# 1977–78 Boston Bruins season

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.

## Offseason
### NHL Draft

| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team |
| 1 | 16 | Dwight Foster (RW) | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHA) |
| 2 | 34 | Dave Parro (G) | Canada | Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) |
| 3 | 52 | Mike Forbes (D) | Canada | St. Catharines Fincups (OMJHL) |
| 4 | 70 | Brian McGregor (RW) | Canada | Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) |
| 5 | 88 | Doug Butler (D) | Canada | Saint Louis University (CCHA) |
| 6 | 106 | Keith Johnson (D) | Canada | Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) |
| 7 | 122 | Ralph Cox (RW) | United States | University of New Hampshire (ECAC) |
| 8 | 138 | Mario Claude (D) | Canada | Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL) |

## Regular season

The 1977–78 Bruins set an NHL record (unbroken as of 2023) by having 11 different skaters score 20 goals or more in a season. 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

Adams Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Boston Bruins | 80 | 51 | 18 | 11 | 333 | 218 | 113 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 44 | 19 | 17 | 288 | 215 | 105 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 80 | 41 | 29 | 10 | 271 | 237 | 92 |
| Cleveland Barons | 80 | 22 | 45 | 13 | 230 | 325 | 57 |
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
1977–78 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
CLE
TOR
Total
Boston
—2–43–1–25–0–110–5–3
Buffalo
4–2—4–22–3–110–7–1
Cleveland
1–3–22–4—2–45–13–2
Toronto
0–5–13–2–14–2—7–9–2
Vs. Norris Division
1977–78 NHL records
Team
DET
LAK
MTL
PIT
WSH
Total
Boston
4–0–15–00–4–15–04–0–118–4–3
Buffalo
2–2–13–0–23–20–0–53–1–111–5–9
Cleveland
2–2–11–3–11–40–52–36–17–2
Toronto
2–1–22–30–4–12–34–0–110–11–4
Vs. Patrick Division
1977–78 NHL records
Team
ATL
NYI
NYR
PHI
Total
Boston
2–1–11–34–11–2–18–7–2
Buffalo
2–1–13–22–1–13–0–110–4–3
Cleveland
1–2–11–1–21–30–4–13–10–4
Toronto
2–31–33–13–19–8–0
Vs. Smythe Division
1977–78 NHL records
Team
CHI
COL
MIN
STL
VAN
Total
Boston
3–13–0–13–14–02–0–215–2–3
Buffalo
2–1–13–13–14–01–0–313–3–4
Cleveland
1–31–1–23–0–11–2–12–1–18–7–5
Toronto
2–1–14–04–02–0–23–0–115–1–4 :

