yave1964 Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 MY LIST OF THE GREATEST MOMENTS (POST EXPANSION) IN BRUINS HISTORY First a few things i considered that didn't quite make the list, it includes the Cam Neely trade with the Canucks, Ted Green getting his skull cracked open like a grape in a stick fight, the Bruins run of excellence in the late seventies that always fell just a mite short, Raymond Bourque with 5 Norris trophies and the cup finals appearance 2 years ago. Now on with the list BRUINS FIGHT THE FANS IN THE GARDEN December 23rd 1979 tension boiled over at the Garden in New York between two cities that hate each other. The Bruins had just defeated the Rags 4-3 and at the final buzzer Al Secord sucker punched the non fighting Ulfie Nilsson starting a brawl which soon escalated as a fan hit Stan Jonathan with a rolled up program and stole his stick. The next thing you knew, the Bruins led by Terry O'Reilly went over the glass En Mass and a crazy fight in the stands occured with the Rangers players standing by in shock watching and Mike Milbury beating a man over the head with his own shoe. It ended with suspensions for O'Reilly, Milbury, and the usually passive Peter McNabb ("He is usually the one who hands us our gloves after a fight," smirked O'Reilly). The only Bruin not involved was winning goalie Garry Cheevers "i was already on my second beer in the locker room and there was no way in hell i was going out there." he usually laughs years alter when it is mentioned. BOBBY ORR 8 STRAIGHT NORRIS TROPHIES, 3 STRAIGHT HARTS There has never been a player of the caliber of Bobby Orr, he changed the way the game is played even more than Gretzky, his vision was unparallelled, he has the all time most Norris trophies with 8 which he won from 1968 to 1975, which he won consecutively and he also won 3 straight Hart trophies as the leagues best player. Throw in two Smythe trophies in the years his club won the cup for good measure. Career over by the age of 30 but he dominated the game for a decade like few people ever have. 1970: BRUINS WIN THE CUP! ORR SHOWS THAT A MAN CAN FLY The last time the Bruins won the Cup, most Americans had never heard of Pearl Harbor. After a 30 year dry spell in which the Bears missed the postseason with alarming regularity considering the fact that there were only 6 teams and 4 made it, the addition of young Bobby Orr and the steal of the century, acquiring Espo. Stanfield, and Hodge from the Hawks for a bucket of pucks put the team on the map. A pair of tough goalies, Cheevers and the underrated Eddie Johnston sharing timesurely helped and Chief Bucyk added offense and young Derek Sanderson was one of the best two way players in the game and a young stick wielding Wayne Cashman contributed. The club rolled over the opposition, Cheevers established himself going 12-1 for the Harry Sinden led club and it ended in overtime with the famous goal by Orr. 2011 BRUINS WIN FIRST CUP IN 39 YEARSThe Bruins put together a bunch of talented young players including Lucic, Bergeron, Krejci, Marchand and Seguin, and a bunch of veterans led by Chara, Ryder, Horton, Seidenberg and Recchi, throw in a curmudgeon of a goalie in Tim Thomas who got in finals opposing goalie Luongo's head so deeply the Bobby Lu is probably still in counseling, and a perfect storm occured, the Bruins fell behind 3 games to 2 in the finals before winning in 7. Not a team loaded with HOFers but a 4 lines deep offense and Chara on the point and the grinning Thomas were a fun team to watch. 89-90 BRUINS WIN PRESIDENTS TROPHY AND MAKE CUP FINALS The best of the Ray Bourque and Cam Neely clubs, with the brilliant Bourque on the back end ((19-65-84) and Nelly banging in 55 goals young Craig Janney contributed mightily to the mike Milbury ran club, and the underrated Andy Moog settled things down between the pipes. The postseason was brilliant, led by Neely who scored 12 goals and 28 total points they finally succumbed to the Oilers in the finals after a very entertaining postseason. 1972: THE SECOND CUP OF THE BIG BAD BRUINS IN THREE YEARS The Tom Johnson run club steamrolled the league, going 54-13-11 for a league leading 119 points, Esposito followed up his 76 goal season the year before with a still enormous 66 and 133 points, bobby Orr banged in 37 goals and 80 assists, Bucyk had his usual 30 goals, like clockwork, Shaky Walton joined the cast with 28 goals, Derek Sanderson had his best year to date as did young Wayne Cashman Ed Westfall was the leagues best penalty killer Ed Johnston and Cheevers split time again and Cheevers went 27-5-8 to lead the team. This was a skilled team that shoulda and coulda won several more cups but was hit hard by the raiding party that was the WHA, losing Cheevers, Sanderson, Pie Mckenzie, and Walton. The team tayed relevant for a decade but was never quite as good again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackStraw Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I assume the second choice should read 1970 rather than 1972. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 I assume the second choice should read 1970 rather than 1972.you are correct sir. I will fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 I love the pic with Orr and Bourque together. How funny is it that the best 2 d-men in Bruins history have hair that never, ever is out place. Those guys could be placed in the middle of Katrina and still have not one hair harmed.....lol. I usually pick Stanley Cup victories in these write ups. Could not do it this time. When you start talking about one of the most important accomplishments of the best player ever....I start to listen. Earning 8 consecutive Norris trophy's is a STUNNING accomplishment. It is mind boggling, and it will never be broke. The odds of another d-man being *so* dominant, injury free and all the other variables....it just will never happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackStraw Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Had to vote for Flying Bobby. Living here in the Boston area I can say that any time you go into a restaurant or bar that has sports photos on the wall, you will always see that one. In fact, I think I'm sick of that damn photo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosque Bill Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Yes the fight was memorable and all. Mote memorable was the comments by Cheevers and O'Riley. However as a Bruins fan for over 60 years winning the cup in 2011 nearly burst my heart and brought tears to my eyes. Will never forget hat moment either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanflyer Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Can we add that Ray Bourque finally wins Stanley Cup (with Avs)? Joking of course, but not without some merit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nORRis8 Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 2011 Cup win is most memorable.But Bobbys goal in 1970 is iconic in and sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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