1976–77 Boston Bruins season

1976–77 Boston Bruins
Adams Division champions
Division	1st Adams
1976–77 record	49–23–8
Goals for	312
Goals against	240
Team information
General manager	Harry Sinden
Coach	Don Cherry
Captain	Johnny Bucyk
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Boston Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Peter McNab (38)
Assists	Jean Ratelle (61)
Points	Jean Ratelle (94)
Wins	Gilles Gilbert (18)
Goals against average	Gilles Gilbert (2.85)

The 1976–77 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 53rd season in the NHL. The season involved participating in the Stanley Cup finals.

Offseason

NHL Draft

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team
1	16	Clayton Pachal (C)	Canada	New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
2	34	Lorry Gloeckner (D)	Canada	Victoria Cougars (WCHL)
4	70	Bob Miller (C)	United States	Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
5	88	Peter Vandemark (LW)	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
6	106	Ted Olson (LW)	Canada	Calgary Centennials (WCHL)

Regular season

Season standings

Adams Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Boston Bruins	80	49	23	8	312	240	106
Buffalo Sabres	80	48	24	8	301	220	104
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	33	32	15	301	285	81
Cleveland Barons	80	25	42	13	240	292	63

^[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Adams Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference Vs. Campbell Conference Vs. Adams Division 1976–77 NHL records[2] Team BOS BUF CLE TOR Total Boston — 3–3 5–1 3–2–1 11–6–1 Buffalo 3–3 — 5–1 5–0–1 13–4–1 Cleveland 1–5 1–5 — 2–4 4–14–0 Toronto 2–3–1 0–5–1 4–2 — 6–10–1 Vs. Norris Division 1976–77 NHL records Team DET LAK MTL PIT WSH Total Boston 4–1 2–2–1 3–2 3–1–1 4–0–1 16–6–3 Buffalo 4–1 3–2 2–2–1 0–4–1 4–1 13–10–2 Cleveland 2–3 1–2–2 0–5 0–3–2 5–0 8–13–4 Toronto 3–1–1 2–1–2 1–2–2 1–2–2 2–3 9–9–7 Vs. Patrick Division 1976–77 NHL records Team ATL NYI NYR PHI Total Boston 2–2 1–2–1 4–0–1 1–3 8–7–2 Buffalo 2–1–1 1–3–1 4–0 2–2 9–6–2 Cleveland 2–1–1 0–3–1 0–3–1 1–3–1 3–10–4 Toronto 4–1 2–1–1 1–2–1 1–2–1 8–6–3 Vs. Smythe Division 1976–77 NHL records Team CHI COL MIN STL VAN Total Boston 4–0 3–1 1–2–1 2–1–1 4–0 14–4–2 Buffalo 3–1 3–0–1 2–1–1 2–2 3–0–1 13–4–3 Cleveland 3–1 2–1–1 1–1–2 2–1–1 2–1–1 10–5–5 Toronto 1–2–1 2–1–1 3–1 2–2 2–1–1 10–7–3

