1968–69 Boston Bruins season

The 1968–69 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 45th season in the NHL.

1968–69 Boston Bruins
Division2nd East
1968–69 record42–18–6
Goals for303
Goals against221
Team information
General managerMilt Schmidt
CoachHarry Sinden
CaptainVacant
Alternate captainsJohnny Bucyk
Phil Esposito
Ted Green
Ed Westfall
ArenaBoston Garden
Team leaders
GoalsPhil Esposito (49)
AssistsPhil Esposito (77)
PointsPhil Esposito (126)
Penalty minutesDon Awrey (149)
WinsGerry Cheevers (28)
Goals against averageGerry Cheevers (2.80)

Offseason

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Regular season

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The Bruins set several league records for scoring, both team and individual. Phil Esposito broke league records for points and assists, becoming the first player in NHL history to exceed 100 points, with 126 and 77 respectively. With linemates Ken Hodge and Ron Murphy, he shared in a new record for most points by a forward line with 263. Bobby Orr set new league records for goals and points by a defenseman with 21 and 64. The team as a whole scored the most goals in history with 303, and were awarded the most penalty minutes with 1297.

Season standings

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East Division[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Montreal Canadiens 76 46 19 11 271 202 +69 103
2 Boston Bruins 76 42 18 16 303 221 +82 100
3 New York Rangers 76 41 26 9 231 196 +35 91
4 Toronto Maple Leafs 76 35 26 15 234 217 +17 85
5 Detroit Red Wings 76 33 31 12 239 221 +18 78
6 Chicago Black Hawks 76 34 33 9 280 246 +34 77

Record vs. opponents

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Schedule and results

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Regular season schedule
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 11, 1968 4–2 Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 1–0–0
2 W October 13, 1968 3–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 2–0–0
3 W October 16, 1968 2–1 @ Oakland Seals (1968–69) 3–0–0
4 L October 17, 1968 1–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 3–1–0
5 W October 19, 1968 5–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 4–1–0
6 L October 24, 1968 1–2 St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 4–2–0
7 L October 26, 1968 0–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 4–3–0
8 W October 27, 1968 4–2 Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 5–3–0
9 W October 30, 1968 4–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 6–3–0
10 L October 31, 1968 5–7 @ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 6–4–0
11 W November 3, 1968 5–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 7–4–0
12 W November 6, 1968 7–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 8–4–0
13 T November 10, 1968 1–1 St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 8–4–1
14 T November 13, 1968 1–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 8–4–2
15 L November 14, 1968 2–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 8–5–2
16 W November 17, 1968 6–3 Oakland Seals (1968–69) 9–5–2
17 W November 21, 1968 4–1 Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 10–5–2
18 W November 23, 1968 5–1 New York Rangers (1968–69) 11–5–2
19 W November 24, 1968 7–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 12–5–2
20 T November 27, 1968 4–4 @ St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 12–5–3
21 L November 30, 1968 1–4 New York Rangers (1968–69) 12–6–3
22 W December 1, 1968 4–0 Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 13–6–3
23 T December 5, 1968 2–2 Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 13–6–4
24 W December 7, 1968 4–1 Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 14–6–4
25 L December 8, 1968 4–7 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 14–7–4
26 T December 11, 1968 2–2 @ New York Rangers (1968–69) 14–7–5
27 W December 14, 1968 10–5 Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 15–7–5
28 W December 15, 1968 5–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 16–7–5
29 W December 19, 1968 6–4 Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 17–7–5
30 T December 21, 1968 0–0 @ Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 17–7–6
31 W December 22, 1968 7–5 Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 18–7–6
32 L December 25, 1968 1–3 Oakland Seals (1968–69) 18–8–6
33 W December 28, 1968 6–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 19–8–6
34 T December 29, 1968 3–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 19–8–7
35 W January 2, 1969 4–2 @ New York Rangers (1968–69) 20–8–7
36 T January 4, 1969 2–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 20–8–8
37 W January 9, 1969 3–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 21–8–8
38 W January 11, 1969 6–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 22–8–8
39 W January 12, 1969 8–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 23–8–8
40 T January 15, 1969 5–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 23–8–9
41 W January 16, 1969 5–1 Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 24–8–9
42 W January 18, 1969 5–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 25–8–9
43 W January 19, 1969 5–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 26–8–9
44 T January 23, 1969 2–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 26–8–10
45 W January 25, 1969 4–0 St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 27–8–10
46 W January 26, 1969 4–3 Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 28–8–10
47 T January 29, 1969 3–3 @ Oakland Seals (1968–69) 28–8–11
48 W January 30, 1969 7–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 29–8–11
49 W February 2, 1969 4–2 Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 30–8–11
50 W February 5, 1969 7–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 31–8–11
51 L February 6, 1969 1–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1968–69) 31–9–11
52 W February 8, 1969 6–5 Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 32–9–11
53 T February 9, 1969 3–3 Oakland Seals (1968–69) 32–9–12
54 W February 11, 1969 7–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 33–9–12
55 L February 15, 1969 1–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 33–10–12
56 L February 16, 1969 1–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 33–11–12
57 L February 19, 1969 0–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 33–12–12
58 L February 23, 1969 0–9 @ New York Rangers (1968–69) 33–13–12
59 W February 26, 1969 4–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 34–13–12
60 W February 27, 1969 9–0 @ Oakland Seals (1968–69) 35–13–12
61 W March 1, 1969 8–5 New York Rangers (1968–69) 36–13–12
62 W March 2, 1969 4–0 Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 37–13–12
63 T March 5, 1969 2–2 Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 37–13–13
64 L March 8, 1969 4–7 @ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) 37–14–13
65 W March 9, 1969 7–2 Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) 38–14–13
66 T March 11, 1969 3–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) 38–14–14
67 L March 13, 1969 1–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) 38–15–14
68 L March 15, 1969 4–7 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 38–16–14
69 W March 16, 1969 11–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) 39–16–14
70 W March 19, 1969 3–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) 40–16–14
71 T March 20, 1969 5–5 Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 40–16–15
72 W March 22, 1969 5–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) 41–16–15
73 L March 23, 1969 2–4 @ New York Rangers (1968–69) 41–17–15
74 T March 27, 1969 3–3 New York Rangers (1968–69) 41–17–16
75 L March 29, 1969 3–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 41–18–16
76 W March 30, 1969 6–3 Montreal Canadiens (1968–69) 42–18–16

