1959–60 Boston Bruins season



The 1959–60 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 36th season in the NHL. The Bruins finished 5th in the league and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Off-season
The Bruins obtained Bruce Gamble, Autry Erickson and Charlie Burns in the 1959 intra-league draft. Gamble would become the Bruins starting goalie the next season, Erickson would play for two years while Burns would become an effective third-line center for four seasons.

The 13th National Hockey League All-Star Game was held at Montreal on October 3, 1959. A team of all-stars that included three Bruins, Fern Flaman, Don McKenney and Jerry Toppazzini played against the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens won 6-1 with McKenney scoring the lone goal for the All-Stars.

1959
After going two seasons with no black jersey, it was added back to the uniform for the 1959-60 season. The arm and body stripes on the gold jersey became much thinner while the white jersey remained unchanged. Choices of black or gold pants and mainly black or gold socks made for some interesting combinations over the next five seasons. The white jersey was always matched with the gold socks.

The Bruins had the league's second most powerful offense, led by Bronco Horvath and his linemates John Bucyk and Vic Stasiuk of the "Uke Line." Horvath had a 22 game point scoring streak, finished second in league scoring while Stasiuk and Don McKenney both were in the top ten with McKenney winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. Horvath was voted a Second Team All-Star and was tied for the goal scoring lead with 39.

However, the Bruins defensive game began to slip, which would worsen as the decade continued. The trade of Allan Stanley for Jim Morrison the previous season was a disaster as Stanley would play for the Toronto Maple Leafs until 1968 and be a Second Team All-Star three times. Morrison was then traded for Nick Mickoski who scored once for Boston before being relegated to the minors after the November 22, 1959 game versus Toronto, never to return to the NHL. Dick Meissner took Mickoski's spot on the third line and tallied only 11 points.

Another contributing factor to Boston's defensive slide was the ailing health of Fleming Mackell. The Bruins leading scorer of the 1950's, a former First Team All-Star who had a spectacular 1958 playoffs, setting a new record with 14 assists, Mackell had experienced several knee injuries. He was in and out of the line-up all season and was finally shutdown after the March 1, 1959 game against the Detroit Red Wings. He never played in the NHL again.

Mackell's situation resulted in a carousel of linemates for Don McKenney and Jerry Toppazzini who had team worse plus/minus of -18 and -24 respectively. Lastly, defensemen Bob Armstrong and Fern Flaman were in the twilight of their careers and would play one more season each. Autry Erickson and Don Ward played significant time but neither were up to the standard of play the Bruins had experienced during the 1950's.

After his great effort in the 1959 Semi-finals against Toronto, veteran goalie Harry Lumley played the majority of games for the Bruins in his last NHL season. Don Simmons started in 28 games, forming one of the first goalie tandems in the NHL. After Montreal Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante began wearing a mask regularly on November 1, 1959, Simmons became the second goalie in the NHL to do so during the January 10, 1960 game against the Maple Leafs.

1960
A typical night for the "Uke Line" was demonstrated on January 23, 1960 at Maple Leaf Gardens. Trailing 1-0 in the first period, John Bucyk tied it up on the power play assisted by Bronco Horvath and Vic Stasiuk. Only 23 seconds into the second period on the power play, Don McKenney took a Bucyk pass and fired on net. Horvath tipped it in for his 31st goal to make it 2-1 Bruins. Later in the period, Stasiuk won a draw at the Leafs blueline and Horvath picked up the puck. Horvath's pass to Bucyk on the left wing found Stasiuk driving to the net and he backhanded it in to make it 3-1 Boston. The game ended in a 3-3 tie after Ron Stewart found the puck in a goal mouth scramble at 7:22 of the third period and Dick Duff scored at 10:35 on a bizarre play. George Armstrong was stopped on a breakaway by Harry Lumley but Armstrong's stick clipped Lumley's face as he skated by. Dazed, Lumley couldn't stop Duff's backhand shot from going in.

Fern Flaman night was celebrated before the January 31, 1960 game against the Montreal Canadiens. Flaman was showered with gifts which included silverware, a colour TV, a hockey rink cake and a new station wagon. Vic Stasiuk ensured the night wasn't spoiled by scoring a Hat trick in leading the Bruins to a 6-5 win. On February 14, 1960, the Bruins defeated the New York Rangers 3-0 and were in third place. However, losses in 7 of the next 8 games saw Detroit and the Chicago Black Hawks push the Bruins into fifth place. 18 year old defenseman Dallas Smith was called up from the Estevan Bruins of junior hockey for the last five games. The Bruins went 3-1-1 and Smith had two points. This started a trend of Boston rushing defensive prospects into action too early and giving up on them when they didn't perform.

Going into the last game of the season against Chicago, the Bruins had been eliminated from the playoffs. However, the Art Ross Trophy was still up for grabs between Bronco Horvath and Chicago's Bobby Hull. Horvath led the scoring race with 39 goals and 41 assists, while Hull had 38 goals and 41 assists. With Chicago leading 1-0, as the first period neared its end, Bob Armstrong's shot from the point hit Horvath on the left jaw. He collapsed and was rushed to hospital by taxi while still wearing his uniform. While receiving x-rays, he missed a seven goal second period in which Hull scored once that ended with the score tied 4-4. With the x-rays negative, Horvath returned for the third period but was dazed and didn't record any points. Doug Mohns put the Bruins up 5-4 but at 13:01, Hull's pass to the front of the Bruins net bounced off the skate of teammate Eric Nesterenko and into the Boston goal. The game ended in a 5-5 tie with Hull winning the Art Ross Trophy by one point. Horvath was given a $1000 bonus by the Bruins for his accomplishment and ended tied with Hull for the goal scoring lead with 39.

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

 * Bronco Horvath had a team record 22 game point scoring streak.
 * Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Don McKenney
 * NHL Goal Scoring Leader: Bronco Horvath
 * Bronco Horvath, Centre, NHL Second All-Star Team

Transactions

 * Obtain Bruce Gamble, Autry Erickson and Charlie Burns in the June 10, 1959 intra-league draft.
 * Trade Jim Morrison to the Detroit Red Wings for Nick Mickoski on August 25, 1959.

Trivia

 * Bruins who recorded a Hat trick this season include:
 * Vic Stasiuk during the 6-5 win over the Montreal Canadiens on January 31, 1960.