Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL). Their logo is comprised of a black "B" in a black circle with gold spokes radiating from the center.

Facts

Founded: 1924

Team Colors: Black and gold

Home Arena: TD Banknorth Garden (also known as Fleet Center, 1995-2005)

Former Home Arenas: Boston Arena (1924-1927); Boston Garden (1928-1995)

Stanley Cup Champions: 5 — 1928-29, 1938-39, 1940-41, 1969-70, 1971-72

Runner-up: 12 — 1926-27, 1929-30, 1942-43, 1945-46, 1952-53, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1973-74, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1987-88, 1989-90

League Champions (and Presidents' Trophy winner after 1985-86): 12 — 1929-30, 1930-31, 1932-33, 1937-38, 1938-39, 1939-40, 1940-41, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1973-74, 1982-83, 1989-90

Conference Champions (since 1974-75): 2 — 1987-88, 1989-90

Division Champions (between 1926-27-1937-38 and since 1967-68): 21

American Division: 7 — 1927-28, 1928-29, 1929-30, 1930-31, 1932-33, 1934-35, 1937-38

East Division: 3 — 1970-71, 1971-72, 1973-74

Adams Division: 9 — 1975-76, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1992-93

Northeast Division: 2 — 2001-02, 2003-04

Main Rivals: Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs

One of the NHL's 'Original Six' franchises, along with the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs

Local Television: NESN

Franchise history

The Pre-War years

Adams hired Art Ross as general manager. Ross would stay with the team for 30 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 gold (brown became black in 1939), 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.

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, defenseman Eddie Shore. The Bruins reached the Stanley Cup final despite finishing only one game above .500, but lost to the Ottawa Senators, but won their first Cup two years later by defeating the New York Rangers behind 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), but would lose to the Montreal Canadiens in the finals.

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. That year, in a move considered insane by hockey pundits, Ross dealt Thompson in favor of untried rookie goaltender Frank Brimsek. "Mr. Zero" Brimsek would electrify the league in his rookie season, and headlined by the "Kraut Line" (center Milt Schmidt, left winger Bobby Bauer, and right winger Woody Dumart), playmaking wizard Bill Cowley, Shore, Clapper, 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 New York Americans for his final NHL season the next year, but the following season, the Bruins -- having led the league in a magnificent regular season, with only eight losses, won their third Stanley Cup with Weiland as their new coach, behind the brilliance of Cowley, the Krauts and Brimsek. It would be 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, Schmidt, Dumart and Bauer all enlisted after the 1941 season, 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 a later era be -- erroneously -- called the "Original Six", talent was depleted enough that freak seasons could predominate, as in 1943-44, when Bruin Herb Cain would set the NHL record for points in a season with 82. The Bruins wouldn't make the playoffs that year, and Cain would be out of the NHL two years later. The stars would return for the 1945-46 NHL season, and Clapper led the team all the way to the Cup finals as player-coach. He retired as a player after the next season, but stayed behind the bench 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 ouster. An ominous bit of misfortune came with the banning of young star Don Gallinger for life on suspicion of gambling, and 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 color commentator in the Seventies.

The 1950s would not be kind to the Bruins. Adams' son, Weston (who had been team president since 1936), faced financial trouble and was forced to accept a buyout offer from Walter A. Brown, the owner of the Boston Celtics and the Garden, in 1951. Although there were some flashes of success (such as making the Stanley Cup finals 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 their corporate cousins even as they won eight straight 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 and in 1962 signed Tommy Williams from the gold medal winning American national men's hockey team at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics who was at the time the only American player in the NHL.

Expansion and the Big, Bad Bruins

Weston Adams repurchased the Bruins in 1964 after Brown's death and set about rebuilding the team. Adams drafted young Bobby Orr, who entered the league in 1966 and would become, in the eyes of many, the greatest defenseman of all time. He was announced that season's winner of the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year and named to the Second NHL All-Star Team. When asked about Orr's NHL debut game, October 18, 1966, against the Detroit Red Wings, then-Bruins coach Harry Sinden recalled, "Our fans had heard about this kid for a really long time. He was incredibly pressured, but he was a star from the instant the American national anthem played at the beginning of the Detroit game."

