1977–78 Boston Bruins season

NHL team season March 2026 August 2023 NHL 1977–78 1977 Boston Bruins Wales 2nd Adams 1st 51–18–11 29–6–5 22–12–6 333 218 Harry Sinden Don Cherry Wayne Cashman None Boston Garden Peter McNab (41) Terry O'Reilly (61) Terry O'Reilly (90) Terry O'Reilly (211) Ron Grahame (26) Gilles Gilbert (2.53) Yes 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. 2 Offseason NHL draft Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team116Dwight Foster (RW)CanadaKitchener Rangers (OHA)234Dave Parro (G) Canada Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)352Mike Forbes (D) Canada St. Catharines Fincups (OMJHL)470Brian McGregor (RW) Canada Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)588Doug Butler (D) Canada Saint Louis University (CCHA)6106Keith Johnson (D) Canada Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)7122Ralph Cox (RW) United States University of New Hampshire (ECAC)8138Mario Claude (D) Canada 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.https://www.nhl.com/bruins/news/1977-78-bruins-are-a-group-to-remember-295962238 1977-78 Bruins Are a Group to Rememberhttps://www.nhl.com/news/boston-bruins-honor-scorers-from-1977-78-nhl-season-295915750 Bruins honor 11 20-goal scorers from 1977-78 seasonNational Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.174, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 0-920445-98-5 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 BOS Record vs. opponents BOS Schedule and results background:#fff; border-top:#010101 5px solid; border-bottom:#FFB81C 5px solid; 1977–78 regular season1977-78 Boston Bruins Schedule https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/BOS/1978_games.html Hockey-Reference.com April 3, 2025 y background:#fff; border-top:#010101 2px solid; border-bottom:#FFB81C 2px solid; October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |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 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#010101 2px solid; border-bottom:#FFB81C 2px solid; November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |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 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#010101 2px solid; border-bottom:#FFB81C 2px solid; December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |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 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#010101 2px solid; border-bottom:#FFB81C 2px solid; January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |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 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#010101 2px solid; border-bottom:#FFB81C 2px solid; February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |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 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#010101 2px solid; border-bottom:#FFB81C 2px solid; March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |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 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#010101 2px solid; border-bottom:#FFB81C 2px solid; April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |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: #cfc Win (2 points) 1px solid black #fcc Loss (0 points) 1px solid black #ffc Tie (1 point) 1px solid black 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 Terry O'Reilly RW 77 29 61 90 21140504 Jean Ratelle C 80 25 59 84 1049305 Peter McNab C 79 41 39 80 435505 Brad Park D 80 22 57 79 7968903 Wayne Cashman LW 76 24 38 62 6934102 Rick Middleton RW 79 25 35 60 840206 Gregg Sheppard C 54 23 36 59 2419517 Bobby Schmautz RW 54 27 27 54 8724436 Don Marcotte LW 77 20 34 54 1632420 Stan Jonathan LW 68 27 25 52 11634002 Bob Miller Bob Miller (ice hockey) C 76 20 20 40 4116114 Mike Milbury D 80 8 30 38 15152000 John Wensink LW 80 16 20 36 18123103 Rick Smith Rick Smith (ice hockey) D 79 7 29 36 6970000 John Bucyk LW 53 5 13 18 4−2500 Gary Doak D 61 4 13 17 5037102 Al Sims D 43 2 8 10 611001 Matti Hagman C 15 4 1 5 2−1301 Dennis O'Brien Dennis O'Brien (ice hockey) D 16 2 3 5 296000 Mike Forbes D 32 0 4 4 15−5000 Dwight Foster Dwight Foster (ice hockey) RW 14 2 1 3 61000 Doug Halward D 25 0 2 2 21000 Gerry Cheevers G 21 0 1 1 140000 Gilles Gilbert G 25 0 1 1 80000 Ron Grahame G 40 0 1 1 00000 Darryl Edestrand D 1 0 0 0 0−1000 Steve Langdon Steve Langdon (ice hockey) LW 2 0 0 0 0−1000 Clayton Pachal C/LW 10 0 0 0 14−1000 Jim Pettie G 1 0 0 0 60000 Sean Shanahan C/RW 6 0 0 0 7−1000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO Ron Grahame 2328 40 26 6 7 107 2.76 3 Gilles Gilbert 1326 25 15 6 2 56 2.53 2 Gerry Cheevers 1086 21 10 5 2 48 2.65 1 Jim Pettie 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 Brad Park D 15 9 11 20 14400 Peter McNab C 15 8 11 19 2002 Bobby Schmautz RW 15 7 8 15 11201 Terry O'Reilly RW 15 5 10 15 40101 Gregg Sheppard C 15 2 10 12 6000 Wayne Cashman LW 15 4 6 10 13302 Jean Ratelle C 15 3 7 10 0000 Don Marcotte LW 15 5 4 9 8101 Mike Milbury D 15 1 8 9 27000 Rick Middleton RW 15 5 2 7 0002 Rick Smith Rick Smith (ice hockey) D 15 1 5 6 18000 John Wensink LW 15 2 2 4 54000 Bob Miller Bob Miller (ice hockey) C 13 0 3 3 15000 Gary Doak D 12 1 0 1 4001 Stan Jonathan LW 15 0 1 1 36000 Dennis O'Brien Dennis O'Brien (ice hockey) D 14 0 1 1 28000 Gerry Cheevers G 12 0 0 0 6000 Ron Grahame G 4 0 0 0 0000 Al Sims D 8 0 0 0 0000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LGAGAA SO Gerry Cheevers 731 12 8 4 35 2.87 1 Ron Grahame 202 4 2 1 7 2.08 0 Team: 933 15 10 5 42 2.70 1 hockey-reference.com 2009-06-09 1977-78 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/BOS/1978.html 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, 0-920445-98-5 Brad Park, Defenceman, NHL First Team All-Star References Bruins on Hockey Database Category:Boston Bruins seasons Boston Bruins Category:Adams Division champion seasons Boston Bruins Boston Bruins Bruins Bruins