Boston Globe “We Should Have Won a Cup “

[quietbruinfan]

Calling one of the top 5 teams in the US in terms of their market size, income, fanbase etc. the underdog is certainly a choice. And how could they 'not afford' the top skill players when they've been owned by a very wealthy family since the 70s and have always spent to the cap since that was introduced?

Rather, the Jacobs chose not to spend that bit extra back in the day, and in the cap era have always prioritized a model of perpetual competitiveness, which has its advantages but also consequences, including paucity of high draft picks which makes it more difficult to acquire and develop top talent affordably.

The Bruins are an arch-typical 'nearly but not quite' team. Pretty much all the major sporting leagues in the world have them. For all the times they have gone close, one Cup in over 50 years is ultimately underachieving for a team with the prestige and opportunities Boston have had. For the Bruins, has ever been thus.

Apologies, the Adams/railroad and Jacobs ownerships indeed chose not to spend. You phrased it well with an "almost but not quite team." I still think they have consistently overachieved relative to their own talent and the talent level in the league since 1950.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

I disagree completely. With the exception of the early 70s, this has been huge overachiever since the 50s. They are usually the underdog that doesn't win because they can't afford top skill players. 2019 and maybe 2023 were exceptions.

The salary cap says hello.
Cheap argument is old as dirt

 

[rfournier103]

…one Cup in over 50 years is ultimately underachieving for a team with the prestige and opportunities Boston have had. For the Bruins, has ever been thus.

Yes. As usual, you have good grasp on the situation.

Let’s take a look at the Bruins’ record in the Final since 1972…

1974 - Lost to Flyers. On paper, the Bruins should have won this handily.

1977 - Lost to Canadiens. Hard working Bruins team, overmatched by superior opponent.

1978 - Lost to Canadiens. See: 1977.

1988 - Lost to Oilers. Wayne Gretzky’s last hurrah in Edmonton. Again, plucky Bruins lose to powerful dynasty.

1990 - Lost to Oilers. Bruins lose a heartbreaker in Game 1, never recover mentally or physically.

2011 - Defeated Canucks. This Bruins squad needs no introduction here.

2013 - Lost to Blackhawks. Numerous missed opportunities and a blown 2-1 series lead.

2019 - Lost to Blues. I’ll go to my grave believing the Bruins were the better team. No valid excuse for losing this series.

Also… between 1973 and 2024, the Boston Bruins have 2162 regular season wins. Number one in the entire NHL in that span. It is over 100 more than the Canadiens’ 2053 wins over that same span. But over that span, we have:

Canadiens - 7 Cups
Oilers - 5 Cups
Penguins - 5 Cups
Islanders - 4 Cups
Red Wings - 4 Cups
And four teams with three Cups.

More wins than anyone else by a lot, and one championship.

I’m thrilled to be winning on a nightly basis throughout the winter, but there is no denying that there should have been at least one more championship, or maybe even two.

In a related story, at the time of this posting, the Toronto Maple Leafs have still not won the Stanley Cup since 1967.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Yes. As usual, you have good grasp on the situation.

Let’s take a look at the Bruins’ record in the Final since 1972…

1974 - Lost to Flyers. On paper, the Bruins should have won this handily.

1977 - Lost to Canadiens. Hard working Bruins team, overmatched by superior opponent.

1978 - Lost to Canadiens. See: 1977.

1988 - Lost to Oilers. Wayne Gretzky’s last hurrah in Edmonton. Again, plucky Bruins lose to powerful dynasty.

1990 - Lost to Oilers. Bruins lose a heartbreaker in Game 1, never recover mentally or physically.

2011 - Defeated Canucks. This Bruins squad needs no introduction here.

2013 - Lost to Blackhawks. Numerous missed opportunities and a blown 2-1 series lead.

2019 - Lost to Blues. I’ll go to my grave believing the Bruins were the better team. No valid excuse for losing this series.

Also… between 1973 and 2024, the Boston Bruins have 2162 regular season wins. Number one in the entire NHL in that span. It is over 100 more than the Canadiens’ 2053 wins over that same span. But over that span, we have:

Canadiens - 7 Cups
Oilers - 5 Cups
Penguins - 5 Cups
Islanders - 4 Cups
Red Wings - 4 Cups
And four teams with three Cups.

More wins than anyone else by a lot, and one championship.

I’m thrilled to be winning on a nightly basis throughout the winter, but there is no denying that there should have been at least one more championship, or maybe even two.

In a related story, at the time of this posting, the Toronto Maple Leafs have still not won the Stanley Cup since 1967.

Yep, sums up the Bruins well. Comparison is the thief of joy, so they say, and it's a very good lesson to heed. The Bruins have given us fans a lot to enjoy over the years, and you take that and appreciate it for what it is. Most teams haven't been so fortunate. But yeah, a couple of extra Cups would have been nice, and were very very achievable at various points.

Other than that, how you evaluate things depends on what you want as a fan. All of those teams with multiple Cups since the 70s have also had lengthy periods of terribleness and irrelevance. Boston's had bad patches too of course, but not so long or deep. Do you want the boom/bust or a greater consistency that makes for a larger number of competitive seasons but will likely result in fewer real highs? Matter of taste.

