1967-68: Birth of the Big Bad Bruins

[Davenport]

For me, the 1967-68 edition of the Boston Bruins is the most fascinating. For eight straight seasons, that franchise had missed the playoffs - and (in fact) had never been close to joining the postseason excitement. In 1966-67 - the last year of the playoff drought, and the rookie season of # 4 - they won just 17 games, and accumulated 44 points (finishing 14 points behind the 5th place Detroit Red Wings). They were last in the NHL in Goals Scored (182) and worst in the league in Goals Against (253). They had just one 20-goal scorer (Pit Martin) and two players who hit the 100-PIM mark (Bobby Orr and Gilles Marotte).

Boston won 37 games in 1967-68 - 20 more than in 1966-67. Their 84 points were good enough for 3rd place in the East Division - 4 ahead of the 4th place Chicago Black Hawks. They led the league in Goals Scored (259), while allowing 216 goals. Orr had little to do with this drastic turnaround. Thanks to his knee problems, he played only 46 games, scoring 11 goals and adding 20 assists. The improvement was the result of the five new faces, four of them added through trades.

Each of the three Hawks who came to Boston in the Big Trade contributed significantly: Phil Esposito, 35 goals, 49 assists, 84 points; Fred Stanfield, 20 goals, 44 assists, 64 points; and Ken Hodge, 25 goals, 31 assists, 56 points. Eddie Shack - who was acquired in a trade made the same day as the 3-for-3 trade - had 23 goals, 19 assists, 49 points. Rookie Derek Sanderson contributed 24 goals, 25 assists, 49 points - earning himself the Calder Trophy. Thanks to the offensive production provided by the newcomers, both Johnny Bucyk (30+39=69) and John Mckenzie (28+38=66) enjoyed their best seasons so far in their careers.

In 1967-68, Boston had 5 players hit the 100-PIM mark (with Don Awrey leading the NHL with 153), while Sanderson finished with 98 PIM.

Perhaps the Bruins were a bit too successful. Their 3rd place finish earned them a first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens, who swept them in four straight games. A 4th place finish would have meant facing the New York Rangers in the first round. Chicago bounced the Blueshirts in 6 games. Maybe Boston would have done as well.

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[Staniowski]

Yes, that was the big year for the Bruins. They added their top 3 centres - Stanfield, Sanderson, Esposito - at the same time, and instantly had 3 good lines.

 

[Davenport]

Yes, that was the big year for the Bruins. They added their top 3 centres - Stanfield, Sanderson, Esposito - at the same time, and instantly had 3 good lines.

At that point, they were still no match for the Habs, but had they faced either the Rangers or the Hawks in the first round, I think the Bruins would have won.

 

[Crosby2010]

By 1969 they certainly made the Habs sweat a bit in the semis. Beliveau needed an overtime goal in Game 6 to win the series. If it goes Game 7 back to Montreal my bet is that the Habs win, but you never know, the Bruins outscored the Habs by one goal that series, and Game 1 and 2 in Montreal went to overtime. So with an Espo/Orr Bruins team on the cusp of superstardom anything could have happened.

But yes, they had arrived in 1968. The Esposito trade could be the greatest trade in NHL history when you look at context and results. Here is a funny question, we know the Bruins could not shake the Habs off of them in those days. But in 1970 and 1972 they don't play them in the playoffs. 1970 the Habs missed the postseason on the last day of the season and in 1972 the Rangers bounce them out first round. How do the Bruins do against their nemesis who they have psychological issues with if they play them in their Cup winning years?

 

[Davenport]

I'm now working my way through that season, from Game One on. Fascinating stuff. First game, the first goal is scored by Johnny Bucyk, with assists from John McKenzie and Fred Stanfield. That trio provided another goal in that 4-4 tie with Detroit. The Bruins had their so-called Second Line.

Game Two, Phil Esposito "arrived." He scored four of Boston's six goals against the Habs - who they beat 6-2. Four of the Bruins' six goals were on the powerplay, with #7 contributing three of them. On the powerplay - for at least two of the goals - Esposito was out with the Second Line. Phil's regular linemates - at least at that point in the season - were Tommy Williams and Ken Hodge. Imagine being a long-suffering Bruins' fan enjoying that clobbering of the Canadiens in Boston.

Something about playing the New York Rangers must have brought out the best in Derek Sanderson. On November 8, 1967, the Bruins faced the Blueshirts for the first time – in Madison Square Gardens. Sanderson scored two goals and added an assist, in leading Boston to a 6-3 victory. Ten days later, New York was the visitor, and the Bruins were again the victor: 3-1. Derek not only scored one of the three goals, but also tangled with the Rangers' toughest customer: Orland Kurtenbach. Both participants earned major penalties, with Sanderson receiving an extra two-minute penalty for high-sticking. Presumably, that high-sticking initiated the fisticuffs. Derek had five goals 14 games in to his rookie season – three of them scored against New York.

