1966-67 season
Record: 17-43-10 (44 points)
Once the 1965-66 season ended, Milt Schmidt was given the choice to retain his head coaching job or not. If he chose not to, he would still have his assistant general manager job. Schmidt expressed frustration about all the losing seasons but also talked about the potential in the youth and the future.
“These kids cut their teeth in the NHL this year and finish fifth for the first time in five years. Next year they’ll be better. Things will improve. My whole perspective could be changed a month from now.”
As predicted, his perspective did change a month later. Schmidt decided to leave his head coaching position and on May 10, the Bruins hired Harry Sinden as his replacement. Sinden had been coaching various minor-league affiliates of the Bruins the past five years, including coaching the CPHL’s Oklahoma City Blazers to the Jack Adam’s Cup in 1966.
“My early years were the best,” Schmidt said about his time coaching. “Then the bottom dropped out. It got more trying, and more frustrating, until this past season. We should have changed to youth earlier. Older players do get down on a losing club.”
The newest addition to the Bruins youth movement, would prove to be their greatest.
An 18-year-old Bobby Orr was about to make his NHL debut. Orr had been signed with the Bruins for the past four years since he signed off his playing rights to the Bruins after they discovered him while scouting two other players.
Orr made an impact instantly. He scored his first point in the first game of the season, and scored his first goal three games in, against the Canadiens in a 3-2 loss. Attendance soared whenever Boston was on the road, as fans gathered to see the spectacle.
“Bobby Orr’s potential is unlimited,” said GM Emms. “He could be another Eddie Shore.” Orr garnered endless praise similar to this from players and managers around the league.
Boston’s brass were so impressed with his offensive prowess, that they even had him playing center at a point during the season while Tommy Williams and Johnny Bucyk were injured. Over four games at the position, Orr scored a goal and two assists, but the experiment was ended once Williams and Bucyk were able to return. Sinden decided it was best to keep Orr on defense as he handled the puck more often and was more aggressive in his natural position.
The Bruins closed out the 1966-67 season on a six-game losing streak, landing in last place once again. New Bruins captain, Bucyk, led the team in scoring with 48 points, and Orr was not too far behind with 41 in his rookie season.
Boston came limping out of the ‘Original Six’ era. They held the NHL record for the longest stretch without a playoff appearance, missing them for the last eight seasons.
Their misery would not last much longer, after an offseason where Schmidt would replace Emms as GM and pull off the most important trade in Bruins history, the whole identity of the franchise was about to change.