The "So Close,Yet So Far" Bruins
BY ERIC ZHAO '25
The legacy of Boston Sports has been riddled with much success; the Patriots six Super Bowl titles, the Celtics 17 NBA Championships, the Red Sox league-leading four world-series titles in the 21st century, and the Boston Bruins with their six Stanley Cups. June 15, 2011 marked the acquisition of the sixth Stanley Cup title in franchise history with a Game 7 4-0 shutout over the Vancouver Canucks. The Bruins had a great team, headed by elite goaltending in Tim Thomas and Tukka Rask, franchise centers in Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, a bruising defenceman in Zdeno Chara, and a promising young left-winger in Brad Marchand. They had won it all in the most improbable way: winning three seven-game series. More championships awaited, and season after season, they got close. But not close enough. Each season, they fell short in the most gut-wrenching defeats, all while watching teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, and Tampa Bay Lightning win multiple Stanley Cups. The Patriots and Red Sox both added to their trophy collections. The Bruins, perhaps having the best chance to win another Cup, watched the dust pile on their lone championship from 2011. Now, twelve seasons later, Patrice Bergeron, Tukka Rask, David Krejci, and Zdneo Chara have retired from the NHL. Brad Marchand is no longer the rising star he once was—he’s 35 years old, and only becoming older. Now, fans are wondering about the Bruins’ future, especially since time does not seem to be on their side.
The Timeline of Heartbreak In the 2011-12 season, the Bruins entered as defending champions and finished as the #2 seed with 102 points, facing an underdog Capitals team in the first round. The Capitals put up a good fight-matching the Bruins, forcing a Game 7 in Boston that went to overtime, where the Bruins season ended on a Washington goal less than three minutes into the period. Heartbreaking, yes, but going back-to-back always seemed like a stretch. The next season, in a strike-shortened year, the Bruins found themselves down 4-1 in the third period in another first round Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In one of the most iconic comebacks in Boston sports history, the Bruins rallied four unanswered goals to win the game in overtime, and would easily defeat their next two opponents in making another Stanley Cup appearance. In Game 6, the Bruins led the Blackhawks 2-1 with 76 seconds in the game. Then, the unthinkable happened. Unable to clear the puck outside of their own offensive zone, the Bruins let up a brutal game-tying goal, then let in the game-winning goal with 58 seconds left from Dave Bolland off of a rebound, clinching the Stanley Cup for Chicago in a brutal loss. In 2013, the Bruins finished as the best team in the NHL with 117 points and were ready for another championship run, only to lose another home do-or-die Game 7 to their hated rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. In the next two seasons they missed the playoffs, decided by their last few games. In the 2016 and 2017 seasons, the Bruins fell in a series’ vs. Ottawa, where three of the games were decided in overtime (two of them went to the Senators) and were thoroughly outplayed by a Tampa Bay team in the second round. In 2018, the team was able put together a playoff run and advanced back to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they faced the underdog 99-point St. Louis Blues, a franchise historically known for their inept failures and lack of postseason success, and played for another title in a do-or-die home Game 7. The Bruins trailed 2-0 after a first period where they outshot St. Louis 12-4 and let in a soul-crushing goal with 8 seconds left, which set the tone for the rest of the game. The Bruins offense and defense were lacking, which let St. Louis score 4 goals on 20 shots, making Rask’s performance worse than it looked. The B’s came up short once again, in the most crushing defeat of the Bruins 2010’s era and arguably in franchise history. After two seasons with disappointing playoff series losses, in 2022-2023, the Bruins set the NHL record for wins and points, cementing themselves as the best regular-season team in NHL history. It seemed like nothing could stop them from winning the cup this time. However, in one of the greatest upsets in NHL history, the Bruins blew a 3-1 series lead, losing Game 5 from a misplay of the puck by goaltender Linus Ullmark in front of the net, blowing a 5-4 lead in Game 6, and losing in overtime of Game 7 to the 92-point Florida Panthers, who only qualified for the playoffs on the last day of the regular season. In Game 7, they let in an equalizing goal with 59 seconds left with the Florida goaltender pulled before giving up the OT winner to Carter Verhaege, preventing their historic cup run from even getting off the ground. The Bruins had gone 12-straight seasons with a championship caliber roster, yet inexplicably came up without another cup. Sloppy postseason play and bad luck through overtime losses, a bad bounce of the puck here and there, and playing badly at the worst possible times prevented the Bruins from winning the Stanley Cup. The Bruins had 12 opportunities and blew each and every one. The Bruins won’t be remembered for their regular-season success, for other teams like the Blackhawks, Penguins and Kings were able to finish the job; rather, they’ll be remembered for the 12 seasons of heartbreak fans had to experience. As with every year, the fanbase still remains hopeful that they can break the streak of brutal losses, and come playoff time, attendance will be at maximum capacity. At the end of each season, it usually ends all the same: so close, yet so far. However, the Bruins still have a solid, relatively young core made up of star-studded winger David Pastrnak, defenceman Charlie McAvoy and goaltender Jeremy Swayman, among others, and are still one of the top teams in the NHL, held together by their elite goaltending, physical play and defense. But the team is still flawed, struggling to close out games in overtime and regulation, alongside issues with winning and scoring consistently. Nonetheless, just like every season, the Bruins will still have another opportunity, come postseason time in April, to compete for a title. The 13th season since the Bruins won the Stanley Cup. The 13th opportunity. And a new opportunity, means that things will be different, and anything can happen. |