1976–77 Boston Bruins season

The 1976–77 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 53rd season in the NHL. The season involved participating in the Stanley Cup finals.

1976–77 Boston Bruins
Adams Division champions
Division1st Adams
1976–77 record49–23–8
Goals for312
Goals against240
Team information
General managerHarry Sinden
CoachDon Cherry
CaptainJohnny Bucyk
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaBoston Garden
Team leaders
GoalsPeter McNab (38)
AssistsJean Ratelle (61)
PointsJean Ratelle (94)
WinsGilles Gilbert (18)
Goals against averageGilles Gilbert (2.85)

Offseason

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NHL Draft

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Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team
1 16 Clayton Pachal (C)   Canada New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
2 34 Lorry Gloeckner (D)   Canada Victoria Cougars (WCHL)
4 70 Bob Miller (C)   United States Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
5 88 Peter Vandemark (LW)   Canada Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
6 106 Ted Olson (LW)   Canada Calgary Centennials (WCHL)

Regular season

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Season standings

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Adams Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Boston Bruins 80 49 23 8 312 240 106
Buffalo Sabres 80 48 24 8 301 220 104
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 33 32 15 301 285 81
Cleveland Barons 80 25 42 13 240 292 63

[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

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Adams Division record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

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Regular season schedule
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 7, 1976 6–2 Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 1–0–0
2 L October 9, 1976 5–7 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 1–1–0
3 W October 10, 1976 4–3 Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 2–1–0
4 W October 13, 1976 5–1 @ New York Rangers (1976–77) 3–1–0
5 W October 15, 1976 5–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 4–1–0
6 W October 17, 1976 5–3 Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 5–1–0
7 L October 19, 1976 5–6 @ St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 5–2–0
8 W October 20, 1976 2–1 @ Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 6–2–0
9 W October 23, 1976 4–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 7–2–0
10 W October 27, 1976 4–3 @ New York Rangers (1976–77) 8–2–0
11 W October 30, 1976 4–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 9–2–0
12 L October 31, 1976 1–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 9–3–0
13 W November 4, 1976 7–5 Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 10–3–0
14 W November 7, 1976 3–1 Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 11–3–0
15 W November 10, 1976 6–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 12–3–0
16 T November 11, 1976 2–2 New York Islanders (1976–77) 12–3–1
17 W November 14, 1976 5–3 Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 13–3–1
18 W November 18, 1976 3–2 Washington Capitals (1976–77) 14–3–1
19 W November 19, 1976 4–1 @ Washington Capitals (1976–77) 15–3–1
20 W November 21, 1976 4–2 Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 16–3–1
21 W November 24, 1976 4–0 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 17–3–1
22 W November 25, 1976 4–2 Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 18–3–1
23 L November 27, 1976 2–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 18–4–1
24 L November 30, 1976 2–6 Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 18–5–1
25 W December 1, 1976 5–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 19–5–1
26 L December 3, 1976 1–3 @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 19–6–1
27 T December 5, 1976 5–5 Washington Capitals (1976–77) 19–6–2
28 L December 9, 1976 1–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 19–7–2
29 L December 11, 1976 3–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 19–8–2
30 L December 12, 1976 3–5 Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 19–9–2
31 W December 16, 1976 5–2 St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 20–9–2
32 L December 18, 1976 4–6 @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 20–10–2
33 W December 19, 1976 6–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 21–10–2
34 L December 21, 1976 0–3 @ New York Islanders (1976–77) 21–11–2
35 T December 23, 1976 3–3 New York Rangers (1976–77) 21–11–3
36 W December 26, 1976 6–3 Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 22–11–3
37 W December 29, 1976 8–1 @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 23–11–3
38 L January 1, 1977 2–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 23–12–3
39 W January 5, 1977 3–2 @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 24–12–3
40 L January 8, 1977 1–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 24–13–3
41 W January 9, 1977 4–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 25–13–3
42 W January 11, 1977 3–2 @ Washington Capitals (1976–77) 26–13–3
43 W January 13, 1977 4–3 Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 27–13–3
44 T January 15, 1977 3–3 Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 27–13–4
45 W January 17, 1977 7–3 Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 28–13–4
46 L January 20, 1977 3–4 New York Islanders (1976–77) 28–14–4
47 W January 21, 1977 5–2 @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 29–14–4
48 W January 23, 1977 3–0 Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 30–14–4
49 L January 27, 1977 4–6 Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 30–15–4
50 T January 29, 1977 3–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 30–15–5
51 L January 30, 1977 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 30–16–5
52 T February 1, 1977 3–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 30–16–6
53 W February 3, 1977 5–4 St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 31–16–6
54 L February 4, 1977 3–6 @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 31–17–6
55 W February 6, 1977 5–2 Washington Capitals (1976–77) 32–17–6
56 L February 10, 1977 3–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 32–18–6
57 L February 12, 1977 3–8 @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 32–19–6
58 W February 13, 1977 4–2 Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 33–19–6
59 W February 16, 1977 7–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 34–19–6
60 L February 19, 1977 0–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 34–20–6
61 L February 23, 1977 1–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 34–21–6
62 W February 25, 1977 5–2 @ Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 35–21–6
63 T February 27, 1977 2–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 35–21–7
64 W March 1, 1977 8–3 Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 36–21–7
65 W March 3, 1977 4–1 @ New York Rangers (1976–77) 37–21–7
66 W March 5, 1977 3–1 Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 38–21–7
67 W March 6, 1977 6–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 39–21–7
68 W March 8, 1977 3–2 Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 40–21–7
69 W March 10, 1977 10–3 New York Rangers (1976–77) 41–21–7
70 W March 12, 1977 3–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 42–21–7
71 T March 13, 1977 2–2 Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 42–21–8
72 W March 17, 1977 4–2 Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 43–21–8
73 L March 21, 1977 1–5 Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 43–22–8
74 W March 23, 1977 6–0 @ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 44–22–8
75 L March 24, 1977 2–6 Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 44–23–8
76 W March 26, 1977 7–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 45–23–8
77 W March 27, 1977 3–0 Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 46–23–8
78 W March 30, 1977 4–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) 47–23–8
79 W April 2, 1977 5–3 @ New York Islanders (1976–77) 48–23–8
80 W April 3, 1977 7–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 49–23–8

