1959–60 Boston Bruins season

1959–60 Boston Bruins
Division	5th NHL
1959–60 record	28-34-8
Goals for	220 (2nd)
Goals against	241 (5th)
Team information
General manager	Lynn Patrick
Coach	Milt Schmidt
Captain	Fern Flaman
Arena	Boston Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Bronco Horvath (39)
Assists	Don McKenney (49)
Points	Bronco Horvath (80)
Penalty minutes	Vic Stasiuk (121)
Wins	Harry Lumley (16)
Goals against average	Don Simmons (3.25)

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.

Regular Season

Doug Mohns and Charlie Burns battle Camille Henry in the 1959 pattern gold jersey.

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.

Fleming Mackell led the Bruins in scoring during the 1950's. The 1959-60 season was his last in the NHL.

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.

Don Simmons was the second NHL goalie to wear a mask regularly.

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.

Vic Stasiuk from John Bucyk and Bronco Horvath, January 23, 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. 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.

Bronco Horvath had his best NHL season in 1959-60.

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.

Final Standings

National Hockey League

	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Montreal Canadiens	70	40	18	12	92	255	178
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	35	26	9	79	199	195
Chicago Black Hawks	70	28	29	13	69	191	180
Detroit Red Wings	70	26	29	15	67	186	197
Boston Bruins	70	28	34	8	64	220	241
New York Rangers	70	17	38	15	49	187	247

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

Regular Season Schedule

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 8, 1959	1–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	0–1–0
2	W	October 10, 1959	6–4	New York Rangers (1959–60)	1–1–0
3	W	October 11, 1959	8–4	Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	2–1–0
4	W	October 14, 1959	4–3	@ New York Rangers (1959–60)	3–1–0
5	L	October 17, 1959	0–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	3–2–0
6	T	October 18, 1959	2–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	3–2–1
7	L	October 22, 1959	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	3–3–1
8	L	October 24, 1959	1–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	3–4–1
9	W	October 29, 1959	2–1	Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	4–4–1
10	L	October 31, 1959	3–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	4–5–1
11	W	November 1, 1959	6–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	5–5–1
12	W	November 3, 1959	6–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	6–5–1
13	W	November 5, 1959	8–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	7–5–1
14	W	November 8, 1959	5–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	8–5–1
15	L	November 11, 1959	3–6	@ New York Rangers (1959–60)	8–6–1
16	L	November 12, 1959	5–6	Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	8–7–1
17	L	November 14, 1959	1–8	@ Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	8–8–1
18	L	November 15, 1959	1–4	Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	8–9–1
19	T	November 21, 1959	3–3	Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	8–9–2
20	L	November 22, 1959	1–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	8–10–2
21	T	November 25, 1959	3–3	@ New York Rangers (1959–60)	8–10–3
22	W	November 26, 1959	4–3	New York Rangers (1959–60)	9–10–3
23	T	November 28, 1959	2–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	9–10–4
24	L	November 29, 1959	2–4	Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	9–11–4
25	T	December 2, 1959	2–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	9–11–5
26	L	December 5, 1959	3–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	9–12–5
27	L	December 6, 1959	3–6	Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	9–13–5
28	W	December 10, 1959	6–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	10–13–5
29	L	December 12, 1959	3–4	New York Rangers (1959–60)	10–14–5
30	L	December 13, 1959	3–4	@ New York Rangers (1959–60)	10–15–5
31	L	December 16, 1959	0–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	10–16–5
32	L	December 20, 1959	2–4	Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	10–17–5
33	W	December 25, 1959	5–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	11–17–5
34	L	December 27, 1959	1–6	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	11–18–5
35	W	December 29, 1959	4–3	@ New York Rangers (1959–60)	12–18–5
36	W	January 1, 1960	7–3	New York Rangers (1959–60)	13–18–5
37	L	January 2, 1960	5–6	@ Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	13–19–5
38	L	January 3, 1960	3–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	13–20–5
39	W	January 7, 1960	5–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	14–20–5
40	W	January 9, 1960	3–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	15–20–5
41	W	January 10, 1960	4–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	16–20–5
42	W	January 14, 1960	6–0	New York Rangers (1959–60)	17–20–5
43	L	January 16, 1960	2–8	@ Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	17–21–5
44	L	January 17, 1960	1–3	Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	17–22–5
45	L	January 20, 1960	1–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	17–23–5
46	L	January 21, 1960	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	17–24–5
47	T	January 23, 1960	3–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	17–24–6
48	W	January 24, 1960	6–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	18–24–6
49	W	January 30, 1960	3–2	Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	19–24–6
50	W	January 31, 1960	6–5	Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	20–24–6
51	L	February 4, 1960	2–7	Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	20–25–6
52	L	February 6, 1960	3–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	20–26–6
53	W	February 7, 1960	3–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	21–26–6
54	W	February 11, 1960	3–2	Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	22–26–6
55	W	February 13, 1960	7–6	Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	23–26–6
56	W	February 14, 1960	3–0	New York Rangers (1959–60)	24–26–6
57	L	February 17, 1960	1–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	24–27–6
58	L	February 20, 1960	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	24–28–6
59	L	February 21, 1960	2–7	@ New York Rangers (1959–60)	24–29–6
60	W	February 27, 1960	3–1	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	25–29–6
61	L	March 1, 1960	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	25–30–6
62	L	March 3, 1960	0–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	25–31–6
63	L	March 5, 1960	2–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	25–32–6
64	L	March 6, 1960	1–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)	25–33–6
65	T	March 10, 1960	3–3	New York Rangers (1959–60)	25–33–7
66	W	March 12, 1960	5–1	Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)	26–33–7
67	W	March 13, 1960	3–2	Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	27–33–7
68	W	March 16, 1960	3–2	@ New York Rangers (1959–60)	28–33–7
69	L	March 19, 1960	1–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1959–60)	28–34–7
70	T	March 20, 1960	5–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)	28–34–8

