There is no right or wrong answer to this, The Athletic pics the 1970 Bruins.
Best season ever? Let's pick the top squad in the history of...
It is not hyperbole to declare that Orr’s winning goal in overtime of Game 4 in the 1970 Stanley Cup Final qualifies among the NHL’s most significant moments. As Orr sailed into the sky, launched into orbit by St. Louis’s Noel Picard, the defenseman touched off a Cup-winning celebration that ended 29 years of disappointment.
That the 1969-70 Bruins rampaged through the league to claim the Cup was not the only reason the year stands as the franchise’s defining season. The darkness that preceded the championship made the Cup that much more illuminating.
To their fans, they were Bobby, Espo, Chief, Cash, Turk, and Cheesy: icons as much as hockey players. In Boston, the Bruins were like the Beatles, their hair just as long but well short in number of teeth.
It was no surprise, then, that Boston experienced Bruins mania. Would-be ticket holders camped out behind Boston Garden. Mothers, used to being feted on their special day, were practically forgotten when the Bruins bested the Blues in Game 4.
The 1970 Cup should have been one in many. But the Canadiens, backstopped by Ken Dryden, toppled the Bruins machine in 1971. The Bruins roared back in 1972 to win the Cup for the second time in three seasons.
Injuries, expansion, and the introduction of the WHA put an end to the dynasty. That the Big Bad Bruins remain legends speaks to their achievements.
Honorable mention: 2011. Andrew Ference gave the bird to Montreal fans. Alex Burrows nibbled Patrice Bergeron’s finger. A concussed Nathan Horton poured melted TD Garden water onto the Rogers Arena ice. Above everything else, the postseason had out-of-this-world goaltending. Tim Thomas stopped 94 percent of the pucks that Montreal, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, and Vancouver sent his way. It was a team that ended a 39-year drought. But they needed seven games in three of the four rounds. The 1969-70 Bruins dispatched their competition with less trouble.
-Fluto Shinzawa
I started following the Bruins when they were the worst team in the NHL by far. The fans were told that the team had signed a 14-year-old that would bring us to the promised land. Fans and media were skeptical and the Bruins actually had Oshawa and Niagara Falls play a couple of games in the Garden to show off Orr. Yet it was another player who we knew nothing about got all the attention. His father told him they like fighters in Boston so make sure you get into a couple of scraps and he did. His name was Derek Sanderson.
There was no drama in the SCF - after sweeping Chicago the Bruins and the fans knew the Cup was ours and the final against St. Louis was just a formality. The only drama was that number 4 scored at 40 seconds of the fourth period in game #4. It is possible you have seen the video of this
But 2011 in many ways was better. The team fought back against Poutineville after losing the first 2 at home.
They then extracted revenge over Philadelphia, and then a wonderful 7 game series with Tampa.
A good friend in Chicago told me I would come to hate Vancouver during that series and of course she was correct. The wonderful part of 2011 was nothing was taken for granted. Game 7 in Vancouver started off well but then late in the second period with the B's leading 2-0, Vancouver went on the power play.
AND THEN THIS HAPPENED
That is when we knew the Cup was ours.
Best season ever? Let's pick the top squad in the history of...
It is not hyperbole to declare that Orr’s winning goal in overtime of Game 4 in the 1970 Stanley Cup Final qualifies among the NHL’s most significant moments. As Orr sailed into the sky, launched into orbit by St. Louis’s Noel Picard, the defenseman touched off a Cup-winning celebration that ended 29 years of disappointment.
That the 1969-70 Bruins rampaged through the league to claim the Cup was not the only reason the year stands as the franchise’s defining season. The darkness that preceded the championship made the Cup that much more illuminating.
To their fans, they were Bobby, Espo, Chief, Cash, Turk, and Cheesy: icons as much as hockey players. In Boston, the Bruins were like the Beatles, their hair just as long but well short in number of teeth.
It was no surprise, then, that Boston experienced Bruins mania. Would-be ticket holders camped out behind Boston Garden. Mothers, used to being feted on their special day, were practically forgotten when the Bruins bested the Blues in Game 4.
The 1970 Cup should have been one in many. But the Canadiens, backstopped by Ken Dryden, toppled the Bruins machine in 1971. The Bruins roared back in 1972 to win the Cup for the second time in three seasons.
Injuries, expansion, and the introduction of the WHA put an end to the dynasty. That the Big Bad Bruins remain legends speaks to their achievements.
Honorable mention: 2011. Andrew Ference gave the bird to Montreal fans. Alex Burrows nibbled Patrice Bergeron’s finger. A concussed Nathan Horton poured melted TD Garden water onto the Rogers Arena ice. Above everything else, the postseason had out-of-this-world goaltending. Tim Thomas stopped 94 percent of the pucks that Montreal, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, and Vancouver sent his way. It was a team that ended a 39-year drought. But they needed seven games in three of the four rounds. The 1969-70 Bruins dispatched their competition with less trouble.
-Fluto Shinzawa
I started following the Bruins when they were the worst team in the NHL by far. The fans were told that the team had signed a 14-year-old that would bring us to the promised land. Fans and media were skeptical and the Bruins actually had Oshawa and Niagara Falls play a couple of games in the Garden to show off Orr. Yet it was another player who we knew nothing about got all the attention. His father told him they like fighters in Boston so make sure you get into a couple of scraps and he did. His name was Derek Sanderson.
There was no drama in the SCF - after sweeping Chicago the Bruins and the fans knew the Cup was ours and the final against St. Louis was just a formality. The only drama was that number 4 scored at 40 seconds of the fourth period in game #4. It is possible you have seen the video of this
But 2011 in many ways was better. The team fought back against Poutineville after losing the first 2 at home.
They then extracted revenge over Philadelphia, and then a wonderful 7 game series with Tampa.
A good friend in Chicago told me I would come to hate Vancouver during that series and of course she was correct. The wonderful part of 2011 was nothing was taken for granted. Game 7 in Vancouver started off well but then late in the second period with the B's leading 2-0, Vancouver went on the power play.
AND THEN THIS HAPPENED
That is when we knew the Cup was ours.
