| 1971–72Boston Bruins | |
|---|---|
Stanley Cup champions | |
East Division champions | |
| Division | 1stEast |
| 1971–72 record | 54–13–11 |
| Home record | 28–4–7 |
| Road record | 26–9–4 |
| Goals for | 330 |
| Goals against | 204 |
| Team information | |
| General manager | Milt Schmidt |
| Coach | Tom Johnson |
| Captain | Vacant |
| Alternate captains | Johnny Bucyk Phil Esposito Ted Green Ed Westfall |
| Arena | Boston Garden |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Phil Esposito (66) |
| Assists | Bobby Orr (80) |
| Points | Phil Esposito (130) |
| Penalty minutes | Dallas Smith (132) |
| Wins | Eddie Johnston andGerry Cheevers (27) |
| Goals against average | Gerry Cheevers (2.50) |
The1971–72Boston Bruins season was the Bruins'48thseason in theNHL. For the second time in three years, the Bruins won theStanley Cup.
| 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 |
| 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 |
Vs. East Division[edit]
| Vs. West Division[edit]
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Boston defeated theToronto Maple Leafs 4–1 and theSt. Louis Blues 4–0 to advance to the final.
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.
| 1971–72 regular season[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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November
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December
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January
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February
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April
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Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
| 1972 Stanley Cup playoffs[4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Quarterfinals vs. (E4) Toronto Maple Leafs – Bruins win 4–1
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Semifinals vs. (W3) St. Louis Blues – Bruins win 4–0
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Stanley Cup Finals vs. (E2) New York Rangers – Bruins win 4–2
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Legend: Win Loss |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| September 4, 1971 | To California Golden Seals cash | ToBoston Bruins Doug Roberts |
| November 17, 1971 | To California Golden Seals Ivan Boldirev | ToBoston Bruins Rich Leduc Chris Oddleifson |
| February 23, 1972 | To California Golden Seals Reggie Leach Rick Smith Bob Stewart | ToBoston Bruins Don O'Donoghue Carol Vadnais |
| March 5, 1972 | To California Golden Seals cash | ToBoston Bruins Tom Williams |
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?