The 2009–10

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

season was the Bruins' 86th season in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). Their regular season began with a nationally-televised home game against the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

on October 1, 2009, and ended with a road game against the same Capitals team on April 11, 2010. The Bruins failed to defend their regular-season division and conference titles from the 2008–09 season.

Off-season

At the 2009 NHL entry draft, the Bruins chose Jordan Caron with their first-round pick, 25th overall. The NHL announced on July 15, 2009, that the Bruins would face the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

in the 2010 NHL Winter Classic on New Year's Day at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

. Due to salary cap constraints and free agent movement, general manager Peter Chiarelli made substantial changes to the Bruins' lineup in the offseason. Most notable was the trade of leading goalscorer

Phil Kessel Philip Joseph Kessel Jr. (born October 2, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey winger (ice hockey), winger who is an unrestricted free agent. Nicknamed "Phil the Thrill", he has previously played for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Lea ...

, who declined contract offers and was traded to the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

for three draft picks on September 18. Other departures included winger

P. J. Axelsson Anders Per-Johan Axelsson (born 26 February 1975), commonly abbreviated to P. J. Axelsson, is a Swedish people, Swedish former professional ice hockey forward, who most recently played with Frölunda HC of the Swedish Swedish Hockey L ...

—at 11 seasons, the longest tenured Bruin—center Stephane Yelle, defensemen Shane Hnidy and

Steve Montador Steven Richard "The Matador" Montador (December 21, 1979 – February 15, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey Defenceman (ice hockey), defenceman who played 571 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, Florida Pan ...

, and goaltender Manny Fernandez. These veteran players were considered expendable due to competition from younger, lower-paid players in the Bruins organization. Chiarelli entered the 2009 off-season with the goal of acquiring an offensive-minded defenseman, in part due to Boston's weakness in that area during the previous playoffs. On July 24, defenseman Derek Morris signed a one-year contract with the team. Gritty forward Steve Begin was also signed to provide forward depth. In goal, Fernandez was replaced with rookie

Tuukka Rask Tuukka Mikael Rask (born 10 March 1987) is a Finns, Finnish former professional ice hockey Goaltender (ice hockey), goaltender. Rask was drafted 21st overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs before being traded to the Boston ...

, who had spent several seasons playing in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL).

Pre-season

Regular season

The Bruins were slow to gain traction with their retooled roster, alternating wins and losses in the early weeks of the season. Chiarelli quickly dealt popular winger Chuck Kobasew to the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

, while penalty-killing expert

Daniel Paille Daniel Joseph Paille (born April 15, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He was originally drafted 20th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft and also played in the National Hockey League with th ...

was brought in from the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

in exchange for draft picks, a move that was interpreted as a sign of dissatisfaction with the team's productivity. In particular, the team struggled offensively in Kessel's absence. Having nearly finished first in scoring the previous season, the Bruins lingered near the bottom of the league in goal production. However, they were able to stay competitive due to their exceptional defense and strong goaltending tandem. While defending

Vezina Trophy The Vezina Trophy ( ) is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the thirty-two List of NHL general managers, NHL general managers vote to dete ...

winner Tim Thomas was recovering from an early injury, rookie netminder Tuukka Rask emerged as a potential

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving ...

candidate. A four-game winning streak in November set the Bruins back on course, and a 5–1–0 home record in December got them back into the divisional race by Christmas. Perhaps the most memorable game of the season was the

Winter Classic The NHL Winter Classic () is an annual NHL outdoor games, outdoor ice hockey game played during the National Hockey League's (NHL) regular season on or around New Year's Day. It is generally held in a American football, football or baseball stad ...

, which the Bruins hosted at

in Boston. Despite trailing for most of the game, the team rallied in the final moments and won in overtime before a large national audience. After the game, Thomas was announced as a member of the United States men's hockey team, joining five teammates (

Patrice Bergeron Patrice Bergeron-Cleary (born July 24, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre (ice hockey), centre who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League, all with the Boston Bruins. He served as Captain (sports), team captain f ...

, Zdeno Chara,

Marco Sturm Marco Johann Sturm (born September 8, 1978) is a German professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the List of NHL head coaches, head coach for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). As a Forward (ice hockey), forward, ...

, David Krejci and Miroslav Satan) who would represent various countries in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. The Bruins went on a long losing streak lasting from mid-January to just before the Olympic break. In the 81st game of the season, the Bruins scored three shorthanded goals in a span of 64 seconds. This outburst during a single penalty kill not only equaled their previous shorthanded goal total for the entire season, it was an NHL record for the fastest three shorthanded goals during a game. The 4–2 victory over the Hurricanes secured a playoff spot for the Bruins. The Bruins finished the regular season having scored 196 goals (excluding 10 shootout-winning goals), the fewest in the NHL. They were the most disciplined team in the League, with a league-low 37 power-play goals against.

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Game log

Playoffs

The Bruins clinched a playoff spot for the third consecutive season.

Playoff log

* Scorer of game-winning goal in ''italics'' * *Denotes if necessary

Player statistics

Skaters

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts =

Points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

; +/- =

Plus–minus Plus–minus, ±, +/−, or variants may refer to: * Plus–minus sign (±), a mathematical symbol which can mean either plus (+) or minus (−), or can indicate the uncertainty of a measurement or statistic * Plus–minus (sports), a sport ...

; PIM = Penalty minutes'' *^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Bruins. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only. *^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. *^(G)Denotes goaltender.

Goaltenders

''Note: GPI = Games Played In; MIN = Minutes played; GAA =

Goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots Against; GA = Goals against; SV% =

Save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various Goal (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...

Awards and records

Awards

On April 8, prior to the game against the

, the team announced its award winners for the season.

Milestones

On December 23, Claude Julien coached his 200th game for Boston, a 6–4 win over

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Transactions

The Bruins have been involved in the following transactions during the 2009–10 season. ;Trades ;Free agents acquired ;Free agents lost ;Player signings

Draft picks

Boston's picks at the 2009 NHL entry draft in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Farm teams

;

–

Providence Bruins The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Providence, Rhode Island. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Hi ...

( standings)

Notes

References

External links

2009–10 Boston Bruins season at ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 Boston Bruins season Boston Bruins seasons

Bruins Bruins