The 2010–11 Boston Bruins season was the 87th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on November 1, 1924. The Bruins were the winners of the 2011 Stanley Cup, winning their first championship in 39 years.
Off-season At the 2010 NHL entry draft in Los Angeles, California, Boston selected Tyler Seguin with their first-round pick, second overall. A week earlier, on June 16, 2010, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs and principal Charlie Jacobs announced that Cam Neely had been named president of the Boston Bruins. Neely, a former player and 2005 Hall of Fame inductee, became the eighth president in club history.
The Bruins sought to "tweak the composition" during the off-season, trading puck-moving defenseman Dennis Wideman to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Nathan Horton.B's Acquire Horton, Campbell
The Reading Royals, Boston's affiliate within the ECHL, renewed their relationship during the off-season.Boston Renews Affiliation with Reading This marked the second year the organizations shared affiliation, with the Royals playing host to several Bruins prospects including goaltender Matt Dalton and defenseman Rob Kwiet.
Pre-season On June 21, 2010, the Bruins announced their seven-game pre-season schedule.Bruins Release Preseason Schedule Closing out the schedule were two exhibition matches, the first in Belfast, Northern Ireland, against the Belfast Giants Select, a unified team composed of an All-Star selection of the best EIHL players from each team. The Bruins went on to beat the Giants Select 5–1 after being held scoreless for the first period. Rookie star Tyler Seguin scored a pair of goals. The Bruins then faced off against Bili Tygri Liberec of the Czech Extraliga in their final pre-season match, with veteran Patrice Bergeron putting on a five-point display that included two breakaway goals in a 7–1 victory for the Bruins.
Regular season As part of the 2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Games, the Bruins began their season on Saturday, October 9, playing against the Phoenix Coyotes at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.Bruins to Open 2010-11 NHL Season in Prague There they split their two games with the Coyotes. The Bruins spent much of the months of October, November and December playing well but slightly behind the Montreal Canadiens for first-place in the division before passing the Canadiens on December 27 with a 3–2 shootout win over the Florida Panthers. Play during this time was highlighted by excellent play for goaltender Tim Thomas, who started the season as a backup but had five shutouts by the middle of December, and by Milan Lucic's excellent offensive production, including his first natural hat-trick on November 18. In January, the Bruins continued to hold first-place in the division, aided at one point by hat-tricks from Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara on January 11 and January 17, respectively. The Bruins started February with fight-filled wins against the Dallas Stars, whom they beat 6–3, and the Canadiens, against whom they picked up their first win of the season on their fourth try by a score of 8–6. The Bruins then hit a three-game losing streak, but recovered to string together a seven-game winning streak that stretched into March. The first six wins of the streak were on the road, including a 3–1 win in the Bruins' only game of the regular season against the Vancouver Canucks, which led the NHL at that time for points and would eventually win the Presidents' Trophy. After the streak, the Bruins would go on to lose six of their next seven games, including a 4–1 loss to their rivals, the Canadiens, in which team captain Zdeno Chara was nearly suspended for a hit on Max Pacioretty. They nonetheless managed five points during this time, as three of their losses came in overtime. Following this lapse, the Bruins responded with a win over the New Jersey Devils and a 7–0 win in their last game of the regular season against the Montreal Canadiens. Two games later, the Bruins clinched a playoff spot with a 2–1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. In the next game, Tim Thomas picked up his ninth shutout of the season. Two games later, in their first game in April, the Bruins clinched the Northeast Division with a 3–2 win in their last ever game against the Atlanta Thrashers, who were set to relocate to Winnipeg for the next season.
The Bruins tied the New York Rangers for the most shutouts for, with 11.
Standings
Schedule and results
Pre-season 2010 Pre-season # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Record Recap 1 September 22 Boston Bruins 4–2 Montreal Canadiens Tuukka Rask 1–0–0 2 September 23 Boston Bruins 2–3 Florida Panthers Nolan Schaefer 1–1–0 3 September 25 Florida Panthers 3–2 Boston Bruins SO Tuukka Rask 1–1–1 4 September 28 Boston Bruins 2–3 Washington Capitals Nolan Schaefer 1–2–1 5 September 29 Washington Capitals 4–1 Boston Bruins Tim Thomas 1–3–1 6 October 2 Boston Bruins 5–1 Belfast Giants Select Tuukka Rask 2–3–1 7 October 5 Boston Bruins 7–1 HC Liberec Tim Thomas 3–3–1 Match played at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. Match played at Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland, home of the Belfast Giants.
Regular season