The Boston Bruins reside in Boston, Massachusetts and play their home games at TD Garden (formerly Boston Gardens until 1995). The franchise has compiled five Stanley Cups which is the second highest total for an American team, the Detroit Red Wings have 11. In their history the Bruins have had 52 players inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame, including all time greats Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Cam Neely and Ray Bourque to name a few.http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsPlayersByTeam.jsp?team=Boston+Bruins

Following a season in 2008-2009 that saw the Bruins win the regular season Eastern Conference Championship and advance to the Conference Semi Finals in the playoffs before being upset by the Carolina Hurricanes. The Bruins have not fared the same in this year due to injuries to key players.http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/teams/Bos/injuries Centers Patrice Bergeron and Marc Savard have both injured for extended periods and power forward Milan Lucic has been injured for the majority of the season thus far. A positive note for the Bruins is that rookie goalie Tukka Raask has been sensational and is giving Tim Thomas a hard time keeping the number one goalie spot in Boston. Raask, who was aquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs back in 2006 in exchange for goalie Andrew Raycroft, was drafted 21st overall by the Maple Leafs in 2005.http://www.forecaster.ca/hockeynews/hockey/player.cgi?4958 On January 1st, 2010 the Boston Bruins participated in the NHL Winter Classic game at Fenway Park versus the Philadelphia Flyers. The Bruins were victorious in overtime by a score of 2-1. Patrice Bergeron (Canada), Zdeno Chara (Slovakia) and Tim Thomas (USA) will travel with their respected countries to participate in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-hockey/

The Boston Bruins played their inaugural season in 1924 as a part of the original six teams along with Toronto, Detroit, Montreal, Chicago and New York. Since that time they have made 17 Stanley Cup appearances but have won on just five of those occasions. Their last appearance in the Stanley Cup was in 1990 when they were defeated by an Edmonton Oilers team led by Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. Boston`s biggest rival over their history has been the Montreal Canadians who have eliminated the Bruins from the playoffs 23 times while the Bruins have won just eight times. In both 1991 and 1992 led by defence Ray Bourque the Bruins were defeated in the Wales Conference Finals by the Pittsburgh Penguins. 1993 saw the Sabres defeat the Bruins in the Adams Division Semi Finals and in both 1994 and 1995 they were defeated by the New Jersey Devils.http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/boston/bruins.html

Hockey in the city of Boston found new hope when they drafted Joe Thornton first overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. Thornton, named team captain in 1998 made an immediate impact and led the team to the playoffs in that year and in 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2004. The bad news was in all five appearances the Bruins did not manage to advance past the second round. In 2004-2005 they made their most controversial trade in team history when they sent Joe Thornton to San Jose for Marco Strum, Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart.http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2242875 The trade has not worked out in favour of the Bruins as they missed the playoffs in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and only Strum remains on the team today. During the 2007 off-season the team signed free agent defence Zdeno Chara and named him the new team captain. In 2008 they lost to long time nemesis Montreal Canadians in round one of the playoffs.

• 1927: lost to Ottawa Senators in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1929: defeated New York Rangers in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1930: lost to Montreal Canadians in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1939: defeated Toronto Maple Leafs in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1941: defeated Toronto Maple Leafs in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1943: lost to Detroit Red Wings in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1946: lost to Montreal Canadians in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1953: lost to Montreal Canadians in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1957: lost to Montreal Candaians in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1958: lost to Montreal Candaians in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1970: defeated St. Louis Blues in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1972: defeated New York Rangers in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1974: lost to Philadelphia Flyers in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1977: lost to Montreal Candaians in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1978: lost to Montreal Candaians in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1988: lost to Edmonton Oilers in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1990: lost to Edmonton Oilers in Stanley Cup Finals

• 1991: lost to Pittsburgh Penguins in Wales Conference Finals

• 1992: lost to Pittsburgh Penguins in Wales Conference Finals

• 1993: lost to Buffalo Sabres in Adams Divison Semi Finals

• 1994: lost to New Jersey in Conference Semi Finals

• 1995: lost to New Jersey in Conference Quarter Finals

• 1996: lost to Florida Panthers in Conference Quarter Finals

• 1998: lost to Washington Capitals in Conference Quarter Finals

• 1999: lost to Buffalo Sabres in Conference Semi Finals

• 2002: lost to Montreal Canadians Conferece Quarter Finals

• 2003: lost to New Jersey Devils Conference Quarter Finals

• 2004: lost to Montreal Canadians in Conference Quarter Finals

• 2008: lost to Montreal Canadians in Conference Quarter Finals

• 2009: lost to Carolina Hurricanes in Conference Semi Finals