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1969-70 and 1971-72 Stanley Cup Champions
They came together in pieces, some of which were undeniably large, some that seemed much smaller. Grouped together, they became the most powerful, charismatic and entertaining team in Boston Bruins history, so unforgettable that 25 years later, people can still recite line combinations and recall specific moments as if they'd happened only hours ago. Even younger people who never saw them play know all about Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and the Big, Bad Bruins.
The building of the team actually began during the dark days of the early 1960s, when the B's started a stretch of eight straight seasons without a playoff berth under general managers Lynn Patrick and Hap Emms. Between them, they added players like future Hall of Famers John Bucyk and Gerry Cheevers, plus key cogs like fiery John McKenzie and steady Ed Westfall. The most important moments, however, involved the decisions to sponsor an Ontario youth hockey team Orr played for (that locked up the NHL rights to both Orr and Derek Sanderson) and hire a young coach named Harry Sinden.
Gerry Cheevers and Eddie Johnston split the goaltending duties.
Orr and Sinden both arrived in 1966-67, which turned out to be the last season they'd miss the playoffs until 1996-97. Orr more than lived up to his billing -- he was named the Calder Trophy winner (Rookie of the Year) and a second-team All-Star -- but even his offensive talents on the blue line weren't enough to make Boston a future contender.
Milt Schmidt, who replaced Emms as GM, solved that problem with a May, 1967 trade that made Bruins of Esposito, future linemate Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield, who'd play between McKenzie and ageless John Bucyk on the second line and man the point next to Orr during power plays.
That group, with Cheevers and Ed Johnston in goal and outspoken, colorful defensive whiz Derek Sanderson enjoying a Calder Trophy season, got into the 1968 playoffs. They were swept in the first round by the Canadiens, but with Orr winning the first of eight straight Norris Trophies (best defenseman), Esposito scoring 84 points with a league-leading 49 assists, and Bucyk's first 30-goal season, better times were definitely ahead.
Esposito stole the spotlight in 1968-69, becoming the first player in NHL history to score more than 100 points. He finished with 77 assists (also a league record at the time) and 126 points, which helped Boston move from third to second place in the Eastern Division. The B's swept Toronto in four first-round games, winning the first two by a combined 17-0, but three second-round losses at The Forum killed Boston's chance to get to the finals.
Everything fell into place a year later.
The Bruins had to get over the loss of hard-nosed defenseman Ted Green, whose skull was fractured in a pre-season, stick-swinging incident with St. Louis forward Wayne Maki, by filling that gap with stay-at-homers like Don Awrey, Rick Smith and Gary Doak while Dallas Smith teamed with Orr.
The Bruins hadn't won a Stanley Cup in almost 30 years when Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito came along.
Sanderson, meanwhile, centered a checking line and formed a tremendous penalty-killing duo with Westfall, scoring five of his 18 goals while Boston was shorthanded. For all their offensive stars, the B's could defend with the best of them.
Orr was nothing short of sensational in '69-70, winning the scoring title with an amazing 120 points (87 assists). He nailed down the first of three straight Hart Memorial Trophies (League MVP), but saved the most unforgettable moment for last.
After a tough, six-game first-round series against New York, the B's whipped Chicago in four games and cruised through three decisions over St. Louis before the Blues put up some competition in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals. In the first minute of overtime, Orr gambled to pick off a St. Louis clearing attempt, sent the puck to Sanderson on the endboards, then got to the front of the net in time to snap a shot through Glen Hall's legs and win Boston's first Cup in 29 years. The shot of Orr, flying through the air in celebration, still remains vivid not just in Boston, but throughout hockey.
It was voted the most memorable goal in NHL history in a mid-1990s poll commissioned by the league.
Much like their 1938-39 predecessors, the Bruins failed to repeat as Cup winners despite having what appeared to be a better team.
