1971–72 Boston Bruins season

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1971–72 Boston Bruins
Stanley Cup champions
East Division champions
Division1st East
1971–72 record54–13–11
Home record28–4–7
Road record26–9–4
Goals for330
Goals against204
Team information
General managerMilt Schmidt
CoachTom Johnson
CaptainVacant
Alternate captainsJohnny Bucyk
Phil Esposito
Ted Green
Ed Westfall
ArenaBoston Garden
Team leaders
GoalsPhil Esposito (66)
AssistsBobby Orr (80)
PointsPhil Esposito (130)
Penalty minutesDallas Smith (132)
WinsEddie Johnston and Gerry Cheevers (27)
Goals against averageGerry Cheevers (2.50)

The 1971–72

48th season in the NHL. For the second time in three years, the Bruins won the Stanley Cup
.

Offseason

NHL Draft

See also:
1971 NHL Amateur Draft
Round Overall Player
1 5 Ron Jones
1 14 Terry O'Reilly
2 28 Curt Ridley
3 42 Dave Bonter
4 56 Dave Hynes
5 70 Bert Scott
6 84 Bob MacMahon

Regular season

Season standings

East Division[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Boston Bruins 78 54 13 11 330 204 +126 119
2 New York Rangers 78 48 17 13 317 192 +125 109
3 Montreal Canadiens 78 46 16 16 307 205 +102 108
4 Toronto Maple Leafs 78 33 31 14 209 208 +1 80
5 Detroit Red Wings 78 33 35 10 261 262 −1 76
6 Buffalo Sabres 78 16 43 19 203 289 −86 51
7 Vancouver Canucks 78 20 50 8 203 297 −94 48


Record vs. opponents


Playoffs

Boston defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 and the St. Louis Blues 4–0 to advance to the final.

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1972 Stanley Cup Finals

As of 2022, the 1972 Bruins are the most recent team to have won the Cup without a formal captain.[3] John Bucyk, as the team's senior alternate captain, accepted the Cup and circled the rink in the ceremonial skate.