Playoffs

• The Bruins did not qualify for the post season.

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

#	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
6	Horvath, BroncoBronco Horvath	C	68	39	41	80	60
17	McKenney, DonDon McKenney	C	70	20	49	69	28
7	Stasiuk, VicVic Stasiuk	LW	69	29	39	68	121
9	Bucyk, JohnJohn Bucyk	LW	56	16	36	52	26
19	Mohns, DougDoug Mohns	LW/D	65	20	25	45	62
21	Toppazzini, JerryJerry Toppazzini	RW	69	12	33	45	26
16	Labine, LeoLeo Labine	RW	63	16	28	44	58
23	Gendron, Jean-GuyJean-Guy Gendron	LW	67	24	11	35	64
10	Burns, CharlieCharlie Burns	C	62	10	17	27	46
20	Boivin, LeoLeo Boivin	D	70	4	21	25	66
8	Mackell, FlemingFleming Mackell	C	47	7	15	22	19
14	Flaman, FernFern Flaman	D	60	2	18	20	112
24	Leach, LarryLarry Leach	C	69	7	12	19	47
4	Armstrong, BobBob Armstrong	D	69	5	14	19	96
22	Meissner, DickDick Meissner	RW	60	5	6	11	22
11	Erickson, AutAut Erickson	D	58	1	6	7	29
18	Smith, DallasDallas Smith	D	5	1	1	2	0
12	Davis, LorneLorne Davis	RW	10	1	1	2	10
12	Mickoski, NickNick Mickoski	LW	18	1	0	1	2
12	Hillman, LarryLarry Hillman	D	2	0	1	1	2
18	Ward, DonDon Ward	D	31	0	1	1	16
16	Gagne, PierrePierre Gagne	LW	2	0	0	0	0
12	Turlick, GordonGordon Turlick	LW/C	2	0	0	0	2
25	Rolfe, DaleDale Rolfe	D	3	0	0	0	0
25	Baluik, StanStan Baluik	C	7	0	0	0	2
1	Simmons, DonDon Simmons	G	28	0	0	0	4
1	Lumley, HarryHarry Lumley	G	42	0	0	0	12

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Lumley, HarryHarry Lumley	2520	42	16	21	5	146	3.48	2
Simmons, DonDon Simmons	1680	28	12	13	3	91	3.25	2
Team:	4200	70	28	34	8	237	3.39	4

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.

Gallery

Pre-season @ Hull

Jean-Guy Gendron falls over Jacques Plante, January 19, 1960.

Newspaper clipping for Fern Flaman night, January 31, 1960.

Harry Lumley, #4 Bob Armstrong and #15 Ab McDonald in 1959-60 action. Note the gold pants with black jerseys and socks.

Johnny Wilson, John Bucyk and Johnny Bower in 1959-60 action.