If nothing else, the B's were dominant in 1970-71 under coach Tom Johnson, who stepped in when Sinden took a private-sector job. The B's piled up an incredible 399 goals while winning 57 of 78 games and finishing 12 points ahead of the Rangers to top the NHL with 121 points. Esposito had a season no Bruin and few NHLers have ever touched (76 goals, 76 assists); Orr set a league record with 102 assists (no defenseman has matched it), and Bucyk (116) and Hodge (105) both topped the 100-point mark, but somehow, the B's didn't have enough to get by the Canadiens in the first round. Boston took a 3-2 lead with a convincing, 7-3 victory at Boston Garden, but the Habs smashed back in Game 6 with an 8-3 onslaught from which the B's didn't recover. They lost Game 7 at home, 4-2.
Their scoring totals weren't as eye-popping in 1970-71, but the Bruins of 1971-72 were more effective. Their third straight Eastern Division regular-season championship led to first-round playoff matchups with Toronto and St. Louis, which Boston won by 4-1 and 4-0 counts, respectively. The Rangers stopped Boston's playoff winning streak at nine games by winning Game 3 of the finals, but the B's never let New York all the way back in the series.
With Bobby Orr leading the way, the Bruins captured the franchise's fourth Stanley Cup in 1970.
The Bruins' second Cup in three years was clinched on May 11, when they earned a 3-0 decision at Madison Square Garden behind Orr's two goals. Orr became the first player ever to win the Conn Smythe Trophy twice.
The Bruins remained a force for several years after that, but things began to change. Key components like Cheevers, McKenzie and Sanderson jumped to the World Hockey Association; important role players like Westfall were lost in drafts to stock expansion teams; Orr's knees continued to break down and the team began to age. There was a classic Cup final in 1974, but the B's lost to the Philadelphia Flyers' Broad Street Bullies act in six games, with the finale a 1-0 heart-stopper.
Orr won the scoring championship and Norris Trophy in 1974-75, but the B's were ousted in a three-round, first-round series by Chicago. Sanderson didn't last the year -- he was traded to New York -- and Sinden, now back in the fold as general manager, sent Esposito and Hodge to the Rangers for Brad Park, Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi early in '75-76. It proved to be Orr's last season in Boston -- he joined Chicago as a free agent in the summer of 1976 -- and the end of an era. Plenty of fun and no shortage of victories were still in store under coach Don Cherry and his Lunchpail A.C., but even those teams would admit it was nothing like the Big, Bad Bruins.
There may never be again.

They came together in pieces, some of which were undeniably large, some that seemed much smaller. Grouped together, they became the most powerful, charismatic and entertaining team in Boston Bruins history, so unforgettable that 25 years later, people can still recite line combinations and recall specific moments as if they'd happened only hours ago. Even younger people who never saw them play know all about Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and the Big, Bad Bruins.
The building of the team actually began during the dark days of the early 1960s, when the B's started a stretch of eight straight seasons without a playoff berth under general managers Lynn Patrick and Hap Emms. Between them, they added players like future Hall of Famers John Bucyk and Gerry Cheevers, plus key cogs like fiery John McKenzie and steady Ed Westfall. The most important moments, however, involved the decisions to sponsor an Ontario youth hockey team Orr played for (that locked up the NHL rights to both Orr and Derek Sanderson) and hire a young coach named Harry Sinden.

Gerry Cheevers and Eddie Johnston split the goaltending duties.
Orr and Sinden both arrived in 1966-67, which turned out to be the last season they'd miss the playoffs until 1996-97. Orr more than lived up to his billing -- he was named the Calder Trophy winner (Rookie of the Year) and a second-team All-Star -- but even his offensive talents on the blue line weren't enough to make Boston a future contender.
Milt Schmidt, who replaced Emms as GM, solved that problem with a May, 1967 trade that made Bruins of Esposito, future linemate Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield, who'd play between McKenzie and ageless John Bucyk on the second line and man the point next to Orr during power plays.
That group, with Cheevers and Ed Johnston in goal and outspoken, colorful defensive whiz Derek Sanderson enjoying a Calder Trophy season, got into the 1968 playoffs. They were swept in the first round by the Canadiens, but with Orr winning the first of eight straight Norris Trophies (best defenseman), Esposito scoring 84 points with a league-leading 49 assists, and Bucyk's first 30-goal season, better times were definitely ahead.
Esposito stole the spotlight in 1968-69, becoming the first player in NHL history to score more than 100 points. He finished with 77 assists (also a league record at the time) and 126 points, which helped Boston move from third to second place in the Eastern Division. The B's swept Toronto in four first-round games, winning the first two by a combined 17-0, but three second-round losses at The Forum killed Boston's chance to get to the finals.
