1977–78 Boston Bruins season

The 1977–78 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 54th season in the NHL. The Bruins advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight season only to be defeated again by their rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. The season featured the memorable moment of John Wensink challenging the entire Minnesota North Stars bench to a fight during a December contest.

Offseason

NHL draft Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team116Dwight Foster (RW)Kitchener Rangers (OHA)234Dave Parro (G) Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)352Mike Forbes (D) St. Catharines Fincups (OMJHL)470Brian McGregor (RW) Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)588Doug Butler (D) Saint Louis University (CCHA)6106Keith Johnson (D) Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)7122Ralph Cox (RW) University of New Hampshire (ECAC)8138Mario Claude (D) Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)

Regular season The 1977–78 Bruins set an NHL record (unbroken as of 2025) by having 11 different skaters score 20 goals or more in a season.National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.174, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, The eleven skaters are: Peter McNab Terry O'Reilly Bobby Schmautz Stan Jonathan Jean Ratelle Rick Middleton Wayne Cashman Gregg Sheppard Brad Park Don Marcotte Bob Miller

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||T||October 13, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1977–78) ||0–0–1

|2||L||October 15, 1977||1–3 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1977–78) ||0–1–1

|3||L||October 16, 1977||0–2 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) ||0–2–1

|4||W||October 19, 1977||7–3 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1977–78) ||1–2–1

|5||W||October 22, 1977||4–3 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) ||2–2–1

|6||T||October 23, 1977||3–3 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) ||2–2–2

|7||T||October 25, 1977||4–4 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1977–78) ||2–2–3

|8||L||October 26, 1977||0–3 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) ||2–3–3

|9||W||October 29, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) ||3–3–3

|10||L||November 3, 1977||1–4 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) ||3–4–3

|11||L||November 5, 1977||2–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) ||3–5–3

|12||W||November 6, 1977||5–3 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1977–78) ||4–5–3

|13||W||November 10, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) ||5–5–3

|14||W||November 12, 1977||6–3 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1977–78) ||6–5–3

|15||W||November 13, 1977||3–1 || align="left"| Cleveland Barons (1977–78) ||7–5–3

|16||T||November 17, 1977||4–4 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) ||7–5–4

|17||W||November 19, 1977||3–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) ||8–5–4

|18||W||November 20, 1977||1–0 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) ||9–5–4

|19||W||November 23, 1977||2–0 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) ||10–5–4

|20||W||November 24, 1977||6–0 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1977–78) ||11–5–4

|21||W||November 26, 1977||3–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1977–78) ||12–5–4

|22||W||November 27, 1977||4–1 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1977–78) ||13–5–4

|23||W||December 1, 1977||4–2 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) ||14–5–4

|24||T||December 3, 1977||4–4 || align="left"| @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) ||14–5–5

|25||W||December 4, 1977||3–1 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) ||15–5–5

|26||W||December 8, 1977||6–4 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) ||16–5–5

|27||W||December 10, 1977||6–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) ||17–5–5

|28||W||December 11, 1977||8–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1977–78) ||18–5–5

|29||L||December 15, 1977||4–6 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) ||18–6–5

|30||L||December 17, 1977||1–4 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1977–78) ||18–7–5

|31||W||December 18, 1977||2–1 || align="left"| Cleveland Barons (1977–78) ||19–7–5

|32||W||December 21, 1977||6–3 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1977–78) ||20–7–5

|33||W||December 23, 1977||6–1 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) ||21–7–5

|34||W||December 27, 1977||6–3 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1977–78) ||22–7–5

|35||T||December 28, 1977||5–5 || align="left"| @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) ||22–7–6

|36||W||December 31, 1977||7–0 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) ||23–7–6

|37||W||January 4, 1978||3–0 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) ||24–7–6

|38||W||January 7, 1978||3–1 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) ||25–7–6

|39||L||January 8, 1978||3–5 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) ||25–8–6

|40||L||January 10, 1978||2–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1977–78) ||25–9–6

|41||W||January 12, 1978||6–1 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) ||26–9–6

|42||L||January 14, 1978||3–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) ||26–10–6

|43||W||January 19, 1978||4–1 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1977–78) ||27–10–6

|44||W||January 21, 1978||7–1 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) ||28–10–6

|45||L||January 22, 1978||2–3 || align="left"| Cleveland Barons (1977–78) ||28–11–6

|46||W||January 26, 1978||4–3 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1977–78) ||29–11–6

|47||W||January 27, 1978||5–2 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1977–78) ||30–11–6

|48||W||January 29, 1978||8–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) ||31–11–6

|49||W||February 1, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1977–78) ||32–11–6

|50||L||February 2, 1978||1–3 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) ||32–12–6

|51||W||February 4, 1978||8–1 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) ||33–12–6