Schedule and results

Regular season

1971–72 regular season[4]
October
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
1 L October 10, 1971 1–4 New York Rangers (1971–72) 0–1–0
2 W October 13, 1971 6–1 @ New York Rangers (1971–72) 1–1–0
3 W October 14, 1971 6–2 Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 2–1–0
4 T October 17, 1971 2–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 2–1–1
5 W October 20, 1971 4–3 Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) 3–1–1
6 W October 22, 1971 5–1 @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) 4–1–1
7 W October 24, 1971 4–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 5–1–1
8 L October 27, 1971 2–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 5–2–1
9 L October 28, 1971 0–2 California Golden Seals (1971–72) 5–3–1
10 W October 31, 1971 5–2 Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 6–3–1
November
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
11 W November 4, 1971 6–1 St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 7–3–1
12 W November 6, 1971 2–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) 8–3–1
13 L November 7, 1971 2–3 Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 8–4–1
14 L November 10, 1971 1–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 8–5–1
15 W November 11, 1971 5–2 California Golden Seals (1971–72) 9–5–1
16 W November 14, 1971 11–2 Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 10–5–1
17 W November 18, 1971 5–0 Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 11–5–1
18 W November 20, 1971 2–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 12–5–1
19 W November 21, 1971 6–2 St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 13–5–1
20 W November 24, 1971 2–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 14–5–1
21 W November 25, 1971 4–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 15–5–1
22 T November 27, 1971 6–6 @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 15–5–2
December
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
23 W December 4, 1971 5–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 16–5–2
24 W December 5, 1971 5–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 17–5–2
25 W December 8, 1971 5–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 18–5–2
26 W December 11, 1971 6–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 19–5–2
27 L December 12, 1971 2–4 @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) 19–6–2
28 W December 16, 1971 8–1 New York Rangers (1971–72) 20–6–2
29 W December 18, 1971 4–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 21–6–2
30 T December 19, 1971 2–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 21–6–3
31 T December 23, 1971 4–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 21–6–4
32 W December 25, 1971 5–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 22–6–4
33 W December 26, 1971 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 23–6–4
34 W December 29, 1971 5–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 24–6–4
35 T December 30, 1971 2–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 24–6–5
January
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
36 W January 2, 1972 4–1 @ New York Rangers (1971–72) 25–6–5
37 W January 5, 1972 2–0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 26–6–5
38 W January 6, 1972 5–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 27–6–5
39 L January 8, 1972 3–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 27–7–5
40 T January 12, 1972 2–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 27–7–6
41 T January 13, 1972 1–1 Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 27–7–7
42 W January 15, 1972 4–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 28–7–7
43 W January 16, 1972 9–2 Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) 29–7–7
44 W January 18, 1972 2–0 @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 30–7–7
45 W January 22, 1972 8–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 31–7–7
46 T January 23, 1972 3–3 Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 31–7–8
47 W January 27, 1972 4–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 32–7–8
48 W January 29, 1972 4–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 33–7–8
49 W January 30, 1972 5–2 St. Louis Blues (1971–72) 34–7–8
February
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
50 W February 2, 1972 2–0 @ New York Rangers (1971–72) 35–7–8
51 W February 3, 1972 6–1 Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 36–7–8
52 W February 5, 1972 3–2 Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) 37–7–8
53 L February 6, 1972 2–8 @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 37–8–8
54 W February 10, 1972 9–1 Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 38–8–8
55 W February 12, 1972 5–1 Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) 39–8–8
56 T February 13, 1972 2–2 Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 39–8–9
57 W February 15, 1972 6–3 California Golden Seals (1971–72) 40–8–9
58 W February 17, 1972 4–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) 41–8–9
59 W February 19, 1972 6–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 42–8–9
60 W February 20, 1972 3–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 43–8–9
61 W February 22, 1972 4–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 44–8–9
62 W February 23, 1972 8–6 @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) 45–8–9
63 W February 26, 1972 5–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 46–8–9
March
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
64 W March 2, 1972 7–3 Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) 47–8–9
65 W March 4, 1972 5–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) 48–8–9
66 L March 5, 1972 0–2 Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 48–9–9
67 W March 8, 1972 5–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 49–9–9
68 L March 11, 1972 4–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 49–10–9
69 T March 12, 1972 4–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) 49–10–10
70 W March 16, 1972 8–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) 50–10–10
71 W March 19, 1972 7–3 Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) 51–10–10
72 W March 23, 1972 4–1 New York Rangers (1971–72) 52–10–10
73 T March 25, 1972 5–5 Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) 52–10–11
74 W March 26, 1972 5–4 Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 53–10–11
75 L March 28, 1972 3–6 @ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) 53–11–11
76 L March 29, 1972 1–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 53–12–11
April
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
77 L April 1, 1972 2–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) 53–13–11
78 W April 2, 1972 6–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) 54–13–11

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1972 Stanley Cup playoffs[4]
Quarterfinals vs. (E4) Toronto Maple Leafs – Bruins win 4–1
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 5 Toronto Maple Leafs 0–5 Boston Bruins 1–0
2 April 6 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 Boston Bruins 2:58 1–1
3 April 8 Boston Bruins 2–0 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1
4 April 9 Boston Bruins 5–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–1
5 April 11 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–3 Boston Bruins 4–1
Semifinals vs. (W3) St. Louis Blues – Bruins win 4–0
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 18 St. Louis Blues 1–6 Boston Bruins 1–0
2 April 20 St. Louis Blues 2–10 Boston Bruins 2–0
3 April 23 Boston Bruins 7–2 St. Louis Blues 3–0
4 April 25 Boston Bruins 5–3 St. Louis Blues 4–0
Stanley Cup Finals vs. (E2) New York Rangers – Bruins win 4–2
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 30 New York Rangers 5–6 Boston Bruins 1–0
2 May 2 New York Rangers 1–2 Boston Bruins 2–0
3 May 4 Boston Bruins 2–5 New York Rangers 2–1
4 May 7 Boston Bruins 3–2 New York Rangers 3–1
5 May 9 New York Rangers 3–2 Boston Bruins 3–2
6 May 11 Boston Bruins 3–0 New York Rangers 4–2

Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Phil Esposito C 76 66 67 133 76 55 28 2 16
Bobby Orr D 76 37 80 117 106 86 11 4 4
John Bucyk
 LW 78 32 51 83 4 16 13 0 7
Fred Stanfield LW 78 23 56 79 12 20 5 1 4
John McKenzie RW 77 22 47 69 126 19 10 0 3
Derek Sanderson C 78 25 33 58 108 25 0 7 2
Mike Walton C 76 28 28 56 45 23 6 0 4
Ken Hodge RW 60 16 40 56 81 41 0 1 2
Wayne Cashman LW 74 23 29 52 103 42 1 0 3
Ed Westfall D/RW 77 18 26 44 19 29 0 2 5
Dallas Smith D 78 8 22 30 132 34 0 1 1
Garnet Bailey LW 73 9 13 22 64 11 0 0 0
Reggie Leach RW 56 7 13 20 12 5 0 0 2
Ted Green D 54 1 16 17 21 10 0 0 0
Rick Smith D 61 2 12 14 46 53 0 0 0
Don Marcotte LW 47 6 4 10 12 0 0 0 1
Carol Vadnais D 16 4 6 10 37 2 0 0 0
Don Awrey D 34 1 8 9 52 20 0 0 0
Eddie Johnston G 38 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 0
Ivan Boldirev C 11 0 2 2 6 2 0 0 0
Gerry Cheevers G 41 0 2 2 25 0 0 0 0
Terry O'Reilly RW 1 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 0
Doug Roberts RW 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Matt Ravlich D 25 0 1 1 2 4 0 0 0
Nick Beverley D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ron Jones D 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Garry Peters C 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Bob Stewart D 8 0 0 0 15 3 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Gerry Cheevers 2420 41 27 5 8 101 2.50 2
Eddie Johnston 2260 38 27 8 3 102 2.71 2
Team: 4680 78 54 13 11 203 2.60 4

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Phil Esposito C 15 9 15 24 24 2 0 3
Bobby Orr D 15 5 19 24 19 3 0 1
John Bucyk
 LW 15 9 11 20 6 5 0 0
Ken Hodge RW 15 9 8 17 62 2 1 3
John McKenzie RW 15 5 12 17 37 3 0 0
Fred Stanfield LW 15 7 9 16 0 1 0 0
Mike Walton C 15 6 6 12 13 1 0 2
Wayne Cashman LW 15 4 7 11 42 1 0 0
Ed Westfall D/RW 15 4 3 7 10 0 2 1
Garnet Bailey LW 13 2 4 6 16 0 0 1
Don Awrey D 15 0 4 4 45 0 0 0
Dallas Smith D 15 0 4 4 22 0 0 0
Don Marcotte LW 14 3 0 3 6 0 1 1
Derek Sanderson C 11 1 1 2 44 0 1 0
Carol Vadnais D 15 0 2 2 43 0 0 0
Gerry Cheevers G 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ted Green D 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chris Hayes LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Eddie Johnston G 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Garry Peters C 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Gerry Cheevers 483 8 6 2 21 2.61 2
Eddie Johnston 420 7 6 1 13 1.86 1
Team: 903 15 12 3 34 2.26 3

[5]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

September 4, 1971 To California Golden Seals
cash 		To Boston Bruins
Doug Roberts
November 17, 1971 To California Golden Seals
Ivan Boldirev 		To
Rich Leduc
Chris Oddleifson
February 23, 1972 To California Golden Seals
Reggie Leach
Rick Smith
Bob Stewart 		To Boston Bruins
Don O'Donoghue
Carol Vadnais
March 5, 1972 To California Golden Seals
cash 		To
Tom Williams

Awards and records

References

  1. ^ "1971–1972 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ Fischler, Stan (August 15, 2022). "Fischler Report: So You Want Your Son to be an NHL Star". thehockeynews.com. The Hockey News. The last team to win a Stanley Cup without having a captain was the 1972 Boston Bruins. But they had Bobby Orr; so who needed a captain?
  4. ^ a b "1971-72 Boston Bruins Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  5. ^ "1971-72 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
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