# 2007–08 Boston Bruins season

The 2007–08 Boston Bruins season began on October 5, 2007. It was the 84th season of the Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League (NHL).
The Bruins entered the 2007–08 season with a new head coach after the team fired Dave Lewis shortly before the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
Key dates prior to the start of the season:
* The 2007 NHL Entry Draft took place in Columbus, Ohio, on June 22–23.
* The free agency period began on July 1.

## Regular season
### Divisional standings

Northeast Division :
| | | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 47 | 25 | 10 | 262 | 222 | 104 |
| 2 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 261 | 247 | 94 |
| 3 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 212 | 222 | 94 |
| 4 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 39 | 31 | 12 | 255 | 242 | 90 |
| 5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 36 | 35 | 11 | 231 | 260 | 83 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | z – Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 47 | 25 | 10 | 262 | 222 | 104 |
| 2 | y – Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 47 | 27 | 8 | 247 | 216 | 102 |
| 3 | y – Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 242 | 231 | 94 |
| 4 | New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 206 | 197 | 99 |
| 5 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 42 | 27 | 13 | 213 | 199 | 97 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 42 | 29 | 11 | 248 | 233 | 95 |
| 7 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 261 | 247 | 94 |
| 8 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 212 | 222 | 94 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 252 | 249 | 92 |
| 10 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 39 | 31 | 12 | 255 | 242 | 90 |
| 11 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 38 | 35 | 9 | 216 | 226 | 85 |
| 12 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 36 | 35 | 11 | 231 | 260 | 83 |
| 13 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 35 | 38 | 9 | 194 | 243 | 79 |
| 14 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 34 | 40 | 8 | 216 | 272 | 76 |
| 15 | Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 31 | 42 | 9 | 223 | 267 | 71 |
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)

## Schedule and results

2007–08 game log :

## Playoffs

The Bruins qualified for the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2003–04 NHL season, facing their traditional arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. The Boston Bruins were down 3–1 in the series facing elimination, but climbed back to 3–3. The series moved to game 7 in Montreal on April 21, however the Bruins lost the game and were narrowly eliminated.
2008 Stanley Cup playoffs :
* Scorer of game-winning goal in italics

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Andrew Alberts | 35 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 39 |
| P. J. Axelsson | 75 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 11 | 15 |
| Patrice Bergeron | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Zdeno Chara | 77 | 17 | 34 | 51 | 14 | 114 |
| Andrew Ference | 59 | 1 | 14 | 15 | −14 | 50 |
| Shane Hnidy | 43 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −4 | 41 |
| Matt Hunwick | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 4 |
| Phil Kessel | 82 | 19 | 18 | 37 | −6 | 28 |
| Chuck Kobasew | 73 | 22 | 17 | 39 | 6 | 29 |
| David Krejci | 56 | 6 | 21 | 27 | −3 | 20 |
| Matt Lashoff | 18 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −2 | 0 |
| Milan Lucic | 77 | 8 | 19 | 27 | −2 | 89 |
| Glen Metropolit | 82 | 11 | 22 | 33 | −3 | 36 |
| Glen Murray | 63 | 17 | 13 | 30 | −4 | 50 |
| Petteri Nokelainen | 57 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 19 |
| Jeremy Reich | 58 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −5 | 78 |
| Marc Savard | 74 | 15 | 63 | 78 | 3 | 66 |
| Peter Schaefer | 63 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 4 | 18 |
| Vladimir Sobotka | 48 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 24 |
| Mark Stuart | 82 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 81 |
| Marco Sturm | 80 | 27 | 29 | 56 | 11 | 40 |
| Shawn Thornton | 58 | 4 | 3 | 7 | −1 | 74 |
| Aaron Ward | 65 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 54 |
| Dennis Wideman | 81 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 11 | 70 |
| Combined | — | 206 | 347 | 553 | 33 | 1041 |

### Goaltenders

Note: GPI = Games Played In; MIN = Minutes played; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots Against; GA = Goals against; SV%= Save percentage
Regular season :
| Player | GPI | MIN | GAA | W | L | OT | SO | SA | GA | SV% |
| Tim Thomas | 57 | 3,341 | 2.44 | 28 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 1731 | 136 | .921 |
| Alex Auld | 23 | 1,213 | 2.32 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 578 | 47 | .919 |
| Manny Fernandez | 4 | 244 | 3.93 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 95 | 16 | .832 |
| Tuukka Rask | 4 | 184 | 3.26 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 88 | 10 | .886 |
| Combined | — | 4982 | 2.99 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 6 | 2492 | 209 | .904 |

