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Boston Bruins Team Formation
In 1924, at the convincing of Boston grocery tycoon Charles Adams, the National Hockey League decided to expand to the United States. Adams had fallen in love with hockey while watching the 1924 Stanley Cup Finals between the NHL champion Montreal Canadiens and the WCHL champion Calgary Tigers. He persuaded the NHL to grant him a franchise for Boston, which occurred on November 1, 1924. With the Montreal Maroons, the team was one of the NHL’s first expansion teams.
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Stanley Cup Winner 1929
The 1929 Stanley Cup Finals NHL championship series was played by the defending champion New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins. This was the first time in Stanley Cup history that two American-based teams met in the Final. Boston won the series to win its first championship.
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Stanley Cup Winner 1941
The 1941 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven series between the Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings. Boston would win the series 4–0 to win their third Stanley Cup.
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Stanley Cup Winner 1970
The 1970 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues, appearing in their third straight finals. The Bruins were making their first appearance in the final since 1958. The Bruins would win the series 4–0, their first Stanley Cup victory in 29 years. Bobby Orr scored the Cup-winning goal on Glenn Hall, with an assist from Derek Sanderson, at forty seconds of overtime, and the subsequent image of Orr flying through the air, his arms raised in victory he had been tripped by Blues’ defenseman Noel Picard at the moment of shooting is one of the most famous and recognized hockey images of all time.
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Stanley Cup Winner 1972
The 1972 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. It was the Rangers first appearance in the championship final series since 1950. The Bruins were making their first appearance since their victory in the 1970 Finals. It was the second Boston-New York Final series, the other being the 1929 Finals. The Bruins would win the best-of-seven series four games to two.
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Stanley Cup Winner 2011
The 2011 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL) 2010–11 season, and the culmination of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was the 118th year of the Stanley Cup’s presentation. The Eastern Conference Champion Boston Bruins defeated the Western Conference Champion Vancouver Canucks four games to three. The Bruins ended a 39-year Stanley Cup drought with the win. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league’s third-oldest team and is the oldest in the United States. It is also an Original Six franchise, along with the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins have won six Stanley Cup championships, tied for fourth most of all-time with the Blackhawks and tied second-most of any American NHL team also with the Blackhawks (behind the Red Wings, who have 11). Their home arena is the TD Garden, where they have played since 1995. The Bruins began play in the NHL on December 1, 1924. The first facility to host them was what was then known as the Boston Arena (today’s Matthews Arena) — the world’s oldest (built 1909 – 1910) indoor ice hockey facility still in use for the sport at any level of competition — and following the Bruins’ departure from the Boston Arena, the team played its home games at the Boston Garden for 67 seasons, beginning in 1928 and concluding in 1995.
Established
1924
City
Boston
League History
1924 – Present / National Hockey League
Team History
1924 – Present / Boston Bruins
Nickname
Bruins – When grocery store tycoon Charles Adams brought a franchise to Boston, he asked his GM Art Ross to come up with a nickname. The team colors the same as his grocery store chain, brown and yellow, while name had to reflect an untamed animal displaying speed, agility, and cunning. Eventually, Ross came up with “Bruins”, an Old English word used for brown bears in classic folk-tales.
Championship
Stanley Cup 6
2011, 1972, 1970, 1941, 1939, 1929
Arena
2010 – Present / TD Garden
2005 – 2009 / TD Banknorth Garden
1995 – 2005 / FleetCenter
1928 – 1995 / Boston Garden
Owner
1975 – Present / Jeremy Jacobs
1973 – 1975 / Storer Broadcasting
1951 – 1973 / Boston Garden-Arena Corporation
1947 – 1951 / Weston Adams, Sr.
1924 – 1947 / Charles Adams
Retired Number
2 / Eddie Shore
3 / Lionel Hitchman
4 / Bobby Orr
5 / Aubrey “Dit” Clapper
7 / Phil Esposito
8 / Cam Neely
9 / Johnny Bucyk
15 / Milt Schmidt
16 / Rick Middleton
24 / Terry O’Reilly
77 / Ray Bourque
99 / Wayne Gretzky
*Blue is this team’s history