1928–29 Boston Bruins season

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)

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.

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
44 26 13 5 89 52 472 57
New York Rangers 44 21 13 10 72 65 384 52
Detroit Cougars 44 19 16 9 72 63 381 47
Pittsburgh Pirates 44 9 27 8 46 80 324 26
Chicago Black Hawks 44 7 29 8 33 85 363 22

[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

1928–29 regular season[9]
November
Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
1 November 15 Boston Bruins 1–0 Pittsburgh Pirates 1–0–0 2
2 November 17 Boston Bruins 2–2 Ottawa Senators 1–0–1 3
3 November 20 Montreal Canadiens 1–0 Boston Bruins 1–1–1 3
4 November 22 Boston Bruins 0–2 Detroit Cougars 1–2–1 3
5 November 25 Boston Bruins 1–1 Chicago Black Hawks 1–2–2 4
6 November 27 Pittsburgh Pirates 0–1 Boston Bruins 2–2–2 6
December
Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
7 December 4 New York Rangers 0–2 Boston Bruins 3–2–2 8
8 December 8 Montreal Maroons 1–5 Boston Bruins 4–2–2 10
9 December 9 Boston Bruins 1–2 New York Americans 4–3–2 10
10 December 11 New York Americans 3–0 Boston Bruins 4–4–2 10
11 December 15 Boston Bruins 0–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–5–2 10
12 December 18 Detroit Cougars 1–3 Boston Bruins 5–5–2 12
13 December 25 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 Boston Bruins 5–6–2 12
14 December 30 Boston Bruins 0–2 New York Rangers 5–7–2 12
January
Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
15 January 1 Ottawa Senators 0–3 Boston Bruins 6–7–2 14
16 January 3 Boston Bruins 1–0 Montreal Maroons 7–7–2 16
17 January 5 Pittsburgh Pirates 2–3 Boston Bruins 8–7–2 18
18 January 8 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–5 Boston Bruins 9–7–2 20
19 January 10 Boston Bruins 4–2 Montreal Canadiens 10–7–2 22
20 January 12 Detroit Cougars 2–3 Boston Bruins 11–7–2 24
21 January 15 New York Rangers 1–4 Boston Bruins 12–7–2 26
22 January 17 Boston Bruins 1–1 Detroit Cougars 12–7–3 27
23 January 20 Boston Bruins 2–0 Chicago Black Hawks 13–7–3 29
24 January 22 Montreal Canadiens 0–0 Boston Bruins 13–7–4 30
25 January 27 Boston Bruins 2–1 New York Rangers 14–7–4 32
26 January 29 Chicago Black Hawks 1–4 Boston Bruins 15–7–4 34
27 January 31 Boston Bruins 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 16–7–4 36
February
Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
28 February 2 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–0 Boston Bruins 16–8–4 36
29 February 5 New York Americans 1–0 Boston Bruins 16–9–4 36
30 February 9 Boston Bruins 0–1 Montreal Maroons 16–10–4 36
31 February 12 Detroit Cougars 0–1 Boston Bruins 17–10–4 38
32 February 14 Boston Bruins 0–2 Pittsburgh Pirates 17–11–4 38
33 February 16 Boston Bruins 3–0 Chicago Black Hawks 18–11–4 40
34 February 19 Pittsburgh Pirates 0–1 Boston Bruins 19–11–4 42
35 February 24 Boston Bruins 2–2 New York Americans 19–11–5 43
36 February 26 Montreal Maroons 0–1 Boston Bruins 20–11–5 45
37 February 28 Boston Bruins 4–0 Ottawa Senators 21–11–5 47
March
Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
38 March 2 Boston Bruins 0–3 Montreal Canadiens 21–12–5 47
39 March 5 New York Rangers 1–2 Boston Bruins 22–12–5 49
40 March 9 Ottawa Senators 2–1 Boston Bruins 22–13–5 49
41 March 10 Boston Bruins 3–2 New York Rangers 23–13–5 51
42 March 12 Chicago Black Hawks 1–11 Boston Bruins 24–13–5 53
43 March 14 Boston Bruins 5–1 Detroit Cougars 25–13–5 55
44 March 16 Boston Bruins 3–1 Pittsburgh Pirates 26–13–5 57

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

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,[10] 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,[11] to clinch the first Stanley Cup in team history and making them the third American team to win the Cup championship.[12]

1929 Stanley Cup playoffs[9]
Semifinals vs. (C1) Montreal Canadiens – Bruins win 3–0
Game Date Visitor Score Home Series
1 March 19 Montreal Canadiens 0–1 Boston Bruins 1–0
2 March 21 Montreal Canadiens 0–1 Boston Bruins 2–0
3 March 23 Boston Bruins 3–2 Montreal Canadiens 3–0
Stanley Cup Finals vs. (A2) New York Rangers – Bruins win 2–0
Game Date Visitor Score Home Series
1 March 28 New York Rangers 0–2 Boston Bruins 1–0
2 March 29 Boston Bruins 2–1 New York Rangers 2–0

Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Harry Oliver RW 43 17 6 23 24
Dutch Gainor C 44 14 5 19 30
Eddie Shore D 39 12 7 19 96
Cooney Weiland C 42 11 7 18 16
Dit Clapper RW/D 40 9 2 11 48
Mickey MacKay C 30 8 2 10 18
George Owen D 27 5 4 9 48
Bill Carson C 19 4 2 6 10
Frank Fredrickson C 12 3 1 4 24
Percy Galbraith LW/D 38 2 1 3 44
Cy Denneny LW 23 1 2 3 2
Lionel Hitchman D 38 1 0 1 64
Lloyd Klein LW 8 1 0 1 5
Myles Lane D 19 1 0 1 2
Red Green LW 22 0 0 0 16
Eric Pettinger LW/C 17 0 0 0 17
Eddie Rodden C 20 0 0 0 10
Tiny Thompson G 44 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Tiny Thompson 2710 44 26 13 5 52 1.15 12
Team: 2710 44 26 13 5 52 1.15 12

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Bill Carson C 5 2 0 2 8
Dutch Gainor C 5 2 0 2 4
Cooney Weiland C 5 2 0 2 2
Harry Oliver RW 5 1 1 2 8
Eddie Shore D 5 1 1 2 28
Dit Clapper RW/D 5 1 0 1 0
Lionel Hitchman D 5 0 1 1 22
Cy Denneny LW 2 0 0 0 0
Percy Galbraith LW/D 5 0 0 0 2
Red Green LW 1 0 0 0 0
Myles Lane D 5 0 0 0 0
Mickey MacKay C 3 0 0 0 2
George Owen D 5 0 0 0 0
Tiny Thompson G 5 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Tiny Thompson 300 5 5 0 3 0.60 3
Team: 300 5 5 0 3 0.60 3

[13]

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. ^ a b "1928-29 Boston Bruins Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  10. ^ Vautour, Kevin (1997). The Bruins Book. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-55022-334-7.
  11. ^ Vautour, Kevin (1997). The Bruins Book. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-55022-334-7.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ "1928-29 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
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