Boston Bruins
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The Boston Bruins are an ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They were the first American team in the NHL, in 1924. They have won five Stanley Cup championships.
In their early years, the Bruins won three Stanley Cups: 1929, 1939, and 1941. Ralph "Cooney" Weiland won the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion in 1930. Aubrey "Dit" Clapper was also a star player around this time. Then Eddie Shore came along - a huge star in the league on defence, he won the Hart Trophy as most valuable player (MVP) four times: in 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1938. Only Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky have won it more often. "Tiny" Thompson was the team's star goaltender.
Some of the team's top players in the 1940's were Milt Schmidt and Bill Cowley. Schmidt won the Art Ross Trophy in 1941, and Cowley the next year (teammate Herb Cain won it in 1944). Cowley won two Hart Trophies, in 1941 and 1943, and Schmidt was MVP in 1951. However, the team did not win a championship for 29 years after 1941.
Then came Bobby Orr. He began as a defenceman with Boston in 1966. After his rookie (first) season, he won the Norris Trophy as best defenceman in the NHL eight times in a row. He joined with centre Phil Esposito to lead the Bruins to the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972. Orr won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP in the playoffs both years. He also won the Hart Trophy in 1970, 1971, and 1972; Esposito won it in 1969 and 1974. Esposito won five Art Ross Trophies: 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, and 1974. Orr won it in 1970 and 1975, the only defence ever to win the scoring title. John Bucyk was also a star player at this time, and was the team's top career scorer for many years.
The Bruins continued to be a strong team through the late 1970's, 1980's, and early 1990's. One reason was Ray Bourque, who won the Norris Trophy five times. He is the team's top career scorer, and the highest scoring defenceman in NHL history. The Bruins won the President's Cup as regular-season champions in 1983 and 1990, and made the Stanley Cup finals in 1988 and 1990; but they have not won the championship since 1972. Cam Neely was an important player until the mid-1990's, and Joe Thornton was a top scorer until he was traded to the San Jose Sharks in 2005.
