1949–50 Boston Bruins season



The 1949–50 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 26th season in the NHL. The Bruins finished 5th in the league and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Off-season
Unhappy with the performance of the Bruins during the 1948 playoffs and growing increasingly uncomfortable coaching those he had played with for many years, Bruins coach Dit Clapper resigned from his position. Clapper's replacement was George Boucher, who had previously coached the Montreal Maroons, Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Eagles after a 457 game NHL career. Boucher was fresh off of assisting the RCAF Flyers win an Olympic gold medal. However, Boucher lasted only one season with the Bruins and never coached in the NHL again.

The Bruins acquired All-Star defenseman Bill Quackenbush and Pete Horeck from the Detroit Red Wings on August 16, 1949 for Pete Babando, Clare Martin and Jimmy Peters.

Pre-season
The 3rd National Hockey League All-Star Game was held at Toronto on October 10, 1949. Bruins Paul Ronty and Bill Quackenbush played for the All-Stars against the Toronto Maple Leafs. As in the 2nd game, the All-Stars won 3-1 with a Bruin scoring the winning goal, Ronty getting the marker. Quackenbush had an assist on the third goal.

Regular Season
With the success of the "Spoked B" jersey worn for their 25th anniversary in the NHL, the Bruins adopted the white jersey for the 1949-50 season, albeit with the "24" and "49" on the horizontal spokes removed. The jersey number was changed from gold outlined in black to black outlined in gold for greater visibility. The "Spoked B" became the Bruins logo and would be worn in one form or another every year afterwards. The black jersey with the gold block "B" introduced in the 1948-49 season was also continued but gold shoulder yolks were added and the arm and body stripes were modified.

The results of the 1949-50 season for the Bruins could be aptly described as puzzling. Although significant turnover occurred during the off-season, the moves and trades were necessary. Despite all the right moves being made and relatively few injuries (Ed Sandford missed 51 games), the Bruins didn't make the playoffs.

All-Star goalie Frank Brimsek was sold to the Chicago Black Hawks and Jack Gelineau became the Bruins starting keeper. Gelineau performed well and captured the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year. Phil Maloney was called up from the Hershey Bears, where he'd led the team in scoring in 1948-49. Maloney had a great rookie season, scored 46 points and finished second in Calder voting.

Bruins strongman defender Pat Egan was traded and replaced with Bill Quackenbush, who'd lead the Bruins defense for the next seven years and twice be voted an All-Star. Paul Ronty and Johnny Peirson continued their scoring prowess with Ronty finishing 5th and Peirson 8th in league scoring. Veterans Milt Schmidt and Woody Dumart continued to provide depth scoring while mid-season acquisition Bud Poile had 30 points in 39 games for the Bruins. Captain Jack Crawford was in and out of the lineup and missed 24 games in the last of his dozen seasons with the Bruins.

Silvio Bettio played his only NHL season, often with team leading scorers Ronty and Peirson. Although he had 21 points in 44 games, he wouldn't keep his spot on the roster.

The Bruins played inconsistently, sometimes beating league powerhouses Detroit and Montreal and then losing to weaker teams such as Chicago. This could be attributed to parity in the league. The Bruins had a dismal February in which they won only once. Their play improved in March but was only slightly above .500. Desperately trying to catch the New York Rangers for the last playoff spot, the Bruins chances were given a boost as New York went on a seven game losing streak. But a 2-2-3 record in their last seven games resulted in them finishing out of the post season.

Playoffs

 * The Bruins did not qualify for the post season.

Regular Season

 * 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

 * Calder Memorial Trophy: Jack Gelineau (Bruins Phil Maloney finished second in voting)

Transactions

 * Trade Pete Babando, Clare Martin and Jimmy Peters to the Detroit Red Wings for Pete Horeck and Bill Quackenbush on August 16, 1949.
 * Sell Frank Brimsek to the Chicago Black Hawks on September 8, 1949.
 * Trade Pat Egan to the New York Rangers for Bill Moe and the rights to Lorne Ferguson on October 7, 1949.
 * Purchase Bud Poile from the Rangers on December 22, 1949.

Trivia

 * Pete Horeck wore jersey #25. This was the first time a Bruin wore #25 and was the highest number, up to that time, that a Bruin had ever worn.
 * Later in the season, Lorne Ferguson wore jersey #26. This was the first time a Bruin wore #26 and was the highest number, up to that time, that a Bruin had ever worn.
 * The Bruins loaded the line-up with call-ups from the minors for the third last game against the Chicago Black Hawks on March 22, 1950. John McIntyre, Gord Byers, Ross Lowe, Norm Corcoran, Barton Bradley and Lorne Ferguson all played their first NHL games. For Bradley, it would be his only game. Ferguson would score a goal and an assist and go on to have a 400+ game NHL career as would McIntyre.
 * The Bruins were the first team to put a European trained player on their reserve list when they added Jaroslav Drobný in 1949.
 * No Bruins recorded a Hat trick this season.