Boston Bruins
League
Championships 5 - 1929 (NHL), 1939 (NHL), 1941
(NHL), 1970 (NHL), 1972 (NHL)
Conference
Championships 4 - 1977 (Wales), 1978 (Wales),
1988 (Wales), 1990 (Wales)
Division
Championships 21 - 1928 (American), 1929 (American),
1930 (American), 1931 (American), 1933 (American),
1935 (American), 1938 (American), 1971 (East),
1972 (East), 1974 (East), 1976 (Adams), 1977
(Adams), 1978 (Adams), 1979 (Adams), 1983 (Adams),
1984 (Adams), 1990 (Adams), 1991 (Adams), 1993
(Adams), 2002 (Northeast), 2004 (Northeast)
Playoff
Appearances 62 - 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931,
1933, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941,
1942, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951,
1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1968,
1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976,
1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984,
1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992,
1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003,
2004
Boston Bruins, professional ice
hockey team and one of five teams in the Northeast
Division of the Eastern Conference of the National
Hockey League (NHL). The Bruins play at the
FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts, and wear
uniforms of gold, black, and white.
From 1927 to 1958 Boston reached
the Stanley Cup Finals ten times, coming away
with three victories. The Bruins were one of
the NHL’s most dominant teams during the
1970s, capturing seven division crowns and two
Stanley Cup championships during the decade.
Several future members of the Hockey Hall of
Fame have played for the Bruins, including center
Phil Esposito and defenseman Bobby Orr.
The Bruins joined the NHL in
1924. Art Ross was the team’s owner, general
manager, and head coach. Under Ross, for whom
the annual Art Ross Trophy for the NHL’s
leading scorer is named, Boston advanced to
the Stanley Cup Finals three times in the late
1920s and early 1930s. Ross assembled a powerful
lineup around defensemen Aubrey Clapper and
Eddie Shore, goalie Cecil “Tiny”
Thompson, and center Ralph “Cooney”
Weiland. Weiland’s league-high 73 points
in 1929-30 stood as a franchise record for 14
years. Ross guided the Bruins to both their
first and second Stanley Cup victories: In 1929
the Bruins defeated the New York Rangers 2 games
to 0, in what was then a best-of-three series,
and in 1939 they defeated the Toronto Maple
Leafs 4 games to 1, in what had become a best-of-seven
series.
During the ten-year period between
these two wins, Bruins players accumulated many
individual awards. Shore won the Hart Memorial
Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player
(MVP) in 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1938. Center
Bill Cowley received both the Hart Memorial
Trophy and the Art Ross Trophy for the 1940-41
season; he was again named MVP in 1943. Thompson
was awarded the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s
leading goaltender in 1930, 1933, 1936, and
1938. Another Bruins goalie, Frankie “Mr.
Zero” Brimsek, won the Vezina Trophy in
1939 and 1942.
Ralph Weiland went on to become
Boston’s head coach, and under him Boston
collected another Stanley Cup title in 1941
when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4 games
to 0. The Bruins advanced to the Stanley Cup
Finals five more times from 1943 to 1958 but
failed to win the championship. Boston’s
starring line of left wing Woody Dumart, center
Milt Schmidt, and right wing Bobby Bauer ranked
among the finest of the late 1940s and early
1950s. Schmidt was named MVP in 1951. From 1959
to 1967 the Bruins slumped, failing to reach
the playoffs and consistently placing at or
near the bottom of their division.
The Bruins improved again beginning
in 1967, under head coach Harry Sinden. Boston’s
lineup featured left wing John Bucyk, center
Phil Esposito, and defensemen Bobby Orr and
Brad Park—all eventual Hockey Hall of
Fame members. The Bruins reached the Stanley
Cup Finals five times from 1970 to 1978. In
1970, under Sinden, the team won its fourth
Stanley Cup championship by defeating the St.
Louis Blues 4 games to 0. In 1972, under Tom
Johnson, they captured their fifth championship,
defeating the New York Rangers 4 games to 2.
Bep Guidolin guided the Bruins to the finals
in 1974, where they lost to the Philadelphia
Flyers 4 games to 2. Head coach Don Cherry received
the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach
of the year in 1976. He took the Bruins to the
Stanley Cup Finals in both 1977 and 1978, but
they lost to the Montréal Canadiens both
years.
From the late 1960s through the
mid-1970s Bruins teammates Esposito and Orr
formed one of the most explosive duos in league
history. Esposito was named to the NHL All-Star
team every year from 1968 to 1974, was named
the NHL’s MVP in both 1969 and 1974, and
was the league’s top scorer in 1969 and
then every year from 1971 to 1974. In 1970 Orr
became the first defenseman to be the league’s
top scorer. That same season he received the
Hart Memorial Trophy as MVP, the James Norris
Memorial Trophy as the league’s top defenseman,
and the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the
Stanley Cup playoffs. Orr was again named the
league MVP in 1971 and 1972. He was named the
league’s top defenseman eight seasons
in a row, from 1968 to 1975.
Following a brief rebuilding
period, Boston earned back-to-back division
titles in 1982 and 1983 under head coach Gerry
Cheevers, who had been a Bruins goalie from
the mid-1960s to the late 1970s. Ray Bourque
became the league’s top defenseman, collecting
five James Norris Memorial Trophies from 1987
to 1994. In 1988, under another former Boston
player, Terry O’Reilly, the Bruins made
their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in
ten years. Goalie Rejean Lemelin teamed with
Bourque to anchor one of the league’s
strongest defenses, but in the finals the Bruins
lost to the Edmonton Oilers. They again fell
to the Oilers in the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Bruins continued to be one of the top teams
in the Northeast Division through the late 1990s.
May 10, 1970
Bobby Orr scores the winning goal in overtime
to win the Stanley Cup.
December 11, 1980
Brad Park becomes only the second defenseman
in the history of the NHL to get 500 assists.
February 3, 1983
Wayne Cashman plays in his 1000th game.
December 3, 1987
Ray Bourque had quite the surprise in store
for Phil Esposito when the Bruins honored Espo
at the Boston Garden.
March 7, 1994
Cam Neely scores his 50th goal in 44 games for
the Bruins.
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