# 1961–62 Boston Bruins season

The 1961–62 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 38th season in the NHL. Earning 38 of a possible 140 points in the standings, the team's 0.271 points percentage was the worst in their history excluding their inaugural season in 1924–25, in which they captured 12 out of a possible 60 points (0.200). The team also endured a 20-game winless streak (16 losses and 4 ties) which included the entire month of February.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 42 | 14 | 14 | 259 | 166 | +93 | 98 |
| 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 37 | 22 | 11 | 232 | 180 | +52 | 85 |
| 3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 31 | 26 | 13 | 217 | 186 | +31 | 75 |
| 4 | New York Rangers | 70 | 26 | 32 | 12 | 195 | 207 | −12 | 64 |
| 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 23 | 33 | 14 | 184 | 219 | −35 | 60 |
| 6 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 15 | 47 | 8 | 177 | 306 | −129 | 38 |

### Record vs. opponents

1961–62 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 2–10–2 | 4–8–2 | 3–10–1 | 2–10–2 | 4–9–1 |
| Chicago | 10–2–2 | — | 7–3–4 | 3–9–2 | 7–6–1 | 4–6–4 |
| Detroit | 8–4–2 | 3–7–4 | — | 3–8–3 | 6–5–3 | 3–9–2 |
| Montreal | 10–3–1 | 9–3–2 | 8–3–3 | — | 8–1–5 | 7–4–3 |
| New York | 10–2–2 | 6–7–1 | 5–6–3 | 1–8–5 | — | 4–9–1 |
| Toronto | 9–4–1 | 6–4–4 | 9–3–2 | 4–7–3 | 9–4–1 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season schedule :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | October 11, 1961 | 2–6 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | L | October 12, 1961 | 3–6 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 0–2–0 |
| 3 | L | October 14, 1961 | 2–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 0–3–0 |
| 4 | T | October 15, 1961 | 5–5 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 0–3–1 |
| 5 | L | October 17, 1961 | 3–5 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 0–4–1 |
| 6 | L | October 19, 1961 | 3–7 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 0–5–1 |
| 7 | L | October 21, 1961 | 2–6 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 0–6–1 |
| 8 | L | October 22, 1961 | 1–9 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 0–7–1 |
| 9 | W | October 26, 1961 | 4–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 1–7–1 |
| 10 | T | October 29, 1961 | 2–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 1–7–2 |
| 11 | W | November 2, 1961 | 5–2 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 2–7–2 |
| 12 | L | November 5, 1961 | 3–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 2–8–2 |
| 13 | T | November 8, 1961 | 4–4 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 2–8–3 |
| 14 | L | November 9, 1961 | 1–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 2–9–3 |
| 15 | W | November 12, 1961 | 4–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 3–9–3 |
| 16 | W | November 16, 1961 | 3–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 4–9–3 |
| 17 | L | November 19, 1961 | 2–6 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 4–10–3 |
| 18 | L | November 23, 1961 | 3–4 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 4–11–3 |
| 19 | L | November 25, 1961 | 0–5 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 4–12–3 |
| 20 | L | November 26, 1961 | 1–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 4–13–3 |
| 21 | L | November 29, 1961 | 4–7 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 4–14–3 |
| 22 | L | November 30, 1961 | 1–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 4–15–3 |
| 23 | W | December 2, 1961 | 3–1 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 5–15–3 |
| 24 | L | December 3, 1961 | 1–3 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 5–16–3 |
| 25 | L | December 7, 1961 | 2–5 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 5–17–3 |
| 26 | L | December 9, 1961 | 2–9 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 5–18–3 |
| 27 | L | December 10, 1961 | 3–4 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 5–19–3 |
| 28 | T | December 13, 1961 | 2–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 5–19–4 |
| 29 | L | December 14, 1961 | 0–5 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 5–20–4 |
| 30 | L | December 16, 1961 | 4–8 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 5–21–4 |
| 31 | L | December 17, 1961 | 1–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 5–22–4 |
| 32 | W | December 21, 1961 | 4–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 6–22–4 |
| 33 | W | December 23, 1961 | 7–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 7–22–4 |
| 34 | L | December 25, 1961 | 2–5 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 7–23–4 |
| 35 | W | December 31, 1961 | 7–4 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 8–23–4 |
| 36 | L | January 1, 1962 | 2–4 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 8–24–4 |
| 37 | L | January 6, 1962 | 2–6 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 8–25–4 |
| 38 | W | January 7, 1962 | 2–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 9–25–4 |
| 39 | L | January 10, 1962 | 5–7 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 9–26–4 |
| 40 | L | January 11, 1962 | 0–6 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 9–27–4 |
| 41 | L | January 13, 1962 | 3–5 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 9–28–4 |
| 42 | L | January 14, 1962 | 1–4 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 9–29–4 |
| 43 | W | January 18, 1962 | 5–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 10–29–4 |
| 44 | W | January 20, 1962 | 5–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 11–29–4 |
| 45 | L | January 21, 1962 | 1–5 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 11–30–4 |
| 46 | W | January 27, 1962 | 5–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 12–30–4 |
| 47 | L | January 28, 1962 | 1–5 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 12–31–4 |
| 48 | L | January 31, 1962 | 0–5 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 12–32–4 |
| 49 | L | February 1, 1962 | 3–5 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 12–33–4 |
| 50 | L | February 3, 1962 | 3–6 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 12–34–4 |
| 51 | L | February 4, 1962 | 0–6 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 12–35–4 |
| 52 | T | February 7, 1962 | 2–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 12–35–5 |
| 53 | L | February 8, 1962 | 2–6 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 12–36–5 |
| 54 | T | February 10, 1962 | 2–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 12–36–6 |
| 55 | L | February 11, 1962 | 3–5 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 12–37–6 |
| 56 | L | February 15, 1962 | 1–9 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 12–38–6 |
| 57 | L | February 18, 1962 | 0–6 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 12–39–6 |
| 58 | L | February 21, 1962 | 2–4 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 12–40–6 |
| 59 | L | February 24, 1962 | 2–7 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 12–41–6 |
| 60 | L | February 25, 1962 | 0–8 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 12–42–6 |
| 61 | T | February 28, 1962 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 12–42–7 |
| 62 | L | March 1, 1962 | 4–5 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 12–43–7 |
| 63 | L | March 4, 1962 | 1–5 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 12–44–7 |
| 64 | L | March 8, 1962 | 0–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 12–45–7 |
| 65 | L | March 10, 1962 | 2–5 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 12–46–7 |
| 66 | T | March 11, 1962 | 2–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 12–46–8 |
| 67 | W | March 15, 1962 | 4–0 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 13–46–8 |
| 68 | W | March 18, 1962 | 6–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1961–62) | 14–46–8 |
| 69 | L | March 22, 1962 | 3–4 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 14–47–8 |
| 70 | W | March 25, 1962 | 5–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 15–47–8 |

