Bruins Centennial | Top 10 Moments from 1960-76

BOSTON – This is when the Bruins – and hockey – became a dominating force in New England. With the arrival of Bobby Orr in the mid-1960s, the Black & Gold began to take over the Boston sports scene and added two Stanley Cup titles to the team’s history.

And on Saturday night, the Bruins will celebrate this legendary group during Big Bad Bruins Era Night at TD Garden.

Here are some of the most important Bruins moments from 1960-76:

September 3, 1966 | Bobby Orr Signs Two-Year Deal with Bruins

The phenom inked his deal with Boston at 2:30 in the morning on Labor Day while aboard Bruins general manager Hap Emm’s yacht on Lake Ontario. The two-year pact was worth $85,000.

Orr had originally been discovered on March 31, 1961 when GM Milt Schmidt, chairman Weston Adams Sr., and scout Wren Blair headed to Gananoque, Ontario, to scout bantam players Rick Eaton and Doug Higgins. Instead, their attention was garnered by the 13-year-old Orr. The Bruins signed Orr to an NHL C Form the following year.

October 19, 1966 |Orr Makes NHL Debut, Wins Calder Trophy

Roughly six weeks later, the native of Parry Sound, Ontario, made his Bruins debut – on the same night that Harry Sinden coached his first game behind the bench – as Boston defeated the Red Wings, 6-2, for their first Opening Night victory since 1962.

While Boston missed the playoffs that season, Orr captured the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie with 41 points (13 goals, 28 assists) in 61 games.

December 2, 1966 | Johnny Bucyk Surpasses Milt Schmidt's Team Goals Record

Johnny Bucyk scored twice during a 4-4 tie with the Blackhawks – the 230^th and 231^st of his career – to surpass Milt Schmidt as the club’s all-time goals leader. He ended his Bruins career with 545 goals, which remains the team record.

May 15, 1967 | Esposito, Hodge, Stanfield Acquired via Trade with Chicago

It remains one of the biggest trades in Boston sports history, as the Bruins acquired forwards Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, and Fred Stanfield from the Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Gilles Marcotte, forward Pit Martin, and goalie Jack Norris.

The deal helped turn Boston into a powerhouse as Esposito morphed into the league’s most prolific goal scorer, eclipsing 120 points in six of his eight full seasons with the club and  twice capturing the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top points scorer. He led the NHL in goals in six straight seasons and won the Hart Trophy as league MVP twice in 1969 and 1974.

Hodge, who remains in the club’s top 10 for goals (ninth) and points (10^th), and Stanfield also became integral piece to the Bruins’ championship puzzle.

March 2, 1969 | Esposito Becomes First Player in League History with 100 Points

The centerman made NHL history with two goals in a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

May 10, 1970 | Orr Soars as Bruins Clinch Stanley Cup vs. St. Louis

The blue liner notched the most famous goal in Bruins history with the winner at 40 seconds of overtime to give the Bruins a 4-3 victory in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final vs. St. Louis Blues, the fourth Stanley Cup in their history.

It was also their 10th straight playoff victory, a then-NHL record.

Esposito finished the postseason with then-NHL records for playoff goals (13) and points (27), while Orr set a then-NHL playoff record for points by a defenseman with 20.

1970 | Orr Becomes First NHLer to Sweep NHL’s Major Awards

The legendary blue liner took home the Art Ross Trophy (leading scorer), Hart Trophy (league MVP), Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP), and Norris Trophy (best defenseman) during the 1969-70 campaign, becoming the first NHLer to sweep the quartet of major awards.

May 11, 1972 | Bruins Clinch Fifth Stanley Cup vs. New York Rangers

The Bruins won the Stanley Cup for a fifth time and the second time in three years with a 3-0 victory at the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Final. After finishing as the top team in the East Division, the B's beat Toronto and St. Louis in the first two rounds, before taking down the rival Blue Shirts. In the clinching Game 6 win, Gerry Cheevers secured the shutout, while Wayne Cashman scored twice and Orr notched a goal and assist.

November 15, 1973 | Orr Sets Single-Game Record with 7 Points

Orr set a then-NHL record for points in a game by a defenseman with three goals and four assists in a 10-2 Boston win over the New York Rangers. The seven-point game remains a club record. All three goals were scored on the power play.

December 19, 1974 | Bruins Score Five Goals in 2:55 to Set Club Record

In an 11-3 victory over the New York Rangers, Phil Esposito tied a club record for points in a game with a three-goal, four-assist performance for seven points. The Bruins, meanwhile, set a club record for the fastest five goals in a game, scoring five times in a 2:55 span of the first (Bobby Schmautz, 19:13) and second periods (Hodge, 0:18; Esposito, 0:43; Don Marcotte, 0:58; Bucyk, 2:08). It was the third-fastest five-goal output in NHL history.

Honorable Mention

October 11, 1967 | Gerry Cheevers Wears Mask for First Time: The Hall of Fame netminder donned his iconic helmet for the first time in a game during a 4-4 tie against the Detroit Red Wings. The white mask with painted-on stitches became a part of hockey history – and a popular photo in bars across New England.

October 10, 1974 | Don Cherry Takes Over Behind the B’s Bench: The eclectic bench boss – whose only NHL game was a postseason contest with Boston in 1954-55 – took the reins and set the tone for a memorable era of Bruins hockey. The B’s finished in second place in the Adams Division (40-26-14) during his first season, before taking first place the following year (48-15-17) and advancing all the way to the Stanley Cup semifinals. Cherry won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 1975-76.

August 1975 | Jacobs Family Acquires Club: After almost 25 years of being owned by the Boston Garden-Arena Corporation and then Storer Broadcasting – which had followed 27 years of ownership by the Adams Family – the Bruins were purchased by businessman Jeremy Jacobs, who remains Owner and Chairman of the club.

Information from “Boston Bruins: Celebrating 75 Years” was used in this report.