Playoffs

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Eastern Conference Semi-finals

Date Opponent Score Result
4/2/1969 Toronto Maple Leafs 10–0 Win
4/3/1969 Toronto Maple Leafs 7–0 Win
4/5/1969 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 Win
4/6/1969 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 3–2 Win

[3]

Eastern Conference Finals

Date Opponent Score Result
4/10/1969 @ Montreal Canadiens 3–2 Loss
4/13/1969 @ Montreal Canadiens 4–3 Loss
4/17/1969 Montreal Canadiens 5–0 Win
4/20/1969 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 Win
4/22/1969 @ Montreal Canadiens 4–2 Loss
4/24/1969 Montreal Canadiens 2–1 Loss

[3]

Player statistics

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Regular season

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Phil Esposito C 74 49 77 126 79 10 2 9
Ken Hodge RW 75 45 45 90 75 9 1 7
John Bucyk LW 70 24 42 66 18 11 0 3
Bobby Orr D 67 21 43 64 133 4 0 2
John McKenzie RW 60 29 27 56 99 8 1 7
Fred Stanfield LW 71 25 29 54 22 6 0 1
Ron Murphy LW 60 16 38 54 26 5 0 0
Derek Sanderson C 61 26 22 48 146 1 3 3
Ted Green D 65 8 38 46 99 3 0 0
Ed Westfall D/RW 70 18 24 42 22 1 4 4
Wayne Cashman LW 51 8 23 31 49 1 0 1
Dallas Smith D 75 4 24 28 74 0 1 0
Eddie Shack LW 50 11 11 22 74 1 0 3
Glen Sather LW 76 4 11 15 67 0 1 1
Don Awrey D 73 0 13 13 149 0 0 0
Tommy Williams RW 26 4 7 11 19 0 0 0
Garnet Bailey LW 8 3 3 6 10 0 0 0
Gary Doak D 22 3 3 6 37 0 0 0
Rick Smith D 48 0 5 5 29 0 0 0
Jim Lorentz C/RW 11 1 3 4 6 0 0 1
Jim Harrison C 16 1 2 3 21 0 0 0
Jean Gauthier D 11 0 2 2 8 0 0 0
Tom Webster RW 9 0 2 2 9 0 0 0
Grant Erickson LW 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Don Marcotte LW 7 1 0 1 2 0 0 0
Barry Wilkins D 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Paul Hurley D 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Eddie Johnston G 24 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Bill Lesuk LW 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Steve Atkinson RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gerry Cheevers G 52 0 0 0 14 0 0 0
Barry Gibbs D 8 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Joe Junkin G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bobby Leiter C 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ross Lonsberry LW 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Gerry Cheevers 3112 52 28 12 12 145 2.80 3
Eddie Johnston 1440 24 14 6 4 74 3.08 2
Joe Junkin 8 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 0
Team: 4560 76 42 18 16 219 2.88 5

Playoffs

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Phil Esposito C 10 8 10 18 8 5 0 2
Ken Hodge RW 10 5 7 12 4 2 0 0
John Bucyk LW 10 5 6 11 0 2 0 1
Derek Sanderson C 9 8 2 10 36 0 3 2
Ed Westfall D/RW 10 3 7 10 11 0 2 0
Ted Green D 10 2 7 9 18 0 0 0
Ron Murphy LW 10 4 4 8 12 0 0 0
Bobby Orr D 10 1 7 8 10 0 0 1
John McKenzie RW 10 2 2 4 17 1 0 0
Fred Stanfield LW 10 2 2 4 0 1 0 0
Dallas Smith D 10 0 3 3 16 0 0 0
Eddie Shack LW 9 0 2 2 23 0 0 0
Don Awrey D 10 0 1 1 28 0 0 0
Wayne Cashman LW 6 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Garnet Bailey LW 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Gerry Cheevers G 9 0 0 0 17 0 0 0
Eddie Johnston G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bill Lesuk LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Glen Sather LW 10 0 0 0 18 0 0 0
Rick Smith D 9 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
Tom Webster RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Gerry Cheevers 572 9 6 3 16 1.68 3
Eddie Johnston 65 1 0 1 4 3.69 0
Team: 637 10 6 4 20 1.88 3

[4]

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;

Awards and records

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Transactions

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Draft picks

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NHL Draft

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Round Overall Player Nationality Position
1 12 Danny Schock   Canada Left Wing
2 18 Fraser Rice   Canada Center
3 24 Brian St. John   Canada Center

Farm teams

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1968–1969 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Boston Bruins 1968-69 Game Log and Scores". Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
  4. ^ "1968-69 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 9, 2009.