## Schedule and results

Regular season schedule :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | T | October 13, 1977 | 2–2 | Atlanta Flames (1977–78) | 0–0–1 |
| 2 | L | October 15, 1977 | 1–3 | @ New York Islanders (1977–78) | 0–1–1 |
| 3 | L | October 16, 1977 | 0–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) | 0–2–1 |
| 4 | W | October 19, 1977 | 7–3 | @ St. Louis Blues (1977–78) | 1–2–1 |
| 5 | W | October 22, 1977 | 4–3 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) | 2–2–1 |
| 6 | T | October 23, 1977 | 3–3 | @ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) | 2–2–2 |
| 7 | T | October 25, 1977 | 4–4 | @ Colorado Rockies (1977–78) | 2–2–3 |
| 8 | L | October 26, 1977 | 0–3 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) | 2–3–3 |
| 9 | W | October 29, 1977 | 5–3 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) | 3–3–3 |
| 10 | L | November 3, 1977 | 1–4 | Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) | 3–4–3 |
| 11 | L | November 5, 1977 | 2–5 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) | 3–5–3 |
| 12 | W | November 6, 1977 | 5–3 | New York Islanders (1977–78) | 4–5–3 |
| 13 | W | November 10, 1977 | 5–2 | Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) | 5–5–3 |
| 14 | W | November 12, 1977 | 6–3 | @ Atlanta Flames (1977–78) | 6–5–3 |
| 15 | W | November 13, 1977 | 3–1 | Cleveland Barons (1977–78) | 7–5–3 |
| 16 | T | November 17, 1977 | 4–4 | Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) | 7–5–4 |
| 17 | W | November 19, 1977 | 3–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) | 8–5–4 |
| 18 | W | November 20, 1977 | 1–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) | 9–5–4 |
| 19 | W | November 23, 1977 | 2–0 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) | 10–5–4 |
| 20 | W | November 24, 1977 | 6–0 | Washington Capitals (1977–78) | 11–5–4 |
| 21 | W | November 26, 1977 | 3–2 | New York Rangers (1977–78) | 12–5–4 |
| 22 | W | November 27, 1977 | 4–1 | St. Louis Blues (1977–78) | 13–5–4 |
| 23 | W | December 1, 1977 | 4–2 | Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) | 14–5–4 |
| 24 | T | December 3, 1977 | 4–4 | @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) | 14–5–5 |
| 25 | W | December 4, 1977 | 3–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) | 15–5–5 |
| 26 | W | December 8, 1977 | 6–4 | Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) | 16–5–5 |
| 27 | W | December 10, 1977 | 6–2 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) | 17–5–5 |
| 28 | W | December 11, 1977 | 8–2 | @ New York Rangers (1977–78) | 18–5–5 |
| 29 | L | December 15, 1977 | 4–6 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) | 18–6–5 |
| 30 | L | December 17, 1977 | 1–4 | @ New York Islanders (1977–78) | 18–7–5 |
| 31 | W | December 18, 1977 | 2–1 | Cleveland Barons (1977–78) | 19–7–5 |
| 32 | W | December 21, 1977 | 6–3 | Colorado Rockies (1977–78) | 20–7–5 |
| 33 | W | December 23, 1977 | 6–1 | Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) | 21–7–5 |
| 34 | W | December 27, 1977 | 6–3 | @ Washington Capitals (1977–78) | 22–7–5 |
| 35 | T | December 28, 1977 | 5–5 | @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) | 22–7–6 |
| 36 | W | December 31, 1977 | 7–0 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) | 23–7–6 |
| 37 | W | January 4, 1978 | 3–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) | 24–7–6 |
| 38 | W | January 7, 1978 | 3–1 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) | 25–7–6 |
| 39 | L | January 8, 1978 | 3–5 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) | 25–8–6 |
| 40 | L | January 10, 1978 | 2–3 | New York Rangers (1977–78) | 25–9–6 |
| 41 | W | January 12, 1978 | 6–1 | Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) | 26–9–6 |
| 42 | L | January 14, 1978 | 3–5 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) | 26–10–6 |
| 43 | W | January 19, 1978 | 4–1 | Washington Capitals (1977–78) | 27–10–6 |
| 44 | W | January 21, 1978 | 7–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) | 28–10–6 |
| 45 | L | January 22, 1978 | 2–3 | Cleveland Barons (1977–78) | 28–11–6 |
| 46 | W | January 26, 1978 | 4–3 | Colorado Rockies (1977–78) | 29–11–6 |
| 47 | W | January 27, 1978 | 5–2 | @ Washington Capitals (1977–78) | 30–11–6 |
| 48 | W | January 29, 1978 | 8–2 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) | 31–11–6 |
| 49 | W | February 1, 1978 | 5–3 | @ St. Louis Blues (1977–78) | 32–11–6 |
| 50 | L | February 2, 1978 | 1–3 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) | 32–12–6 |
| 51 | W | February 4, 1978 | 8–1 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) | 33–12–6 |
| 52 | T | February 5, 1978 | 3–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) | 33–12–7 |
| 53 | W | February 9, 1978 | 5–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) | 34–12–7 |
| 54 | W | February 15, 1978 | 4–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) | 35–12–7 |
| 55 | L | February 18, 1978 | 2–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) | 35–13–7 |
| 56 | W | February 21, 1978 | 3–2 | @ Colorado Rockies (1977–78) | 36–13–7 |
| 57 | W | February 22, 1978 | 6–4 | @ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) | 37–13–7 |
| 58 | W | February 25, 1978 | 4–2 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) | 38–13–7 |
| 59 | T | February 28, 1978 | 4–4 | Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) | 38–13–8 |
| 60 | W | March 2, 1978 | 4–3 | Atlanta Flames (1977–78) | 39–13–8 |
| 61 | W | March 4, 1978 | 7–3 | Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) | 40–13–8 |
| 62 | W | March 5, 1978 | 6–3 | Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) | 41–13–8 |
| 63 | W | March 7, 1978 | 7–2 | St. Louis Blues (1977–78) | 42–13–8 |
| 64 | T | March 9, 1978 | 2–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) | 42–13–9 |
| 65 | L | March 11, 1978 | 2–6 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) | 42–14–9 |
| 66 | W | March 12, 1978 | 9–3 | Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) | 43–14–9 |
| 67 | W | March 16, 1978 | 7–2 | Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) | 44–14–9 |
| 68 | W | March 18, 1978 | 6–3 | @ New York Rangers (1977–78) | 45–14–9 |
| 69 | W | March 19, 1978 | 6–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) | 46–14–9 |
| 70 | W | March 21, 1978 | 5–3 | @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) | 47–14–9 |
| 71 | W | March 23, 1978 | 7–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) | 48–14–9 |
| 72 | L | March 25, 1978 | 3–6 | @ Atlanta Flames (1977–78) | 48–15–9 |
| 73 | T | March 26, 1978 | 2–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) | 48–15–10 |
| 74 | T | March 28, 1978 | 4–4 | @ Washington Capitals (1977–78) | 48–15–11 |
| 75 | W | March 30, 1978 | 6–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) | 49–15–11 |
| 76 | L | April 1, 1978 | 1–7 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) | 49–16–11 |
| 77 | W | April 2, 1978 | 8–3 | New York Rangers (1977–78) | 50–16–11 |
| 78 | L | April 6, 1978 | 2–5 | Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) | 50–17–11 |
| 79 | W | April 8, 1978 | 3–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) | 51–17–11 |
| 80 | L | April 9, 1978 | 2–5 | New York Islanders (1977–78) | 51–18–11 |