Schedule and results

Regular season schedule

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 7, 1976	6–2	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	1–0–0
2	L	October 9, 1976	5–7	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	1–1–0
3	W	October 10, 1976	4–3	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	2–1–0
4	W	October 13, 1976	5–1	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	3–1–0
5	W	October 15, 1976	5–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	4–1–0
6	W	October 17, 1976	5–3	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	5–1–0
7	L	October 19, 1976	5–6	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	5–2–0
8	W	October 20, 1976	2–1	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	6–2–0
9	W	October 23, 1976	4–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	7–2–0
10	W	October 27, 1976	4–3	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	8–2–0
11	W	October 30, 1976	4–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	9–2–0
12	L	October 31, 1976	1–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	9–3–0
13	W	November 4, 1976	7–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	10–3–0
14	W	November 7, 1976	3–1	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	11–3–0
15	W	November 10, 1976	6–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	12–3–0
16	T	November 11, 1976	2–2	New York Islanders (1976–77)	12–3–1
17	W	November 14, 1976	5–3	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	13–3–1
18	W	November 18, 1976	3–2	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	14–3–1
19	W	November 19, 1976	4–1	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	15–3–1
20	W	November 21, 1976	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	16–3–1
21	W	November 24, 1976	4–0	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	17–3–1
22	W	November 25, 1976	4–2	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	18–3–1
23	L	November 27, 1976	2–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	18–4–1
24	L	November 30, 1976	2–6	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	18–5–1
25	W	December 1, 1976	5–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	19–5–1
26	L	December 3, 1976	1–3	@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	19–6–1
27	T	December 5, 1976	5–5	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	19–6–2
28	L	December 9, 1976	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	19–7–2
29	L	December 11, 1976	3–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	19–8–2
30	L	December 12, 1976	3–5	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	19–9–2
31	W	December 16, 1976	5–2	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	20–9–2
32	L	December 18, 1976	4–6	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	20–10–2
33	W	December 19, 1976	6–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	21–10–2
34	L	December 21, 1976	0–3	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	21–11–2
35	T	December 23, 1976	3–3	New York Rangers (1976–77)	21–11–3
36	W	December 26, 1976	6–3	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	22–11–3
37	W	December 29, 1976	8–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	23–11–3
38	L	January 1, 1977	2–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	23–12–3
39	W	January 5, 1977	3–2	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	24–12–3
40	L	January 8, 1977	1–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	24–13–3
41	W	January 9, 1977	4–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	25–13–3
42	W	January 11, 1977	3–2	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	26–13–3
43	W	January 13, 1977	4–3	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	27–13–3
44	T	January 15, 1977	3–3	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	27–13–4
45	W	January 17, 1977	7–3	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	28–13–4
46	L	January 20, 1977	3–4	New York Islanders (1976–77)	28–14–4
47	W	January 21, 1977	5–2	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	29–14–4
48	W	January 23, 1977	3–0	Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	30–14–4
49	L	January 27, 1977	4–6	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	30–15–4
50	T	January 29, 1977	3–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	30–15–5
51	L	January 30, 1977	2–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	30–16–5
52	T	February 1, 1977	3–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	30–16–6
53	W	February 3, 1977	5–4	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	31–16–6
54	L	February 4, 1977	3–6	@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	31–17–6
55	W	February 6, 1977	5–2	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	32–17–6
56	L	February 10, 1977	3–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	32–18–6
57	L	February 12, 1977	3–8	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	32–19–6
58	W	February 13, 1977	4–2	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	33–19–6
59	W	February 16, 1977	7–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	34–19–6
60	L	February 19, 1977	0–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	34–20–6
61	L	February 23, 1977	1–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	34–21–6
62	W	February 25, 1977	5–2	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	35–21–6
63	T	February 27, 1977	2–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	35–21–7
64	W	March 1, 1977	8–3	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	36–21–7
65	W	March 3, 1977	4–1	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	37–21–7
66	W	March 5, 1977	3–1	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	38–21–7
67	W	March 6, 1977	6–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	39–21–7
68	W	March 8, 1977	3–2	Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	40–21–7
69	W	March 10, 1977	10–3	New York Rangers (1976–77)	41–21–7
70	W	March 12, 1977	3–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	42–21–7
71	T	March 13, 1977	2–2	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	42–21–8
72	W	March 17, 1977	4–2	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	43–21–8
73	L	March 21, 1977	1–5	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	43–22–8
74	W	March 23, 1977	6–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	44–22–8
75	L	March 24, 1977	2–6	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	44–23–8
76	W	March 26, 1977	7–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	45–23–8
77	W	March 27, 1977	3–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	46–23–8
78	W	March 30, 1977	4–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	47–23–8
79	W	April 2, 1977	5–3	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	48–23–8
80	W	April 3, 1977	7–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	49–23–8