The Bruins would then obtain Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield from the Chicago Blackhawks in one of the most one-sided deals in history. Hodge and Stanfield became useful players in Boston, but Esposito would blossom into the league's top goal scorer, being the first NHL player to break the one hundred point mark and setting many goal and point scoring records. In fact, 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 wingers Johnny Bucyk, John McKenzie, Hodge and Derek Sanderson, 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 swept the St. Louis Blues in four games in the finals. Bobby Orr scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 4. The same season was Orr's epiphany - the third of eight consecutive years he won the James Norris Memorial Trophy - and he won the Art Ross Trophy, the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Hart Memorial Trophy, the only player to win four major awards all in the same season. As Montreal and Toronto missed the playoffs that season, the Bruins had a clear field. The famous image of Orr being tripped up 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 present day. 1971 was in respects 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 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, the Bruins had four that season. All four (Orr, Esposito, Bucyk and Hodge) were named First Team All-Stars, a feat matched in the expansion era only by the 1977 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 a quarter-final match against the Canadiens (and rookie goaltender Ken Dryden), the Bruins squandered the lead to lose 7-5. They 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 9th place) and they returned to glory in the playoffs, defeating a strong challenge from the New York Rangers in six games in the Cup finals behind Orr's wizardry. The 1972 Cup win is Boston's most recent to date. 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 finals to the rough Philadelphia Flyers.

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 high-scoring Peter McNab. Orr, however, did not. He left the Bruins for the Black Hawks after the 1975-76 NHL season and retired after many knee operations in 1979. The Bruins excelled without him, picking up another great blueliner, Brad Park, from the Rangers (along with Jean Ratelle) in a blockbuster trade for Esposito as they made the semi-finals again, losing to the Flyers.

Cheevers returned from the WHA in 1977, and the Bruins got past the Flyers in the semi-finals, but lost to the Canadiens in the finals for the Cup. The story would repeat itself in 1978 as the Bruins made the finals once more, but lost to a Canadiens team that had recorded the best regular season in modern history.

The 1979 semi-final series against the Canadiens 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

Coupled with front office dislike of Cherry's outspoken ways, the following season saw his replacement as coach by Fred Creighton in 1979, a newly-retired Cheevers the following year, and the coming of Ray Bourque. The defenseman -- one of the true greats of NHL history -- was an icon for the team for over two decades, although in the end it took a trade to the Colorado Avalanche for him to win the Stanley Cup.

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-winning season from ex-Flyer goaltender Pete Peeters -- but usually did not get very far in the playoffs. By the late 1980s, they were once again a force. In addition to Bourque, players like 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 Game 4, when the lights at the Boston Garden went out, due to a blown fuse, in the second period with the game tied. The rest of the game was cancelled and the series shifted to Edmonton.

Boston returned to the finals in 1990 (with Neely, Bourque, Craig Janney, and Bobby Carpenter and rookie Don Sweeney leading the team in scoring, and Andy Moog and Rejean Lemelin splitting goaltending duties), but would again lose to the Oilers.

In 1988, 1990-1992, 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 champions, 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 did not get 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 occasions (Ray Bourque for the Norris Trophy, Adam Oates for the Art Ross Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy, Joe Juneau (who had broken the NHL record for assists in a season by a left wing, a mark he still holds) for the Calder Trophy, Dave Poulin for the Selke Trophy, Andy Moog for the Jennings Trophy, and Brian Sutter for the Jack Adams Award), although Bourque made the NHL All-Star First Team.

In 1997, they missed the playoffs for the first time in 30 years, having set the North American major professional record for most consecutive seasons in the playoffs.

The 1990s also saw the Bruins moving 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

The Bruins got off to a poor start in the new century. Despite a 15 point improvement from the previous season, the Bruins missed the playoffs in 2000-01. They finished with 88 points, which left them out of the playoff picture, in a tie with the 8th place Carolina Hurricanes.

The following season (2001-02) saw the Bruins with a 13 point improvement, their first Northeast Division title since 1993 and a solid 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 postseason success, as they bowed out in six games to the underdog 8th-place Montreal Canadiens. Goaltending was the biggest flaw in the previous season, as Byron Dafoe struggled in the playoffs.

The 2002-03 season saw very little improvement between the pipes, as the Bruins entered the season with weak goaltending once again. They platooned between the inconsistent Steve Shields and the inexperienced John Grahame for most of the season, but a mid-season trade brought in veteran Jeff Hackett, who showed signs of improvement, but wasn't the answer to the Bruins problems. The Bruins managed to finish seventh in the conference and lose to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils in five games.

