Boston Bruins: Remembering past Stanley Cup Final appearances

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VANCOUVER – JUNE 15: Bruins goalie Tim Thomas hoists teammate Patrice Bergeron at left as the Bruins celebrate their victory. The Boston Bruins visited the Vancouver Canucks for Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals at the Rogers Arena. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /

The Boston Bruins two-year cycles were stopped, as they made the Stanley Cup Final in 1974, but lost in six games to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Three years later, not two years, as had become seemingly normal, the Bruins came back to play for the Cup in 1977, just to get swept by the… I think you can figure this one out.

But then the Bruins made it back to the final the very next year in 1978, this time in six games… Boston lost to Montreal, again.

Between 1984 and 1987 the Bruins suffered a disastrous run of four straight eliminations by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. In 1988 the Bruins BEAT the Montreal Canadiens in the second round and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 10 years. However, the Bruins got swept by the Edmonton Oilers. Nevertheless, it was Wayne Gretzky against the B’s and one of the Bruins home games got suspended because of a power failure. Bad luck!

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Remember those two-year cycles? In 1990, Boston returned to the Stanley Cup Final, lost again to the Oilers. What’s interesting about that Final?

The Boston Bruins came back to force overtime in Game 1 from a 2-0 deficit with goals from Ray Bourque but lost in triple overtime. That definitely predestined the Bruins in that series.

We then move to the current decade and the Boston Bruins had waited an incredible 21 years to even play in another cup final. In 2011, the Bruins BEAT the Montreal Canadiens in the first round and went on to win the Stanley Cup against the Vancouver Canucks. Patrice Bergeron became the scorer of a sixth Cup-clinching goal for the Bruins in their franchise history.

Once again, a famous two-year cycle, the Bruins returned to the Cup Final in 2013 but lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.

Now in 2019, six years later, just as in 1929 or 1939, the Bruins will battle for the Stanley Cup again. They already have the memory of beating one team in the Cup Final two times; the Rangers in 1931 and 1972. If that was the case, the Bruins would hoist the Stanley Cup in Boston against the St. Louis Blues just like in 1970.

The Boston Bruins have made it to the Stanley Cup Final for the 21st time in their history. In those previous 20 occasions, the Bruins are 6-13.

Next. Bruins versus Blues confirmed. dark

Not counting those finals with the Montreal Canadiens, the B’s are ‘just’ 6-6, which looks much better. But they are 1-0 against the St. Louis Blues. That’s a positive, hopefully.

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