1928–29 Boston Bruins season

The 1928–29 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' fifth season in the NHL. Boston defended its American Division title, and went on to defeat the New York Rangers in the Final to become the third American-based team to become Stanley Cup champions.

1928–29 Boston Bruins
Stanley Cup champions
American Division champions
Division1st American
1928–29 record26–13–5
Home record15–6–1
Road record11–7–4
Goals for89 (1st)
Goals against52 (2nd)
Team information
General managerArt Ross
CoachCy Denneny
CaptainLionel Hitchman
ArenaBoston Madison Square Garden
Average attendance13387[1]
Team leaders
GoalsHarry Oliver (17)
AssistsEddie Shore and Cooney Weiland (7)
PointsHarry Oliver (23)
Penalty minutesEddie Shore (96)
WinsTiny Thompson (26)
Goals against averageTiny Thompson (1.15)

Offseason

In the off-season, the Bruins acquired Cy Denneny from the Ottawa Senators, who became a player-coach for the team, taking over from Art Ross, who stepped down to concentrate on his general manager duties. With the retirement of Hal Winkler, the team also had a new goaltender, rookie Tiny Thompson—who had spent the 1927–28 season with the Bruins' farm team, the Minneapolis Millers of the AHA—and a promising new forward, Cooney Weiland, who also had played with Minneapolis. Nobby Clark and the rights to suspended Billy Coutu were sold to New Haven of the Canadian-American League, January 5, 1928.

The team also moved into a new home, the Boston Madison Square Garden. The Garden's much larger capacity than the old Boston Arena saw the Bruins' attendance double, to lead the league by a wide margin.[2]

Regular season
See also: 1928–29 NHL season

In their debut game at Boston Garden, the Bruins lost 1–0 to the Montreal Canadiens.[3]

Boston got off to a slow start, and through their first 14 games, the Bruins had a record of 5–7–2, tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates. As the season progressed, Boston made a few trades, acquiring star Mickey MacKay from the Pirates and Bill Carson from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lester Patrick and the New York Rangers offered Winthrop native Myles Lane to the Bruins, astonishingly asking for superstar Eddie Shore in return. Bruins' general manager Art Ross replied famously, "You are so many Myles from Shore you need a life preserver."[4] Nonetheless, the Bruins purchased Lane's rights for $7,500.

Further, Weiland was matched with Dit Clapper and Dutch Gainor on a powerful forward line which garnered the nickname "Dynamite Line," one of the first named forward lines in history.[5] The Bruins rebounded with a 13-game unbeaten streak, which gave them a 16–7–4 record and suddenly in contention with the New York Rangers for top spot in the American Division.[6] Boston had a 10–6–1 record in their remaining 17 games, and held off the Rangers to defend their American Division and the Prince of Wales Trophy, finishing with a 26–13–5 mark and a team record 57 points.

Harry Oliver led Boston in scoring, with 17 goals and 23 points. Dutch Gainor and defenseman Eddie Shore finished just behind Oliver with 19 points, while rookie Cooney Weiland tallied 11 goals and 18 points. Shore led the club with 96 penalty minutes, while team captain Lionel Hitchman finished with 64 penalty minutes.

In goal, Tiny Thompson had an impressive rookie season, winning 26 games while posting a 1.15 goals against average—both Bruins' records, as well as recording 12 shutouts. Thompson's 1.15 GAA remains the Bruins' single-season record and is the second lowest ever recorded over a full season in NHL history.

Final standings
American Division
GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
Boston Bruins4426135895247257
New York Rangers44211310726538452
Detroit Cougars4419169726338147
Pittsburgh Pirates449278468032426
Chicago Black Hawks447298338536322

[7]

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results
Regular season schedule
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1November 15Boston Bruins1–0Pittsburgh Pirates1–0–02
2November 17Boston Bruins2–2Ottawa Senators1–0–13
3November 20Montreal Canadiens1–0Boston Bruins1–1–13
4November 22Boston Bruins0–2Detroit Cougars1–2–13
5November 25Boston Bruins1–1Chicago Black Hawks1–2–24
6November 27Pittsburgh Pirates0–1Boston Bruins2–2–26
7December 4New York Rangers0–2Boston Bruins3–2–28
8December 8Montreal Maroons1–5Boston Bruins4–2–210
9December 9Boston Bruins1–2New York Americans4–3–210
10December 11New York Americans3–0Boston Bruins4–4–210
11December 15Boston Bruins0–2Toronto Maple Leafs4–5–210
12December 18Detroit Cougars1–3Boston Bruins5–5–212
13December 25Chicago Black Hawks2–1Boston Bruins5–6–212
14December 30Boston Bruins0–2New York Rangers5–7–212
15January 1Ottawa Senators0–3Boston Bruins6–7–214
16January 3Boston Bruins1–0Montreal Maroons7–7–216
17January 5Pittsburgh Pirates2–3Boston Bruins8–7–218
18January 8Toronto Maple Leafs2–5Boston Bruins9–7–220
19January 10Boston Bruins4–2Montreal Canadiens10–7–222
20January 12Detroit Cougars2–3Boston Bruins11–7–224
21January 15New York Rangers1–4Boston Bruins12–7–226
22January 17Boston Bruins1–1Detroit Cougars12–7–327
23January 20Boston Bruins2–0Chicago Black Hawks13–7–329
24January 22Montreal Canadiens0–0Boston Bruins13–7–430
25January 27Boston Bruins2–1New York Rangers14–7–432
26January 29Chicago Black Hawks1–4Boston Bruins15–7–434
27January 31Boston Bruins3–1Toronto Maple Leafs16–7–436
28February 2Toronto Maple Leafs3–0Boston Bruins16–8–436
29February 5New York Americans1–0Boston Bruins16–9–436
30February 9Boston Bruins0–1Montreal Maroons16–10–436
31February 12Detroit Cougars0–1Boston Bruins17–10–438
32February 14Boston Bruins0–2Pittsburgh Pirates17–11–438
33February 16Boston Bruins3–0Chicago Black Hawks18–11–440
34February 19Pittsburgh Pirates0–1Boston Bruins19–11–442
35February 24Boston Bruins2–2New York Americans19–11–543
36February 26Montreal Maroons0–1Boston Bruins20–11–545
37February 28Boston Bruins4–0Ottawa Senators21–11–547
38March 2Boston Bruins0–3Montreal Canadiens21–12–547
39March 5New York Rangers1–2Boston Bruins22–12–549
40March 9Ottawa Senators2–1Boston Bruins22–13–549
41March 10Boston Bruins3–2New York Rangers23–13–551
42March 12Chicago Black Hawks1–11Boston Bruins24–13–553
43March 14Boston Bruins5–1Detroit Cougars25–13–555
44March 16Boston Bruins3–1Pittsburgh Pirates26–13–557

