1928–29 Boston Bruins season



The 1928–29 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 5th season in the NHL. Boston defended its American Division title, finished 2nd in the NHL and won their second Prince of Wales Trophy. They went on to defeat the New York Rangers in the 1929 Stanley Cup Finals 2 games to 0 to become the third American-based team to become Stanley Cup champions. The Cup winning goal was scored by Bill Carson.

Off-season
In the off-season, the Bruins acquired Cy Denneny from the Ottawa Senators, who became a player-coach for the team, taking over from Art Ross, who stepped down to concentrate on his general manager duties. The team also had a new goaltender with the retirement of Hal Winkler. Rookie Tiny Thompson, who spent the 1927–28 season with the Bruins' farm team, the Minneapolis Millers of the AHA, and a promising new forward, Cooney Weiland, who also played with Minneapolis.

Regular Season
The team also moved into a new home, the Boston Garden. In their debut game at the Garden on November 20, 1928, the Bruins lost 1–0 to the Montreal Canadiens.

Boston got off to a slow start, and through their first 14 games, the Bruins had a record of 5–7–2, tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates as 1928 ended. As the season progressed, Boston made a few trades, acquiring star Mickey MacKay from the Pirates and Bill Carson from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lester Patrick and the New York Rangers offered Winthrop native Myles Lane to the Bruins, astonishingly asking for superstar Eddie Shore in return. Bruins' general manager Art Ross replied famously, "You are so many Myles from Shore you need a life preserver." Nonetheless, the Bruins purchased Lane's rights for $7,500.

Rookie Cooney Weiland was matched with Dit Clapper and Dutch Gainor on a powerful forward line which garnered the nickname "Dynamite Line," one of the first named forward lines in history. The Bruins rebounded and weren't beaten in January, which gave them a 16–7–4 record, bringing them into contention with the New York Rangers for top spot in the American Division. Boston had a 10–6–1 record in their remaining 17 games, and held off the Rangers to defend their American Division and the Prince of Wales Trophy, finishing with a 26–13–5 mark and a team record 57 points.

Harry Oliver led Boston in scoring, with 17 goals and 23 points. Dutch Gainor and defenseman Eddie Shore finished just behind Oliver with 19 points, while Cooney Weiland tallied 11 goals and 18 points. Shore led the club with 96 penalty minutes, while team captain Lionel Hitchman finished with 64 penalty minutes.

In goal, Tiny Thompson had an impressive rookie season, winning 26 games while posting a 1.15 goals against average—both Bruins' records, as well as recording 12 shutouts. Thompson's 1.15 GAA remains the Bruins' single-season record and is the second lowest ever recorded over a full season in NHL history.

Due to construction of the new Chicago Arena, the Bruins played the Chicago Black Hawks at Fort Erie, Ontario on February 16, 1929 and won, 3-0. In the Bruins last game of the season against the Black Hawks on March 12, 1929, eight different Boston goal scorers contributed to an 11-1 demolition. This is the largest margin of victory Boston has ever had over Chicago.

Playoffs
In the playoffs, Boston had a first round bye, due to finishing on top of the American Division.

Boston Bruins 3, Montreal Canadiens 0
The Bruins faced the Montreal Canadiens for the first time in the playoffs. As the winners of the Canadian Division, Montreal had also received a bye to the semi-finals in a best-of-five series.

Game 1 began at the Boston Garden where brilliant goaltending by Tiny Thompson led Boston to a 1-0 win on an early first period goal by Cooney Weiland.

Game 2 was a repeat of Game 1, an early goal by Weiland and Thompson shutting out the Habs for a 1-0 victory. However, this game was a much rougher affair with 30 minutes in penalties called.

Game 3 saw the series shift to the Montreal Forum and out do Game 2's roughness with 48 minutes in penalties called. The Habs shot out to a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Albert Leduc and Aurel Joliat 8 seconds apart. But the Bruins roared back in the second period with 3 straight goals by Bill Carson, Dutch Gainor and Eddie Shore to win 3-2 and sweep the series 3-0.

Boston Bruins 2, New York Rangers 0
In the 1929 Stanley Cup Finals, Boston faced their divisional rival, the New York Rangers, who had eliminated them from the playoffs the previous season in a best-of-three series. New York had defeated the Detroit Cougars and the Toronto Maple Leafs to earn a spot in the Finals.

Game 1 was played at the Boston Garden where second period goals by Dit Clapper and Dutch Gainor led the Bruins to a 2-0 win. Tiny Thompson posted his third shutout in four playoff games.

Game 2 moved to Madison Square Garden in New York City where the teams played to a scoreless first period. Boston jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Harry Oliver in the second. Desperate, the Rangers played furiously in the third and Butch Keeling scored his third of the playoffs to tie it up. With less than two minutes to go, Bill Carson was the hero, defeating the Rangers 2–1, to clinch the first Stanley Cup in Bruins history and making them the third American team to win the Cup.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts

Awards and Records

 * Prince of Wales Trophy: Boston Bruins (2nd win)

Transactions

 * Trade Harry Connor to the New York Americans for Red Green on May 18, 1928.
 * Purchase Eddie Rodden from the Toronto Maple Leafs on June 20, 1928.
 * Purchase Cy Denneny from the Ottawa Senators on October 25, 1928.
 * Trade Frank Fredrickson to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Mickey MacKay and $12,000 on December 21, 1928.
 * Sell Nobby Clark and the rights to Billy Coutu to New Haven (Can-Am) on January 5, 1928.
 * Purchase the rights to Myles Lane from the New York Rangers for $7,500 on January 21, 1929.
 * Purchase Bill Carson from Toronto on January 25, 1929.

Farm Teams

 * Boston Tigers, Canadian American Hockey League (league champions)

Trivia

 * Tiny Thompson recorded a shutout in his first game in a 1-0 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is the only goalie in the Hockey Hall of Fame to do so.
 * Firsts in Bruins history accomplished during this season include:
 * Cy Denneny became the first playing coach for the Bruins, playing in over half of their games.
 * First 13 game point streak beginning with a 3-0 win over the Ottawa Senators on January 1, 1929 to a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 31, 1929.
 * Bill Carson scored the first Stanley Cup winning goal for the Bruins, defeating the Rangers 2–1 on March 29, 1929.
 * Defenseman George Owen wore a helmet regularly, which is also a first in NHL history.
 * Bruins who recorded a hat trick this season include:
 * Harry Oliver during the 5-2 win over Toronto on January 8, 1929.
 * Dutch Gainor during the 5-1 win over the Detroit Cougars on March 14, 1929.