The main problem I have with what the Bruins continue to try to do is I'm convinced it's near-impossible to win a Cup in this modern era unless you take your medicine and seriously cash in in the top 5-10 of the draft at some point. You need that injection of genuine top young talent to build around. There are other ways to get it but they tend to be very difficult and expensive. Recent history suggests this is the reality, with Vegas being the only exception for obvious reasons. But Boston of course persists down its own unique path. There's little we humble fans can do but hope they somehow succeed in it eventually.

 

[crimsonace]

Yes. As usual, you have good grasp on the situation.

Let’s take a look at the Bruins’ record in the Final since 1972…

1974 - Lost to Flyers. On paper, the Bruins should have won this handily.

1977 - Lost to Canadiens. Hard working Bruins team, overmatched by superior opponent.

1978 - Lost to Canadiens. See: 1977.

1988 - Lost to Oilers. Wayne Gretzky’s last hurrah in Edmonton. Again, plucky Bruins lose to powerful dynasty.

1990 - Lost to Oilers. Bruins lose a heartbreaker in Game 1, never recover mentally or physically.

2011 - Defeated Canucks. This Bruins squad needs no introduction here.

2013 - Lost to Blackhawks. Numerous missed opportunities and a blown 2-1 series lead.

2019 - Lost to Blues. I’ll go to my grave believing the Bruins were the better team. No valid excuse for losing this series.

2013 hurt, but the Blackhawks were the better team and the Bruins were *very* banged up by the end. But if Kaspars Daugavins buries that OT chance in Game 1 instead of trying to deke a prone goalie, it's a completely different series.

2014 stings a lot more. That team was tailor-made for a Cup, but Dennis Seidenberg's injury made their D corps really, really thin and they got a ton of bad bounces against a Montreal team that they had no business losing to. Win that series, win the Cup.

Going back further ... had no shot in 1988. That Edmonton team was loaded and the Bruins would've been lucky to win a game.

1990 was a year they should've won. They never recovered from the Game 1 loss (and a veteran player from that team told me that).

1991 - up 2-0 on the Penguins, Ulf Samuelsson takes a cheap knee-on-knee shot at Cam Neely. Mike Milbury gets mad and dresses a ton of tough guys for Game 4 to get back at Samuelsson, and the outgunned Bruins lose the game, lose any momentum they have in the series, get reverse-swept and watch the Penguins waltz to the Cup.

Even in 2023, a major bug went through the team, guys lost 20-30 pounds right before the playoffs, Hampus Lindholm was playing on a broken leg, Bergeron was hurt and was a shell of himself, Krejci was hurt, heck even Ullmark was hurt and Monty made a *huge* mistake playing him in Game 6. That game flipped on a terrible overturned goal that should've counted.

There are so many What-Ifs in this team's history ... what if Don Cherry could count to five ... what if Gerry Cheevers & Derek Sanderson hadn't gone to the WHA ... what if Glen Wesley hadn't missed the open net ... what if Kaspars Daugavins hadn't missed the open net ... what if Patrice Bergeron were fully healthy in 2013 and 2023 ... what if Marchand scores on the breakaway ... what if Ulf Samuelsson hadn't destroyed Cam Neely's knee (or for that matter, what if Matt Cooke hadn't ended Marc Savard's career).

June 15, 2011 was one of the happiest nights of my sports fan life. Because of all of the near-misses, I'd convinced myself it wasn't going to happen, and then it finally did (and all of the near-misses since have made me appreciate 2011 that much more).

 

[The don godfather]

Monty bungled that series up. The end.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Yep

Imagine having 3 Cups in just over 10 years.

I can remember a Boston team that should have won 3 in a row and 4 in 5 years.

Shoulda, coulda, woulda is for the loser.

We don’t know that….

Nobody thought the Panthers would beat the B’s.

They weren't winning a Cup with Bergeron dealing with a spinal injury, no chance.

 

[UncleRico]

One of the biggest chokes in a series I’ve ever seen.

 

[LouJersey]

I read the thread title and thought this could refer to about 7 different Bruins teams

Yep, I was like which epic choke job is this going to be about.

I haven't thought much about what should have been in 2023 so thank you Nick and Taylor for bringing it up.

 

[LouJersey]

Monty bungled that series up. The end.

Agreed, too bad he wasn't a player

he would not have choked like Marchand on the break away in game 5

he would have not turned the puck over like Linus in OT

he would not have blown 2 leads in the third in game six

he would not have blown a lead period 3 in game 7 and not tipped a shot by Swayman like McAvoy

he would not have been dominated in overtime and been weak on the puck like Marchand, or not turned side ways instead of trying to black CV23's shot like Grizz.

 

[quietbruinfan]

I look at it this way.

1979 Too many men but we were also outshot like 52-19. Gilbert had a great game and Dryden uncharacteristically did not. Still should have had it.

1990. I know you heard from an ex player and that is the opinion here too. But Oilers had a much deeper roster due to the stupid Red Wings and the Carson trade. I agree that Milbury got in the way with his "we will not be outhit."

1991 Pitt had a loaded rOSTER BUT I THOUGHT WE HAD A CHANCE UP 3-1 IN GAME SIX.

2013 Agreed on all counts.

2019 It hurt but the NHL wanted the Blues to win. BInnington was also far superior to Rask.

 

[BTO]

He’s in the FO circle, man. A mile from the boards.

Oops: wrong thread!

 

[Troublesome 85]

They should have won in 2019 as well

 

[NeelyDan]

he would not have choked like Marchand on the break away in game 5

i drove 8 f***ing hours to see that

 

[Therick67]

i drove 8 f***ing hours to see that

Poor bastard..