In 2003-04, the Bruins again failed to bring in a solid goaltender and began the season with yet another inconsistent goalie between the pipes, ex-Maple Leaf Felix Potvin. Potvin started out solid, but struggled soon enough, forcing the Bruins to put rookie Andrew Raycroft into the starting role. Raycroft proved superb, en route to winning the Calder Memorial Trophy. Raycroft, as well as Thornton, Samsonov, Rolston, Murray, Mike Knuble, Nick Boynton, and rookie Patrice Bergeron carried the Bruins to another division title. The Bruins appeared destined to get out of the first round for the first time in five years, with a solid 3-1 series lead on the rival Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens miraculously rallied back to win three straight games, upsetting the Bruins once again.

The 2004-05 NHL season was wiped out by a lockout, and the Bruins appeared to be in good position for the following year, with a lot of space within the new salary cap implemented for the 2005-06 NHL season. However, Bruins' management eschewed younger free agents in their prime in favor of older veterans such as Alexei Zhamnov and Brian Leetch. The newcomers were oft-injured and underachieved, and by the end of November, a struggling 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.

After losing 10 of 11 games before the trade, the Bruins stormed 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, lightning struck twice, as journeyman goalie Tim Thomas started 16 straight games and brought the Bruins back into the playoff hunt. Two points out of eighth place at the Olympic break, the Bruins struggled throughout March, resulting in the firing of general manager Mike O'Connell, and the Bruins missed the playoffs for the first time in five years. They finished 13th in the Eastern Conference and earned the 5th pick in the NHL Draft Lottery, which they used to draft promising college star Phil Kessel.

In May, 2006, former Ottawa Senators assistant general manager Peter Chiarelli was hired as the new general manager of the team. Coach Mike Sullivan was fired in favor of Dave Lewis, while Marc Habscheid was named associate coach. The Bruins then made a splash on the first day of free-agent signing by signing Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard.

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 July 13, 2006 Hockeydb.com, Boston Bruins season statistics and records.

