Boston Bruins

Team Summary

The Boston Bruins are an NHL team in the Atlantic Division from Boston, Massachusetts. The team joined the league in 1924 as one of the Original Six franchises- the oldest in the United States! The Bruins have been one of the NHL’s most successful franchises, tied at the 4th most Stanley Cup wins with six, as well as a staggering 26 total division wins.

The Bruins have had multiple franchise players in their history, with some prominent names such as Ray Bourque, Phil Espizito, Bobby Orr, and Patrice Bergeron, just to name a few. In recent years, Boston has enjoyed one of the highest-scoring offensive lines in the NHL in David Pastrnak – Patrice Bergeron – Brad Marchand, nicknamed the “Perfection Line.” The Bruins also have some of the best rivalries in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, with all three teams dating back to the Original Six era.

Boston Bruins Standings

The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The team competes in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the NHL. The Bruins have a passionate fan base and have a history of success, having won multiple championships in the past.

Team History

The Boston Bruins joined the league as one of the first six original franchises in 1924 and the first NHL team to be added inside of the United States. Like most of the Original Six, the Bruins were able to win a Stanley Cup in the early days of the league, with their first championship in 1929. For reference, the Bruins’ playoff bracket was a 3-0 series win over the New York Rangers, followed by a 2-0  series win over the Montreal Canadiens to secure the cup. Obviously, this era is very far removed from the sport we recognize today.

Luckily, the Bruins had more success in the later eras of the NHL as well. The Bruins would go on to win another cup in the Original Six era, the expansion era of the 60s and 70s, and the salary cap era of the 2010s. Covering the entire history of the Boston Bruins is nearly impossible in just a few paragraphs- the short if it is that the Bruins have made Boston one of the hockey hubs of the US and are synonymous with the history of Boston itself.

Key Stats

The Bruins had a bit of a rough start to the 2021 season, especially because of the other top-heavy teams like Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning all taking off with extremely hot starts and nearly running away with the division right away. That said, the Bruins have started to find their game with a 21-11-2 record and a fourth-place position in the Atlantic Division just five points behind the third-place Toronto Maple Leafs with a game in hand.

Unsurprisingly, the top three-point scorers on the team are Boston’s top line of Brad Marchand (41 points), David Pastrnak (30 points), and Patrice Bergeron (28 points). There has been a noticeable gap in the role of 2nd line center after the departure of David Krejci in the offseason, but Taylor Hall has still been able to provide offense on the second line with 23 points in 34 games this season so far.

Goaltending has been interesting this season for Boston, as long-time goaltender Tuukka Rask did not initially sign with the franchise in the offseason. The Bruins signed UFA Linus Ullmark in the offseason to fill the role alongside Daniel Vladar, with moderate success. However, Rask re-signed with the team halfway through the season and played his first game on January 13th, 2022, with a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s safe to say Rask will likely be the number one starter moving forward.

Championships Won by the Team

The Boston Bruins have won 6 Stanley Cups in franchise history, with their championship wins coming in 1929, 1939, 1941, 1970, 1972, and 2011. Despite its long history in the NHL, the majority of the top-performing players in the playoffs have actually been a part of the recent team. While Ray Bourque leads the franchise in most playoff points, the next three are all from the recent team- David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand have combined for a total of 351 points scored in the postseason. The most recent Bruins core has also reached the Stanley Cup finals on two other occasions, losing to the Blackhawks in 2013 and the Blues in 2019.

The Bruins have also been very successful overall in the regular season, winning their division on 26 different occasions, the most recent coming in the 2019-2020 season. The Franchise has also won the President’s Trophy three times as the top team in the league in 1990, 2014, and 2020.

Important Team Events

One of the most famous playoff series in recent history would have to be Boston’s series against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2013 playoffs. The game stretched to 7 games, with the final match set at TD Garden in Boston. The Leafs would take a 4-1 lead by the third period, practically sealing the game with a series win early.

Unfortunately for the Leafs, Boston refused to go quietly- the Bruins roared back to force overtime 4-4, with the last two goals coming with less than 1:30 left to go. Brad Marchand ended it just over six minutes into the extra period, sending the Leafs home with one of the most shocking game seven comebacks ever seen in the playoffs.

In the 2018 playoffs, Brad Marchand made NHL news again- though this time, it was for a more nefarious reason. Playing in the second round against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Marchand became tangled with Lightning forward Ryan Callahan; in an effort to agitate him and draw a penalty, the Bruins forward licked Callahan on the face. Though this wasn’t technically illegal at the time, the league quickly moved to modify the rulebook to ensure something like that would never happen again.

Top Players

Ray Bourque is one of the all-time greats for Boston and holds several franchise records. Bourque currently holds the record for most games played (1518), points (1506), assists (1111), powerplay goals (164), shots (5950), and plus/minus (574). All of these stats are already extraordinarily impressive, but what makes it even more impressive was the fact that Bourque was a defenseman. He currently holds the NHL record for scoring in the position, with 410 goals.

Bourque won a plethora of individual awards, winning the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman in the league five different times. Despite playing with Boston for 21 years, beginning in the 1979-1980 season, he would never win a cup with the Bruins. Luckily, he would win his first and only championship in 2001 after being traded to the Colorado Avalanche, ending a very long wait for one of the best players to ever play in the league.

Top Coaches

The Bruins have had a total of 28 head coaches in their history, the first of which was Art Ross from 1924-1934. Ross would bring the franchise its first cup win in 1929 and would eventually be solidified in NHL history for his annual award at the end of the season for the player scoring the most points all year.

Arguably the most prominent coach for the Bruins was Claude Julien, who led the team behind the bench from 2007-2017. Julien currently holds the most games coached in franchise history at 759, as well as winning the Jack Adams Award in 2009 as the best coach in the league. Julien was also able to bring the team its most recent championship title, winning the Stanley Cup in 2011.

The current head coach for the Bruins is Bruce Cassidy, who took over as interim coach after the departure of Julien in 2017. After proving he was capable of keeping the job, Cassidy took over permanently, leading the team to a President’s Trophy and Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2019. If you love sports and want more sports betting information follow us as @InsidersBetDig on Twitter and sign up to our mailing list for free betting picks.