### 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 | 211 | 40 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Jean Ratelle | C | 80 | 25 | 59 | 84 | 10 | 49 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Peter McNab | C | 79 | 41 | 39 | 80 | 4 | 35 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Brad Park | D | 80 | 22 | 57 | 79 | 79 | 68 | 9 | 0 | 3 |
| Wayne Cashman | LW | 76 | 24 | 38 | 62 | 69 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Rick Middleton | RW | 79 | 25 | 35 | 60 | 8 | 40 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Gregg Sheppard | C | 54 | 23 | 36 | 59 | 24 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| Bobby Schmautz | RW | 54 | 27 | 27 | 54 | 87 | 24 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Don Marcotte | LW | 77 | 20 | 34 | 54 | 16 | 32 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Stan Jonathan | LW | 68 | 27 | 25 | 52 | 116 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bob Miller | C | 76 | 20 | 20 | 40 | 41 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Mike Milbury | D | 80 | 8 | 30 | 38 | 151 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Wensink | LW | 80 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 181 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Rick Smith | D | 79 | 7 | 29 | 36 | 69 | 70 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Bucyk | LW | 53 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 4 | −2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Doak | D | 61 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 50 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Al Sims | D | 43 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matti Hagman | C | 15 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | −1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Dennis O'Brien | D | 16 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 29 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Forbes | D | 32 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 15 | −5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dwight Foster | RW | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Halward | D | 25 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry Cheevers | G | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gilles Gilbert | G | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Grahame | G | 40 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darryl Edestrand | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Langdon | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clayton Pachal | C/LW | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Pettie | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sean Shanahan | C/RW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | 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 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Peter McNab | C | 15 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bobby Schmautz | RW | 15 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Terry O'Reilly | RW | 15 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 40 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Gregg Sheppard | C | 15 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wayne Cashman | LW | 15 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Jean Ratelle | C | 15 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Marcotte | LW | 15 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Milbury | D | 15 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Middleton | RW | 15 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Rick Smith | D | 15 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Wensink | LW | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Miller | C | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Doak | D | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Stan Jonathan | LW | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dennis O'Brien | D | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry Cheevers | G | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Grahame | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Sims | D | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | 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 |
    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
### Stanley Cup finals

| Date | Visitors | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
| May 13 | Boston | 1 | Montreal | 4 | |
| May 16 | Boston | 2 | Montreal | 3 | OT |
| May 18 | Montreal | 0 | Boston | 4 | |
| May 21 | Montreal | 3 | Boston | 4 | OT |
| May 23 | Boston | 1 | Montreal | 4 | |
| May 25 | Montreal | 4 | Boston | 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 Trophy
* Brad Park, Defenceman, NHL First Team All-Star