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1924-25	30	6	24	0	—	12	49	119	264	6th (last) in NHL	Out of playoffs
1925-26	36	17	15	4	—	38	92	85	279	4th in NHL	Out of playoffs
1926-27	44	21	20	3	—	45	97	89	521	2nd in American	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Ottawa)
1927-28	44	20	13	11	—	51	77	70	558	1st in American	Lost in semi-finals (NY Americans)
1928-29	44	26	13	5	—	57	89	52	472	1st in American	Won Stanley Cup (NY Rangers)
1929-30	44	38	5	1	—	77	179	98	449	1st in American	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Maroons)
1930-31	44	28	10	6	—	62	143	90	403	1st in American	Lost in semi-finals (Montreal)
1931-32	48	15	21	12	—	42	122	117	373	4th (last) in American	Out of playoffs
1932-33	48	25	15	8	—	58	124	88	517	1st in American	Lost in semi-finals (Toronto)
1933-34	48	18	25	5	—	41	111	130	385	4th (last) in American	Out of playoffs
1934-35	48	26	16	6	—	58	129	112	368	1st in American	Lost in semi-finals (Toronto)
1935-36	48	22	20	6	—	50	92	83	397	2nd in American	Lost in quarter-finals (Toronto)
1936-37	48	23	18	7	—	53	120	110	303	2nd in American	Lost in quarter-finals (Maroons)
1937-38	48	30	11	7	—	67	142	89	284	1st in American	Lost in semi-finals (Toronto)
1938-39	48	36	10	2	—	74	156	76	251	1st in NHL	Won Stanley Cup (Toronto)
1939-40	48	31	12	5	—	67	170	98	330	1st in NHL	Lost in semi-finals (NY Rangers)
1940-41	48	27	8	13	—	67	168	102	246	1st in NHL	Won Stanley Cup (Detroit)
1941-42	48	25	17	6	—	56	160	118	349	3rd in NHL	Lost in semi-finals (Chicago)
1942-43	50	24	17	9	—	57	195	176	364	2nd in NHL	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Detroit)
1943-44	50	19	26	5	—	43	223	268	207	5th in NHL	Out of playoffs
1944-45	50	16	30	4	—	36	179	219	275	4th in NHL	Lost in semi-finals (Detroit)
1945-46	50	24	18	8	—	56	167	156	273	2nd in NHL	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Montreal)
1946-47	60	26	23	11	—	63	190	175	463	3rd in NHL	Lost in semi-finals (Montreal)
1947-48	60	23	24	13	—	59	167	168	515	3rd in NHL	Lost in semi-finals (Toronto)
1948-49	60	29	23	8	—	66	178	163	434	2nd in NHL	Lost in semi-finals (Toronto)
1949-50	70	22	32	16	—	60	198	228	449	5th in NHL	Out of playoffs
1950-51	70	22	30	18	—	62	178	197	656	4th in NHL	Lost in semi-finals (Toronto)
1951-52	70	25	29	16	—	66	162	176	601	4th in NHL	Lost in semi-finals (Montreal)
1952-53	70	28	29	13	—	69	152	172	528	3rd in NHL	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Montreal)
1953-54	70	32	28	10	—	74	177	181	685	4th in NHL	Lost in semi-finals (Montreal)
1954-55	70	23	26	21	—	67	169	188	863	4th in NHL	Lost in semi-finals (Montreal)
1955-56	70	23	34	13	—	59	147	185	929	5th in NHL	Out of playoffs
1956-57	70	34	24	12	—	80	195	174	978	3rd in NHL	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Montreal)
1957-58	70	27	28	15	—	69	199	194	849	4th in NHL	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Montreal)
1958-59	70	32	29	9	—	73	205	215	838	2nd in NHL	Lost in semi-finals (Toronto)
1959-60	70	28	34	8	—	64	220	241	932	5th in NHL	Out of playoffs
1960-61	70	15	42	13	—	43	176	254	810	6th (last) in NHL	Out of playoffs
1961-62	70	15	47	8	—	38	177	306	712	6th (last) in NHL	Out of playoffs
1962-63	70	14	39	17	—	45	198	281	636	6th (last) in NHL	Out of playoffs
1963-64	70	18	40	12	—	48	170	212	858	6th (last) in NHL	Out of playoffs
1964-65	70	21	43	6	—	48	166	253	946	6th (last) in NHL	Out of playoffs
1965-66	70	21	43	6	—	48	174	275	787	5th in NHL	Out of playoffs
1966-67	70	17	43	10	—	44	182	253	764	6th (last) in NHL	Out of playoffs
1967-68	74	37	27	10	—	84	259	216	1043	3rd in East	Lost in quarter-finals (Montreal)
1968-69	76	42	18	16	—	100	303	221	1297	2nd in East	Lost in semi-finals (Montreal)
1969-70	76	40	17	19	—	99	277	216	1196	2nd in East	Won Stanley Cup (St. Louis)
1970-71	78	57	14	7	—	121	399	207	1154	1st in East	Lost in quarter-finals (Montreal)
1971-72	78	54	13	11	—	119	330	204	1112	1st in East	Won Stanley Cup (New York Rangers)
1972-73	78	51	22	5	—	107	330	235	1097	2nd in East	Lost in quarter-finals
1973-74	78	52	17	9	—	113	349	221	968	1st in East	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Philadelphia)
1974-75	80	40	26	14	—	94	345	245	1153	2nd in Adams	Lost in preliminary round (Chicago)
1975-76	80	48	15	17	—	113	313	237	1195	1st in Adams	Lost in semi-finals (Philadelphia)
1976-77	80	49	23	8	—	106	312	240	1065	1st in Adams	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Montreal)
1977-78	80	51	18	11	—	113	333	218	1237	1st in Adams	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Montreal)
1978-79	80	43	23	14	—	100	316	270	1222	1st in Adams	Lost in semi-finals (Montreal)
1979-80	80	46	21	13	—	105	310	234	1460	2nd in Adams	Lost in quarter-finals (NY Islanders)
1980-81	80	37	30	13	—	87	316	272	1836	2nd in Adams	Lost in preliminary round (North Stars)
1981-82	80	43	27	10	—	96	323	285	1266	2nd in Adams	Lost in division finals (Québec)
1982-83	80	50	20	10	—	110	327	228	1202	1st in NHL	Lost in conference final (NY Islanders)
1983-84	80	49	25	6	—	104	336	261	1606	1st in Adams	Lost in division semi-finals
1984-85	80	36	34	10	—	82	303	287	1825	4th in Adams	Lost in division semi-finals
1985-86	80	37	31	12	—	86	311	288	1919	3rd in Adams	Lost in division semi-finals (Montreal)
1986-87	80	39	34	7	—	85	301	276	1870	3rd in Adams	Lost in division semi-finals
1987-88	80	44	30	6	—	94	300	251	2443	2nd in Adams	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Edmonton)
1988-89	80	37	29	14	—	88	289	256	1929	2nd in Adams	Lost in division finals Montreal
1989-90	80	46	25	9	—	101	289	232	1458	1st in Adams	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Edmonton)
1990-91	80	44	24	12	—	100	299	264	1694	1st in NHL	Lost in Conference Finals (Pittsburgh)
1991-92	80	36	32	12	—	84	270	275	1752	2nd in Adams	Lost in Conference Finals (Pittsburgh)
1992-93	84	51	26	7	—	109	332	268	1552	1st in Adams	Lost in division semi-finals (Buffalo)
1993-94	84	42	29	13	—	97	289	252	1442	2nd in Northeast	Lost in conference semi-finals (New Jersey)
1994-95¹	48	27	18	3	—	57	150	127	793	3rd in Northeast	Lost in conference quarter-finals (New Jersey)
1995-96	82	40	31	11	—	91	282	269	1039	2nd in Northeast	Lost in conference quarter-finals (Florida)
1996-97	82	26	47	9	—	61	234	300	1369	6th (last) in Northeast	Out of playoffs
1997-98	82	39	30	13	—	91	221	194	1117	2nd in Northeast	Lost in conference quarter-finals (Washington)
1998-99	82	39	30	13	—	91	214	181	1182	3rd in Northeast	Lost in conference semi-finals
1999-00	82	24	33	19	6	73	210	248	865	5th (last) in Northeast	Out of playoffs
2000-01	82	36	30	8	8	88	227	249	1325	4th in Northeast	Out of playoffs
2001-02	82	43	24	6	9	101	236	201	1454	1st in Northeast	Lost in conference quarter-finals (Montreal)
2002-03	82	36	31	11	4	87	245	237	1370	3rd in Northeast	Lost in conference quarter-finals (New Jersey)
2003-04	82	41	19	15	7	104	209	188	1208	1st in Northeast	Lost in conference quarter-finals (Montreal)
2004-05²	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2005-06	82	29	37	—³	16	74	230	266	1162	5th (last) in Northeast	Out of playoffs
Total	5564	2593	2130	791	50	6027	17683	16809	74984	—	—