Player statistics

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Regular season

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/− PPG SHG GWG
Jean Ratelle C 78 33 61 94 22 19 8 1 6
Peter McNab C 80 38 48 86 11 26 6 0 8
Gregg Sheppard C 77 31 36 67 20 3 8 1 5
Brad Park D 77 12 55 67 67 47 4 1 4
Terry O'Reilly RW 79 14 41 55 147 38 1 1 4
Bobby Schmautz RW 57 23 29 52 62 25 4 0 2
Wayne Cashman LW 65 15 37 52 76 4 3 0 3
Don Marcotte LW 80 27 18 45 20 28 3 1 5
John Bucyk LW 49 20 23 43 12 −2 6 0 2
Rick Middleton RW 72 20 22 42 2 2 0 0 1
Stan Jonathan LW 69 17 13 30 69 1 1 0 2
Matti Hagman C 75 11 17 28 0 6 1 0 0
Mike Milbury D 77 6 18 24 166 25 0 0 2
Rick Smith D 46 6 16 22 30 23 0 0 0
Dallas Smith D 58 2 20 22 40 16 0 0 0
Earl Anderson RW 40 10 11 21 4 4 1 0 3
Dave Forbes LW 73 9 11 20 47 13 0 2 1
Gary Doak D 76 3 13 16 107 15 0 0 0
Hank Nowak LW 24 7 5 12 14 4 0 0 1
John Wensink LW 23 4 6 10 32 5 0 0 0
Ray Maluta D 23 2 3 5 4 4 0 0 0
Doug Halward D 18 2 2 4 6 9 0 0 0
Gerry Cheevers G 45 0 4 4 46 0 0 0 0
Darryl Edestrand D 17 0 3 3 16 4 0 0 0
Gilles Gilbert G 34 0 1 1 15 0 0 0 0
Joe Zanussi D 8 0 1 1 8 1 0 0 0
Clayton Pachal C/LW 1 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0
Jim Pettie G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Al Sims D 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Gerry Cheevers 2700 45 30 10 5 137 3.04 3
Gilles Gilbert 2040 34 18 13 3 97 2.85 1
Jim Pettie 60 1 1 0 0 3 3.00 0
Team: 4800 80 49 23 8 237 2.96 4

Playoffs

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Jean Ratelle C 14 5 12 17 4 1 0 1
Bobby Schmautz RW 14 11 1 12 10 4 0 1
Gregg Sheppard C 14 5 7 12 8 1 1 2
Brad Park D 14 2 10 12 4 0 0 0
Don Marcotte LW 14 5 6 11 10 0 1 0
Terry O'Reilly RW 14 5 6 11 28 0 0 1
Rick Middleton RW 13 5 4 9 0 0 0 1
Wayne Cashman LW 14 1 8 9 18 0 0 0
Rick Smith D 14 0 9 9 14 0 0 0
Peter McNab C 14 5 3 8 2 2 0 0
Stan Jonathan LW 14 4 2 6 24 0 0 1
Mike Milbury D 13 2 2 4 47 0 0 1
John Wensink LW 13 0 3 3 8 0 0 0
Gary Doak D 14 0 2 2 26 0 0 0
Dave Forbes LW 14 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Matti Hagman C 8 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Earl Anderson RW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
John Bucyk LW 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gerry Cheevers G 14 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Darryl Edestrand D 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Gilles Gilbert G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Doug Halward D 6 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Al Sims D 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Gerry Cheevers 858 14 8 5 44 3.08 1
Gilles Gilbert 20 1 0 1 3 9.00 0
Team: 878 14 8 6 47 3.21 1

[3]

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;

Playoffs

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Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date Visitors Score Home Score Notes
May 7 Boston 3 Montreal 7
May 10 Boston 0 Montreal 3
May 12 Montreal 4 Boston 2
May 14 Montreal 2 Boston 1 OT

Montreal wins the series 4–0.

Guy Lafleur won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1976-77 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
  4. ^ Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009–10, p.424, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6