Playoffs

In the playoffs, Boston had a first round bye, due to finishing on top of the American Division, and faced the Montreal Canadiens, the winners of the Canadian Division, in the semi-finals in a best-of-five series. The series began with two games at the Boston Garden, and the Bruins, led by Tiny Thompson, won both games by identical 1–0 scores to take a 2–0 series lead. Game Three shifted to Montreal, and while the Canadiens were able to solve Thompson for two goals, Boston scored three of their own, and swept the series.

In the first Stanley Cup Finals exclusively played between American teams,[9] Boston faced their divisional rival – and the team that eliminated them from the playoffs the previous season – the New York Rangers in a best-of-three series. New York had defeated the Detroit Cougars and the Toronto Maple Leafs to earn a spot in the Final. Game One was played in Boston, and Thompson again shut the door, as the Bruins won the game 2–0. Boston completed the two game sweep at Madison Square Garden in New York City, defeating the Rangers 2–1 on March 29 on a goal by Bill Carson,[10] to clinch the first Stanley Cup in team history and making them the third American team to win the Cup championship.[11]

Boston Bruins 3, Montreal Canadiens 0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1March 19Montreal Canadiens0–1Boston Bruins1–0
2March 21Montreal Canadiens0–1Boston Bruins2–0
3March 23Boston Bruins3–2Montreal Canadiens3–0

Boston Bruins 2, New York Rangers 0
Main article: 1929 Stanley Cup Finals
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1March 28New York Rangers0–2Boston Bruins1–0
2March 29Boston Bruins2–1New York Rangers2–0

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Harry OliverRW431762324
Dutch GainorC441451930
Eddie ShoreD391271996
Cooney WeilandC421171816
Dit ClapperRW/D40921148
Mickey MacKayC30821018
George OwenD2754948
Bill CarsonC1942610
Frank FredricksonC1231424
Percy GalbraithLW/D3821344
Cy DennenyLW231232
Lionel HitchmanD3810164
Lloyd KleinLW81015
Myles LaneD191012
Red GreenLW2200016
Eric PettingerLW/C1700017
Eddie RoddenC2000010
Tiny ThompsonG440000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Tiny Thompson27104426135521.1512
Team:27104426135521.1512

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Bill CarsonC52028
Dutch GainorC52024
Cooney WeilandC52022
Harry OliverRW51128
Eddie ShoreD511228
Dit ClapperRW/D51010
Lionel HitchmanD501122
Cy DennenyLW20000
Percy GalbraithLW/D50002
Red GreenLW10000
Myles LaneD50000
Mickey MacKayC30002
George OwenD50000
Tiny ThompsonG50000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Tiny Thompson30055030.603
Team:30055030.603

[12]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

See also

References
  1. Slate, Ralph. "National Hockey League 1928-29 Attendance Graph". hockeydb.com. The Internet Hockey Database.
  2. Slate, Ralph. "National Hockey League 1928-29 Attendance Graph". hockeydb.com. The Internet Hockey Database.
  3. "HOCKEY; A Garden Fades This Fall". New York Times. September 27, 1995. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
  4. "Sports World Specials; No Deal". The New York Times. August 17, 1987.
  5. Vautour, Kevin (1997). The Bruins Book. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-55022-334-7.
  6. Vautour, Kevin (1997). The Bruins Book. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-55022-334-7.
  7. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  8. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  9. Vautour, Kevin (1997). The Bruins Book. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-55022-334-7.
  10. Vautour, Kevin (1997). The Bruins Book. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-55022-334-7.
  11. Anderson, Dave (May 14, 1995). "Sports of The Times; At Boston Garden, There's Much More Gold Than Green". New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
  12. "1928-29 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
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