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 will have a winner and OTL includes SOL (Shootout losses).

Notable players

Current squad

As of July 6, 2006 ^*

Goaltenders
Number	Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
-	Brian Finley	R	2006	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
30	Tim Thomas	L	2002	Flint, Michigan
33	Hannu Toivonen	L	2002	Kalvola, Finland

Defensemen
Number	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
-	Bobby Allen	L	2006	Braintree, Massachusetts
-	Zdeno Chára	L	2006	Trencin, Slovakia
-	Matt Lashoff	L	2005	East Greenbush, New York
6	Brad Stuart	L	2005	Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
23	Paul Mara	L	2006	Ridgewood, New Jersey
41	Andrew Alberts	L	2001	Minneapolis, Minnesota
45	Mark Stuart	L	2003	Rochester, Minnesota
55	David Tanabe	R	2005	White Bear Lake, Minnesota
68	Milan Jurcina	R	2001	Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia

Forwards
Number	Player	Shoots	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth
-	Chris Collins	R	F	2006	Fairport, New York
-	Nate DiCasmirro	L	LW	2006	Burnsville, Minnesota
-	Martins Karsums	R	RW	2004	Riga, Latvia
-	David Krejci	R	C	2004	Sternberk, Czech Republic
-	Mark Mowers	R	C	2006	Whitesboro, New York
-	Dennis Packard	R	LW	2006	St. Catherines, Ontario
-	Kris Versteeg	R	RW	2004	Lethbridge, Alberta
10	Alexei Zhamnov	L	C	2005	Moscow, Russia
11	P.J. Axelsson	L	LW	1995	Kungalv, Sweden
16	Marco Sturm	L	LW	2005	Dingolfing, Germany
20	Wayne Primeau	L	C	2005	Scarborough, Ontario
22	Shean Donovan	R	RW	2006	Timmins, Ontario
26	Brad Boyes	R	C	2004	Mississauga, Ontario
27	Glen Murray - A	R	RW	2001	Halifax, Nova Scotia
37	Patrice Bergeron	R	C	2003	L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec
43	Yan Stastny	L	C	2006	Quebec City, Quebec
63	Petr Kalus	R	RW	2005	Ostrava, Czech Republic
71	Marc Savard	L	C	2006	Ottawa, Ontario
82	Jeremy Reich	L	LW	2005	Craik, Saskatchewan