## Awards and records
### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Andrew Ference | 400th NHL PIM | October 5, 2007 |
| Milan Lucic | 1st NHL game | October 5, 2007 |
| David Krejci | 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point | October 6, 2007 |
| Phil Kessel | 1st NHL hat-trick | October 12, 2007 |
| Milan Lucic | 1st NHL goal 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point | October 12, 2007 |
| Marc Savard | 500th NHL point | October 12, 2007 |
| Peter Schaefer | 500th NHL game | October 20, 2007 |
| Matt Hunwick | 1st NHL game | November 10, 2007 |
| Andrew Alberts | 200th NHL PIM | November 10, 2007 |
| Marc Savard | 600th NHL game | November 10, 2007 |
| Tuukka Rask | 1st NHL game 1st NHL win | November 20, 2007 |
| Dennis Wideman | 18,000th Bruins all-time goal | December 31, 2007 |
| Glen Metropolit | 100th NHL point | January 29, 2008 |
| Marco Sturm | 200th NHL assist | February 9, 2008 |
| Vladimir Sobotka | 1st NHL goal | February 13, 2008 |
| P. J. Axelsson | 700th NHL game | February 21, 2008 |
| David Krejci | 1st NHL goal | February 26, 2008 |
| Marc Savard | 400th NHL assist | February 28, 2008 |
| Marco Sturm | 200th NHL goal | February 28, 2008 |
| Mark Stuart | 100th NHL game | March 8, 2008 |

## Transactions

The Bruins have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

### Trades

| June 30, 2007 | To Boston Bruins Manny Fernandez | To Minnesota Wild Petr Kalus 4th-round pick in 2008 |
| July 17, 2007 | To Boston Bruins Peter Schaefer | To Ottawa Senators Shean Donovan |
| July 23, 2007 | To St. Louis Blues Hannu Toivonen | To Boston Bruins Carl Soderberg |
| September 11, 2007 | To Boston Bruins Petteri Nokelainen | To New York Islanders Ben Walter conditional 2nd-round pick in 2009 (Kevin Lynch) |
| September 24, 2007 | To Anaheim Ducks Mark Mowers | To Boston Bruins Nathan Saunders Brett Skinner |
| December 6, 2007 | To Boston Bruins Alex Auld | To Phoenix Coyotes Nate DiCasmirro 5th-round pick in 2009 (Jeff Costello) |
| January 2, 2008 | To Anaheim Ducks Brandon Bochenski | To Boston Bruins Shane Hnidy 6th-round pick in 2008 (Nicholas Tremblay) |

### Free agents

| Player | Former team | Contract terms |
| Shawn Thornton | Anaheim Ducks | 3 year, $1.55 million |
| Glen Metropolit* | St. Louis Blues | Undisclosed |
| Player | New team |
| Jay Leach | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Joey MacDonald | New York Islanders |

## Draft picks

Boston's picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio. The Bruins picked 8th overall, and the draft was held June 22–23.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/junior/club team (league) |
| 1 | 8 | Zach Hamill | Center | Canada | Everett Silvertips (WHL) |
| 2 | 35 | Tommy Cross | Defenseman | United States | Westminster School (USHS-CT) |
| 5 | 130 | Denis Reul | Defenseman | Germany | Heilbronner Falken (Germany) Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 159 | Alain Goulet | Defenseman | Canada | Aurora Tigers (OPJHL) |
| 6 | 169 | Radim Ostrcil | Defenseman | Czech Republic | HC Vsetín (Czech Republic) |
| 7 | 189 | Jordan Knackstedt | Right Wing | Canada | Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL) |

## Farm teams
### Providence Bruins

The Providence Bruins remain Boston's top affiliate in the American Hockey League in 2007–08.

### Johnstown Chiefs

On June 18, 2007, during the ECHL Board of Governors Annual Meeting, the Long Beach Ice Dogs membership in the ECHL was immediately terminated due to the Long Beach ownership group being unable to continue to operate in 2007–08. On September 18, 2007, the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL announced they had entered an affiliation agreement with the Bruins for the 2007–08 season.