Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League, and are a Professional ice hockey team, based in Boston Massachusetts. The Boston Bruins have been playing since 1924, and entered the league as the first American based expansion franchise. They also belong to the Original Six team, with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, and Chicago Blackhawks. TD Banknorth Garden is their home arena, where they have being playing since 1995, after leaving Boston Garden which had been their home since 1928, the arena has a capacity of 17,565. Boston has the second most Stanley Cup championships by an American team.

In 1923, a Boston grocery tycoon called Charles Adams, convinced the National Hockey League, to expand to the United States. Adams became an ardent hockey fan, while watching the Stanley Cup playoffs. The first thing that Adams did was to hire Art Ross as general manager, who was a former star player with great ideas, Ross stayed with the franchise for thirty years, which included serving as a coach on four separate occasions. Adams wanted a nickname for the team, a name that would display skill and craftiness, like a wild animal, so he requested Ross to think up a name for the team, and Ross came up with the befitting name of “Bruins.” The team’s bearlike nickname .which went along with the original uniform colours of brown and yellow. The Bruins played its first four seasons in the Boston Arena, now the Matthews Arena. The Bruins finished last in its inaugural season.

In 1926-27 which was their third season The Bruins improved a great deal, and taking advantage over the collapse of the Western Hockey League, Ross hired several western stars, including the team’s star defenseman from Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan named Eddie Shore. The Bruins reached the Stanley Cup Final, finishing only one game above 500, but failed to outdo the Ottawa Senators. The Bruins defeated the New York Rangers in 1929, to win their first Stanley. Their star players included Shore, Harry Oliver, Dit Clapper, Dutch Gainor, and goaltender Tiny Thomson.

The 1928-29 season was first played at the Boston Garden which Adams had built after guaranteeing his backers $500,000 in gate receipts over the next five years. The next season 1929-30, the Bruins posted the best-ever regular winning percentage in the NHL, an astonishing 875, winning 38 out of 44 games, a record which still stands, but lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the final. In the 1930’s the Bruins team included Shore, Thomson, Clapper, Babe Siebert and Cooney Weiland. The team had five wins in that decade. The team changed its uniform colours in 1939, from brown and yellow to the current black and gold, they won their second Stanley Cup in franchise history in 1939. In 1940, the Bruins won their third Stanley Cup after losing only eight games and finishing first in the regular season. It was their last Stanley Cup for 29 years.

The Bruins were affected by World War 11, more than most teams, Brimsek and the “Krauts” all enlisted after the 1940-41 Cup win, and lost the most productive years of their careers at war. By 1943 NHL had been reduced to six teams. As their talent was depleted, they only managed to play in freak seasons as in 1944, when Bruin Herb Cain would set the NHL record for points in a season with 82. The Bruins returned to play the Stanley Cup in 1945-46, and Clapper led the team as player-coach, becoming the first player in history to play twenty NHL seasons, he retired after the next season. The Bruins managed only four winning seasons between 1947 and 1967. Between 1960 and 1967 they missed eight straight playoffs.

Adam hired a former star player, Art Ross as the general manager of the franchise. Ross worked for this franchise for thirty years. The name “Bruins” was chosen by Ross, which meant an untamed animal displaying speed, agility and cleverness.

The team played its first four seasons in the Boston Arena which stands till this day and is popularly known as the Matthews Arena. In the inaugural season the team stood last however, by the third season in 1926-27, the team performance improved remarkably. Ross was quick to gain contracts with few western stars after the Western Hockey league collapsed. Despite ranking so low, somehow the team managed to make it to the Stanley Cup Final. In the year 1929, the Bruins defeated the New York Rangers and won their first Stanley Cup. The major stars of this winning team included were Shore, Harry Oliver, Dit Clapper, Dutch Gainor, and goaltender Tiny Thompson.

The 1928-29 season was played at the Boston Garden which was built by Adams. In the next coming season, Bruins boasted the best-ever regular season winning percentage in the NHL( best record of winning 38 out of 44 games). However despite the astonishing performance throughout the season, Bruins lost against the Montreal Canadiens in the final game.

During the 1930s the team led the league’s standings five times. The year 1939 turned great for the team because they won the second Stanley Cup in the Franchise history. In 1941, the Bruins won their third Stanley Cup after losing losing only eight games and ranking first in the regular season. This cup turned to be their last for the next 29 years.

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About the Author:
Peter Cohen calls Boston home and graduated from Brandeis University. He considers travel to be the love of his life and has already traveled to 5 different continents. He also has a passion for languages and has studied Arabic, German and Russian. While devoting his working life to writing for lifestyle magazines, he also takes out time for occasional event reviews.