1962-63 season
Record: 14-39-17 (45 points)
After an awful 1961-62, the Bruins started this new season with a 5-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. That would be their only win until late November though, as the team went on the second-longest winless streak in Bruins history, going without a win for 16 games, from October 13 to November 24.
During this winless streak, coach Watson was fired after 14 games. He finished his Bruins coaching stint with a 16-55-13 record. Assistant GM and former coach Milt Schmidt was brought back as head coach.
Upon returning to the bench Schmidt made one thing clear, rookie goaltender Ed Johnston, was his guy.
“Ed Johnston will be my goalie,” said Schmidt. “I’m not in favor of two goaltenders.”
Johnston finished the season with an 11-27-10 record in 50 games, averaging a .893 save percentage and 3.98 goals against.
On February 4, 1963, the Bruins traded captain Don McKenney to the Rangers for 10-year veteran, Dean Prentice. The Bruins were losing their second captain in two seasons. GM Patrick declared that the B’s would not be immediately naming a new captain, but instead having Johnny Bucyk, Leo Boivin, and Doug Mohns, alternating in the role. McKenney finished his 9 seasons as a Bruin with 195 goals and 267 assists in 592 games.
In another dreadful season there were a few good accomplishments to distract from all the bad. Bucyk and Oliver set new career highs in points finishing in first and second in team scoring, with 66 and 62 points respectively. Also, even though the team finished with one less win than the previous two seasons, they finished with more total points in the standings, in their last-place effort.