 385 674 1.03
Terry O'Reilly RW 891 204 402 606 .68
Cam Neely RW 525 344 246 590 1.12
Peter McNab C 595 263 324 587 .99

NHL awards and trophies

Stanley Cup

Presidents' Trophy

Prince of Wales Trophy

Art Ross Trophy

(* - traded to the San Jose Sharks during the 2005-06 season)

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

Calder Memorial Trophy

Conn Smythe Trophy

Frank J. Selke Trophy

Hart Memorial Trophy

(* - traded to the San Jose Sharks during the 2005-06 season)

Jack Adams Award

James Norris Memorial Trophy

King Clancy Memorial Trophy

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

Lester B. Pearson Award

Lester Patrick Trophy

NHL Leading Scorer (prior to awarding of Art Ross Trophy)

Vezina Trophy

William M. Jennings Trophy


Franchise individual records

References

  1. ^ Hockeydb.com, Boston Bruins season statistics and records.
  2. ^ Boston Bruins Website [1]

See also
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