|52||T||February 5, 1978||3–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) ||33–12–7

|53||W||February 9, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) ||34–12–7

|54||W||February 15, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) ||35–12–7

|55||L||February 18, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) ||35–13–7

|56||W||February 21, 1978||3–2 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1977–78) ||36–13–7

|57||W||February 22, 1978||6–4 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) ||37–13–7

|58||W||February 25, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) ||38–13–7

|59||T||February 28, 1978||4–4 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) ||38–13–8

|60||W||March 2, 1978||4–3 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1977–78) ||39–13–8

|61||W||March 4, 1978||7–3 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) ||40–13–8

|62||W||March 5, 1978||6–3 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) ||41–13–8

|63||W||March 7, 1978||7–2 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1977–78) ||42–13–8

|64||T||March 9, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) ||42–13–9

|65||L||March 11, 1978||2–6 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) ||42–14–9

|66||W||March 12, 1978||9–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) ||43–14–9

|67||W||March 16, 1978||7–2 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) ||44–14–9

|68||W||March 18, 1978||6–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1977–78) ||45–14–9

|69||W||March 19, 1978||6–4 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) ||46–14–9

|70||W||March 21, 1978||5–3 || align="left"| @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) ||47–14–9

|71||W||March 23, 1978||7–0 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) ||48–14–9

|72||L||March 25, 1978||3–6 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1977–78) ||48–15–9

|73||T||March 26, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) ||48–15–10

|74||T||March 28, 1978||4–4 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1977–78) ||48–15–11

|75||W||March 30, 1978||6–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) ||49–15–11

|76||L||April 1, 1978||1–7 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) ||49–16–11

|77||W||April 2, 1978||8–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1977–78) ||50–16–11

|78||L||April 6, 1978||2–5 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) ||50–17–11

|79||W||April 8, 1978||3–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) ||51–17–11

|80||L||April 9, 1978||2–5 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1977–78) ||51–18–11

Legend:

Season summary December 1: Following a fight with Alex Pirus, John Wensink skates over to the Minnesota bench and challenges the entire team but no player responds.

Player statistics

Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG RW 77 29 61 90 21140504 C 80 25 59 84 1049305 C 79 41 39 80 435505 D 80 22 57 79 7968903 LW 76 24 38 62 6934102 RW 79 25 35 60 840206 C 54 23 36 59 2419517 RW 54 27 27 54 8724436 LW 77 20 34 54 1632420 LW 68 27 25 52 11634002 C 76 20 20 40 4116114 D 80 8 30 38 15152000 LW 80 16 20 36 18123103 D 79 7 29 36 6970000 LW 53 5 13 18 4−2500 D 61 4 13 17 5037102 D 43 2 8 10 611001 C 15 4 1 5 2−1301 D 16 2 3 5 296000 D 32 0 4 4 15−5000 RW 14 2 1 3 61000 D 25 0 2 2 21000 G 21 0 1 1 140000 G 25 0 1 1 80000 G 40 0 1 1 00000 D 1 0 0 0 0−1000 LW 2 0 0 0 0−1000 C/LW 10 0 0 0 14−1000 G 1 0 0 0 60000 C/RW 6 0 0 0 7−1000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 2328 40 26 6 7 107 2.76 3 1326 25 15 6 2 56 2.53 2 1086 21 10 5 2 48 2.65 1 60 1 0 1 0 6 6.00 0 Team: 4800 80 51 18 11 217 2.71 6

Playoffs Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG D 15 9 11 20 14400 C 15 8 11 19 2002 RW 15 7 8 15 11201 RW 15 5 10 15 40101 C 15 2 10 12 6000 LW 15 4 6 10 13302 C 15 3 7 10 0000 LW 15 5 4 9 8101 D 15 1 8 9 27000 RW 15 5 2 7 0002 D 15 1 5 6 18000 LW 15 2 2 4 54000 C 13 0 3 3 15000 D 12 1 0 1 4001 LW 15 0 1 1 36000 D 14 0 1 1 28000 G 12 0 0 0 6000 G 4 0 0 0 0000 D 8 0 0 0 0000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LGAGAA SO 731 12 8 4 35 2.87 1 202 4 2 1 7 2.08 0 Team: 933 15 10 5 42 2.70 1

Playoffs

Stanley Cup finals Date Visitors Score Home Score NotesMay 13 Boston 1 Montreal 4 May 16 Boston 2 Montreal 3 OTMay 18 Montreal0Boston 4 May 21 Montreal3 Boston 4 OTMay 23 Boston 1 Montreal 4 May 25 Montreal 4Boston 1

Montreal wins the series 4–2.

Larry Robinson won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Awards and records Don Cherry, Runner-Up, Jack Adams TrophyNational Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 222, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, Brad Park, Defenceman, NHL First Team All-Star

References Bruins on Hockey Database