Hall of Famers

Team captains

no captain 1924-27
Lionel Hitchman 1927-31
George Owen 1931-32
Dit Clapper 1932-38
Cooney Weiland 1938-39
Dit Clapper 1939-46
Dit Clapper & John Crawford 1946-47
John Crawford 1947-50
Milt Schmidt 1950-54
Milt Schmidt/Ed Sandford 1954-55
Fernie Flaman 1955-61
Don McKenney 1961-63
Leo Boivin 1963-66

John Bucyk 1966-67
no captain 1967-73
John Bucyk 1973-77
Wayne Cashman 1977-83
Terry O'Reilly 1983-85
Ray Bourque/Rick Middleton 1985-88 (co-captains)
Ray Bourque 1988-00
Jason Allison 2000-01
no captain 2001-02
Joe Thornton 2002-05
no captain 2005- present

Retired numbers

2 Eddie Shore, D, 1926-40
3 Lionel Hitchman, D, 1925-34
4 Bobby Orr, D, 1966-76
5 Aubrey "Dit" Clapper, D, 1927-47; Head Coach, 1945-49
7 Phil Esposito, C, 1967-75
8 Cam Neely, LW, 1986-96
9 Johnny Bucyk, LW, 1955-78
15 Milt Schmidt, C, 1936-55; Head Coach, 1954-66; General Manager, 1968-72
24 Terry O'Reilly, RW, 1972-85; Head Coach, 1986-89
77 Ray Bourque, D, 1979-2000
99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)

First round draft picks

1963: Orest Romashya (3rd overall)
1964: Alec Campbell (2nd overall)
1965: Joe Bailey (4th overall)
1966: Barry Gibbs (1st overall)
1967: Meehan Bonner (10th overall)
1968: Danny Schock (12th overall)
1969: Don Tannahill (3rd overall), Frank Spring (4th overall) & Ivan Boldirev (11th overall)
1970: Reggie Leach (3rd overall), Rick MacLeish (4th overall), Ron Plumb (9th overall) & Bob Stewart (13th overall)
1971: Ron Jones (6th overall) & Terry O'Reilly (14th overall)
1972: Mike Bloom (16th overall)
1973: Andre Savard (6th overall)
1974: Don Larway (18th overall)
1975: Doug Halward (14th overall)
1976: Clayton Pachal (16th overall)
1977: Dwight Foster (16th overall)
1978: Al Secord (16th overall)
1979: Ray Bourque (8th overall) & Brad McCrimmon (15th overall)
1980: Barry Pederson (18th overall)
1981: Normand Leveille (14th overall)
1982: Gord Kluzak (1st overall)
1983: Nevin Markwart (21st overall)
1984: Dave Pasin (19th overall)

1985: none
1986: Craig Janney (13th overall)
1987: Glen Wesley (3rd overall) & Stephane Quintal (14th overall)
1988: Robert Cimetta (18th overall)
1989: Shayne Stevenson (17th overall)
1990: Bryan Smolinski (21st overall)
1991: Glen Murray (18th overall)
1992: Dmitri Kvartalnov (16th overall)
1993: Kevyn Adams (25th overall)
1994: Evgeny Ryabchikov (21st overall)
1995: Kyle McLaren (9th overall) & Sean Brown (21st overall)
1996: Johnathan Aitken (8th overall)
1997: Joe Thornton (1st overall) & Sergei Samsonov (8th overall)
1998: none
1999: Nick Boynton (21st overall)
2000: Lars Jonsson (7th overall) & Martin Samuelsson (27th overall)
2001: Shaone Morrisonn (19th overall)
2002: Hannu Toivonen (29th overall)
2003: Mark Stuart (21st overall)
2004: none
2005: Matt Lashoff (22nd overall)
2006: Phil Kessel (5th overall)

Franchise scoring leaders

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

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, P/G = Pts per Game

Player	POS	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
Raymond 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