Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins are a franchise in the Northeast division of the Eastern Conference.

The Bruins are one of the most storied franchises in the NHL, as one of the Original Six teams in 1924. The Bruins were actually an expansion team added to the NHL, as the first American city granted a franchise. The Bruins were successful almost immediately, winning their first Stanley Cup in 1928-29, behind the play of Hall of Famers like Eddie Shore and Dit Clapper. The Bruins continued to play well in the Thirties, winning two more Stanley Cups in 1939 and 1941. In the 1960s, the Bruins created one of the greatest teams that ever played, with Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Wayne Cashman headlining a team that dominated the NHL for a number of years. In 1970 and 1972, the Bruins won two more Cups, with Bobby Orr scoring one of the most famous goals in history to win the 1970 Stanley Cup.

Don Cherry was hired to coach the Bruins in the mid-‘70s, and led the Bruins to a number of deep playoff runs and Cup Final appearances. The most notable of these came in 1979, when Boston lost the Conference Finals to Montreal after the Canadiens scored on a powerplay late in the 3rd period due to Boston having too many men on the ice at once. In the 1980s, the Bruins again picked up a top caliber defenseman when Ray Bourque was drafted. Boston continued to be successful franchise over the course of the ‘80s and early ‘90s, making a number of runs at the Cup, losing to a number of great teams, including Montreal and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Boston has not made it deeper into the playoffs than the second round since 1993.

Andrew Raycroft won the Calder Trophy as the league’s best rookie, and it appeared that Boston would finally have a solid goaltender to build their struggling franchise around. Unfortunately, after the lockout, Raycroft failed to return to his rookie season form, and was traded to Toronto. Superstar Joe Thornton was traded to San Jose in an effort to ditch salary and begin to rebuild with younger talent. Boston made the playoffs again in 2007-08, after adding big defenseman Zdeno Chara, Marc Savard and young star Phil Kessel.

Boston plays out of the TD Banknorth Center which seats 17,565.

Stanley Cups won: 1928-29, 1938-39, 1940-41, 1969-70, 1971-72

Notable Players: Jason Allison, Patrice Bergeron, Ray Bourque, Frank Brimsek, Johnny Bucyk, Wayne Cashman, Zdeno Chara, Gerry Cheevers, Dit Clapper, Phil Esposito, Bill Guerin, Ken Hodge, Craig Janney, Joe Juneau, Phil Kessel, Brian Leetch, John McKenzie, Andy Moog, Glen Murray, Cam Neely, Terry O’Reilly, Adam Oates, Bobby Orr, Brad Park, Andrew Raycroft, Brian Rolston, Sergei Samsonov, Derek Sanderson, Marc Savard, Milt Schmidt, Eddie Shore, Don Sweeney, Joe Thornton, Rick Tocchet

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