After 37 games – the halfway point of the season – the Bruins had 20 wins, 11 losses and 6 ties, for 46 points. In 1966-67, Boston had finished the 70-game season with 17 wins and 44 points. Johnny Bucyk was leading the team with 20 goals – having hit the 20-goal mark during Game 33 of the season, and not scoring since. Phil Esposito was right behind him with 19 goals, and was the leading the team with 39 points. Fred Stanfield was leading the team with 28 assists.

 

[VanIslander]

Art Ross designed Boston to be big and bad. He chose 'Bruin' as the name because the animal was fierce. He paid a player to headhunt the opposition, resulting in that player's career ban, until a couple of years later multiple players openly claimed that coach asked for it.

In 1929 the bad boys of Art Ross: HHOFers Eddie Shore and Dit Clapper, with penalty help by captain Lionel Hitchman, a defensive defenseman, won the Stanley Cup.

 

[Davenport]

Art Ross designed Boston to be big and bad. He chose 'Bruin' as the name because the animal was fierce. He paid a player to headhunt the opposition, resulting in that player's career ban, until a couple of years later multiple players openly claimed that coach asked for it.

In 1929 the bad boys of Art Ross: HHOFers Eddie Shore and Dit Clapper, with penalty help by captain Lionel Hitchman, a defensive defenseman, won the Stanley Cup.

Poor Art Ross. By the time he passed - Aug 5, 1964 - his Bruins were very bad, but not in the way he had intended. They had missed the playoffs for the fifth straight season in 1963-64.

 

[VanIslander]

Poor Art Ross. By the time he passed - Aug 5, 1964 - his Bruins were very bad, but not in the way he had intended. They had missed the playoffs for the fifth straight season in 1963-64.

My god. Kick a man at his lowest moment.

 

[The Panther]

This thread reminds me of a couple (?) years ago when I tried doing threads about each NHL season of the expansion era. I got through only 1967-68 and 1968-69 and then I quit... as there didn't seem to be much forum enthusiasm for it. (Too many people arguing over player vs. player's all-time ranking, I guess.) I thought it was really fun. Maybe I'll try bumping those and see what happens...

 

[Davenport]

This thread reminds me of a couple (?) years ago when I tried doing threads about each NHL season of the expansion era. I got through only 1967-68 and 1968-69 and then I quit... as there didn't seem to be much forum enthusiasm for it. (Too many people arguing over player vs. player's all-time ranking, I guess.) I thought it was really fun. Maybe I'll try bumping those and see what happens...

I've been fascinated with the Bruins' 1967-68 season for decades - since discovering that the 1967-68 edition of the team was 40 points better than the 1966-67 edition. Been examining the question of why there was such a significant improvement ever since. The boxscores provided by Hockey Reference have really enabled me to put that 1967-68 season under a microscope - and the closer I look, the more fascinated I am. Besides learning about the individual Bruins, I'm learning about some of the players on opposing teams. Did a double take - looking at the January 6, 1968, boxscore for the 3-3 tie between Boston and Toronto at MLG - to see that Mike Walton's two goals gave him 22 goals so early in the season. He finished with 30 goals for the season.

Before I started concentrating on the Bruins in 1967-68, I was checking out the boxscores for the six Expansion Teams. About 95% of the names are names I have some recollection of - thanks to collecting hockey cards and reading The Hockey News way back then - and the boxscores provide me with a better understanding of what those players contributed to their teams. The question is how much of this information should I share at HFBoards, because - as you say - the response suggests that there is little interest in putting the NHL of the 1960s under a microscope.

 

[Davenport]

The Bruins finished the 1967-68 season with seven 20-goal scorers: Esposito (35), Bucyk (30), McKenzie (28), Hodge (25), Sanderson (24), Shack (23) and Stanfield (20), who finished 7th in the NHL with 44 assists. Esposito led the league with 49 assists. Williams finished with 18 goals in 68 games. I've come away with a better appreciation of Ted Green. Yes, he was dirty - too good with his stick - but he was very effective. Orr's injury related absences provided Green with power play time he would not ordinarily have enjoyed, and he contributed 3 goals and 7 assists on the man advantage. Overall he had 7 goals, 36 assists and 43 points, while spending 133 minutes in the penalty box.

My suspicion - when I started - was that I would discover that the Bruins really fattened up their statistics against the six Expansion Teams, but that wasn't the case. Look at Boston's goals-per-game against the other eleven teams in the NHL in 1967-68: Minnesota, 5.25; St. Louis, 4.75; Chicago, 4.70; Detroit, 4.30; New York, 3.50; Los Angeles, 3.50; Philadelphia, 2.75; Montreal, 2.60; Pittsburgh, 2.50; Oakland, 2.50; and Toronto, 2.30.

Given the fact that both Boston and Montreal won five of the ten games they played against each other during the regular season, the Canadiens sweeping the Bruins in four games in the postseason was/is a surprise. The Habs both outshot and outscored the Bruins, with 143 shots on goal, and 15 goals scored. Boston had 106 shots, and scored 8 times.