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/−	PPG	SHG	GWG
Jean Ratelle	C	78	33	61	94	22	19	8	1	6
Peter McNab	C	80	38	48	86	11	26	6	0	8
Gregg Sheppard	C	77	31	36	67	20	3	8	1	5
Brad Park	D	77	12	55	67	67	47	4	1	4
Terry O'Reilly	RW	79	14	41	55	147	38	1	1	4
Bobby Schmautz	RW	57	23	29	52	62	25	4	0	2
Wayne Cashman	LW	65	15	37	52	76	4	3	0	3
Don Marcotte	LW	80	27	18	45	20	28	3	1	5
John Bucyk	LW	49	20	23	43	12	−2	6	0	2
Rick Middleton	RW	72	20	22	42	2	2	0	0	1
Stan Jonathan	LW	69	17	13	30	69	1	1	0	2
Matti Hagman	C	75	11	17	28	0	6	1	0	0
Mike Milbury	D	77	6	18	24	166	25	0	0	2
Rick Smith	D	46	6	16	22	30	23	0	0	0
Dallas Smith	D	58	2	20	22	40	16	0	0	0
Earl Anderson	RW	40	10	11	21	4	4	1	0	3
Dave Forbes	LW	73	9	11	20	47	13	0	2	1
Gary Doak	D	76	3	13	16	107	15	0	0	0
Hank Nowak	LW	24	7	5	12	14	4	0	0	1
John Wensink	LW	23	4	6	10	32	5	0	0	0
Ray Maluta	D	23	2	3	5	4	4	0	0	0
Doug Halward	D	18	2	2	4	6	9	0	0	0
Gerry Cheevers	G	45	0	4	4	46	0	0	0	0
Darryl Edestrand	D	17	0	3	3	16	4	0	0	0
Gilles Gilbert	G	34	0	1	1	15	0	0	0	0
Joe Zanussi	D	8	0	1	1	8	1	0	0	0
Clayton Pachal	C/LW	1	0	0	0	12	0	0	0	0
Jim Pettie	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Al Sims	D	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Gerry Cheevers	2700	45	30	10	5	137	3.04	3
Gilles Gilbert	2040	34	18	13	3	97	2.85	1
Jim Pettie	60	1	1	0	0	3	3.00	0
Team:	4800	80	49	23	8	237	2.96	4

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Jean Ratelle	C	14	5	12	17	4	1	0	1
Bobby Schmautz	RW	14	11	1	12	10	4	0	1
Gregg Sheppard	C	14	5	7	12	8	1	1	2
Brad Park	D	14	2	10	12	4	0	0	0
Don Marcotte	LW	14	5	6	11	10	0	1	0
Terry O'Reilly	RW	14	5	6	11	28	0	0	1
Rick Middleton	RW	13	5	4	9	0	0	0	1
Wayne Cashman	LW	14	1	8	9	18	0	0	0
Rick Smith	D	14	0	9	9	14	0	0	0
Peter McNab	C	14	5	3	8	2	2	0	0
Stan Jonathan	LW	14	4	2	6	24	0	0	1
Mike Milbury	D	13	2	2	4	47	0	0	1
John Wensink	LW	13	0	3	3	8	0	0	0
Gary Doak	D	14	0	2	2	26	0	0	0
Dave Forbes	LW	14	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Matti Hagman	C	8	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Earl Anderson	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Bucyk	LW	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gerry Cheevers	G	14	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Darryl Edestrand	D	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Gilles Gilbert	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Doug Halward	D	6	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Al Sims	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Gerry Cheevers	858	14	8	5	44	3.08	1
Gilles Gilbert	20	1	0	1	3	9.00	0
Team:	878	14	8	6	47	3.21	1

^[3]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Playoffs

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Visitors	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 7	Boston	3	Montreal	7
May 10	Boston	0	Montreal	3
May 12	Montreal	4	Boston	2
May 14	Montreal	2	Boston	1	OT

Montreal wins the series 4–0.

Guy Lafleur won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Awards and honors

• John Bucyk, Lester Patrick Trophy^[4]

References

• Bruins on Hockey Database

1. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
2. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
3. "1976-77 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
4. Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009–10, p.424, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6