Boston Bruins: Remembering past Stanley Cup Final appearances
By Filip Canda
It’s been exactly six years since Boston had Stanley Cup Final fever. It’s been 49 years since the Bruins swept the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final to win the then fourth Cup in their franchise history.
Beginning next Monday, two teams will knuckle down and compete for the Stanley Cup. The Boston Bruins will aim for their seventh elusive trophy and the St. Louis Blues for their first ever.
The very first time the Boston Bruins made it to the playoffs, in 1927 they also made the Stanley Cup Final. However, the Bruins lost to the Ottawa Senators. That time, 92 years ago, the Stanley Cup Final was played up to two wins regardless of the ties. The Senators won two games and two games ended up in a tie. The Sens hoisted the Stanley Cup in Ottawa on April 13 that year.
90 years back in 1929, the Boston Bruins won their first ever Stanley Cup against the New York Rangers in the old Madison Square Garden, with Bill Carson scoring late in the third period to win the Stanley Cup for Boston. Well, that’s not the last time when the Bruins lifted the Stanley Cup in New York, surely a beloved city for all Boston Bruins’ fans.
The following year, the Boston Bruins advanced to the Stanley Cup Final again, this time to meet the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup back in Montreal. The Bruins had to wait until 1939 to get to the Stanley Cup Final again.
The Bruins met the Toronto Maple Leafs in a then new final series system, where the team has to win four games in a best-of-seven series. The Bruins won in five games, clinching at home in the old Boston Garden. It was Roy Conacher with the Cup-winning tally in that Game 5.
Just two years later, the Bruins returned to the Stanley Cup Final after they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, back then, the semi-final of the playoffs. In that Stanley Cup Final in 1941, the Bruins swept the Detroit Red Wings with Bobby Hauer scored a Cup-winning goal in Detroit in Game 4 on April 12.
Two years later in 1943, the Red Wings got their revenge as they swept the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final and hoisted the Cup at Boston Garden. In 1946, the B’s returned to the Stanley Cup Final, but lost to the Montreal Canadiens. again.
Not a pleasant fact for the Bruins for sure, but the Canadiens and the Bruins have met in the Stanley Cup Final seven times and the Habs have won all of those meetings.