Boston Bruins • Teambook

Overview

The Boston Bruins represent one of hockey's most passionate and historic markets, playing at TD Garden where the famed parquet floor shares the building with basketball's Celtics. The black and gold embody a physical, bruising style of hockey that has defined Boston sports for nearly a century, demanding toughness from every player who wears the spoked-B. Boston's knowledgeable, demanding fanbase expects excellence and has little patience for mediocrity, creating pressure that has produced six Stanley Cups and countless legendary moments. The Bruins share TD Garden with the Celtics, creating a unique dual-sport atmosphere in one of America's greatest sports cities. The team's current identity blends the franchise's historic physicality with modern speed and skill, maintaining relevance in an ever-evolving NHL.

History & Legacy

Founded in 1924 as the first American team in the NHL, the Bruins established hockey in the United States and won their first Stanley Cup in 1929. Eddie Shore's ferocious play in the 1930s and Bobby Orr's revolutionary defense in the 1960s and 1970s made the Bruins synonymous with greatness, with Orr's 1970 overtime Cup-winner creating one of sports' most iconic images. The Big Bad Bruins of the 1970s, featuring Phil Esposito and Gerry Cheevers, won two championships and dominated through physical intimidation. Ray Bourque's 21 seasons in Boston made him the greatest defenseman in franchise history, though he had to leave to finally win a Cup in Colorado. The 2011 championship, led by Zdeno Chára, Patrice Bergeron, and Tim Thomas, ended a 39-year drought and reinforced the Bruins' place among hockey's elite franchises.

Source: Claude

Founded1924

Championships6

Home VenueTD Garden

Fan contributions

@BomTrady

The Most Famous Photograph in Hockey

Ok so on Mother's Day in the year 1970 this picture was taken at the Boston Garden. Bruins were up 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final, tied 3-3 in overtime against the St. Louis Blues and the game could've gone either way. But 40 seconds into OT, Derek Sanderson finds Bobby Orr cutting toward the net. Orr buries it past Glenn Hall. Right after the puck goes in, a Blues defenseman named Noel Picard trips Orr's skates and Orr goes flying like a cartoon with his arms straight out, stick still in his hand, mouth open and mid-scream. Some photographer named Ray Lussier had moved seats right before OT started. He's the only guy with a clean angle which makes it so rare. He clicks the shutter in that moment and he gets THE photo. The most famous picture in hockey history. You've seen it a million times even if you don't watch hockey. Bruins win their first Cup in 29 years and Orr is just 22 years old. He wins the Norris (best D-man in the league) AND the Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) in the same season. Scores the Cup winner in overtime. And all of this on Mother's Day! 22 years old and probably the greatest defenseman who ever lived. Some guys are just built different.

@FlameRaptorRaven

Stanley Cup Heroes, Part 11: Out of Nowhere

The Bruins may only have 1 Stanley Cup in the 21st century, but they’ve been a consistent threat the last 20 years. Many Bostonians have (wrongly) blamed goaltending for their lack of championships. It’s understandable when you look at the reason why they won their only Stanley Cup back in 2011. It was thanks to the single greatest outlier in NHL history. In 2006, Tim Thomas was 32 years old. He had played just 42 NHL games and ranged from good to bad in that time. The 06-07 season looked like a make or break year for the goaltender. As the #1 goalie in Boston, Tim Thomas was bad. With recent acquisition Tukka Rask waiting in the wings, it seemed like the old man’s time in the NHL would be short. So of course, he went on to become the best goalie in the NHL for the next 4 years. Among goalies with at least 50 games played from 2007 to 2011, Tim Thomas leads the pack with a save percentage of .928. The only goaltender within range is Tukka Rask, Thomas’s backup. That may make you think he merely benefitted from a great team. While he was blessed to play with defensive monsters in Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron, he was still the most important part of that team. In his magnum opus season, 2011, Tim Thomas put up a massive .938 save percentage as well as 39.6 goals saved above expected (GSaX). For those that don’t know, GSaX is a metric that attempts to quantify how many goals a goalie would be expected to give up by calculating the chances of each shot becoming a goal. Having a positive GSaX means a goalie prevented more goals than expected, having a negative number means they gave up more goals than expected. It’s not perfect and multiple sources have their own ways of calculating it. All you need to know is Tim Thomas put up the same GSaX (according to Moneypuck’s model) as Connor Helleybuyck did in his MVP season just last year in 6 less games. Tim Thomas’s magnum opus wasn’t done after the regular season. In 25 playoff games (the 2nd most ever in a single season), Thomas put up a gargantuan .940 save percentage and 4 shutouts. 2 of those shutouts came in game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals and game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. That made him the first goalie ever to put up multiple game 7 shutouts in the same playoff run. Only 1 goalie has matched it since. Tim Thomas was obviously awarded the Conn Smythe for his efforts as playoff MVP. At the time, he was 37. That is how old Bobrovsky is right now. Thomas was out of the NHL just 3 years later. Tim Thomas is the single biggest and greatest outlier in NHL and maybe all of sports history. In 2011, he punctuated that claim to fame by becoming a Stanley Cup Hero.

Boston Bruins Did You Know & Fan Stories

The Most Famous Photograph in Hockey

Stanley Cup Heroes, Part 11: Out of Nowhere

Boston Bruins • Teambook

Overview

History & Legacy

The Most Famous Photograph in Hockey

Stanley Cup Heroes, Part 11: Out of Nowhere

Boston Bruins • Teambook

Overview

History & Legacy

The Most Famous Photograph in Hockey

Stanley Cup Heroes, Part 11: Out of Nowhere