Everything fell into place a year later.
The Bruins had to get over the loss of hard-nosed defenseman Ted Green, whose skull was fractured in a pre-season, stick-swinging incident with St. Louis forward Wayne Maki, by filling that gap with stay-at-homers like Don Awrey, Rick Smith and Gary Doak while Dallas Smith teamed with Orr.

The Bruins hadn't won a Stanley Cup in almost 30 years when Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito came along.
Sanderson, meanwhile, centered a checking line and formed a tremendous penalty-killing duo with Westfall, scoring five of his 18 goals while Boston was shorthanded. For all their offensive stars, the B's could defend with the best of them.
Orr was nothing short of sensational in '69-70, winning the scoring title with an amazing 120 points (87 assists). He nailed down the first of three straight Hart Memorial Trophies (League MVP), but saved the most unforgettable moment for last.
After a tough, six-game first-round series against New York, the B's whipped Chicago in four games and cruised through three decisions over St. Louis before the Blues put up some competition in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals. In the first minute of overtime, Orr gambled to pick off a St. Louis clearing attempt, sent the puck to Sanderson on the endboards, then got to the front of the net in time to snap a shot through Glen Hall's legs and win Boston's first Cup in 29 years. The shot of Orr, flying through the air in celebration, still remains vivid not just in Boston, but throughout hockey.
It was voted the most memorable goal in NHL history in a mid-1990s poll commissioned by the league.
Much like their 1938-39 predecessors, the Bruins failed to repeat as Cup winners despite having what appeared to be a better team.
If nothing else, the B's were dominant in 1970-71 under coach Tom Johnson, who stepped in when Sinden took a private-sector job. The B's piled up an incredible 399 goals while winning 57 of 78 games and finishing 12 points ahead of the Rangers to top the NHL with 121 points. Esposito had a season no Bruin and few NHLers have ever touched (76 goals, 76 assists); Orr set a league record with 102 assists (no defenseman has matched it), and Bucyk (116) and Hodge (105) both topped the 100-point mark, but somehow, the B's didn't have enough to get by the Canadiens in the first round. Boston took a 3-2 lead with a convincing, 7-3 victory at Boston Garden, but the Habs smashed back in Game 6 with an 8-3 onslaught from which the B's didn't recover. They lost Game 7 at home, 4-2.
Their scoring totals weren't as eye-popping in 1970-71, but the Bruins of 1971-72 were more effective. Their third straight Eastern Division regular-season championship led to first-round playoff matchups with Toronto and St. Louis, which Boston won by 4-1 and 4-0 counts, respectively. The Rangers stopped Boston's playoff winning streak at nine games by winning Game 3 of the finals, but the B's never let New York all the way back in the series.

With Bobby Orr leading the way, the Bruins captured the franchise's fourth Stanley Cup in 1970.
The Bruins' second Cup in three years was clinched on May 11, when they earned a 3-0 decision at Madison Square Garden behind Orr's two goals. Orr became the first player ever to win the Conn Smythe Trophy twice.
The Bruins remained a force for several years after that, but things began to change. Key components like Cheevers, McKenzie and Sanderson jumped to the World Hockey Association; important role players like Westfall were lost in drafts to stock expansion teams; Orr's knees continued to break down and the team began to age. There was a classic Cup final in 1974, but the B's lost to the Philadelphia Flyers' Broad Street Bullies act in six games, with the finale a 1-0 heart-stopper.
Orr won the scoring championship and Norris Trophy in 1974-75, but the B's were ousted in a three-round, first-round series by Chicago. Sanderson didn't last the year -- he was traded to New York -- and Sinden, now back in the fold as general manager, sent Esposito and Hodge to the Rangers for Brad Park, Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi early in '75-76. It proved to be Orr's last season in Boston -- he joined Chicago as a free agent in the summer of 1976 -- and the end of an era. Plenty of fun and no shortage of victories were still in store under coach Don Cherry and his Lunchpail A.C., but even those teams would admit it was nothing like the Big, Bad Bruins.
There may never be again.