## Player statistics
### Regular season
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| John Bucyk | LW | 67 | 20 | 40 | 60 | 32 |
| Don McKenney | C | 70 | 22 | 33 | 55 | 10 |
| Jerry Toppazzini | RW | 70 | 19 | 31 | 50 | 26 |
| Murray Oliver | C | 70 | 17 | 29 | 46 | 21 |
| Doug Mohns | LW/D | 69 | 16 | 29 | 45 | 74 |
| Cliff Pennington | C | 70 | 9 | 32 | 41 | 2 |
| Charlie Burns | C | 70 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 43 |
| Andre Pronovost | LW | 70 | 15 | 8 | 23 | 74 |
| Leo Boivin | D | 65 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 70 |
| Wayne Connelly | C | 61 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 34 |
| Terry Gray | RW | 42 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 15 |
| Tommy Williams | RW | 26 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 2 |
| Ted Green | D | 66 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 116 |
| Ed Westfall | D/RW | 63 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 53 |
| Bob Beckett | C | 34 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 14 |
| Larry Leach | C | 28 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 18 |
| Pat Stapleton | D | 69 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 42 |
| Dick Meissner | RW | 66 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 13 |
| Bob Armstrong | D | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 20 |
| Ed Chadwick | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bruce Gamble | G | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Don Head | G | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Orland Kurtenbach | C | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Dallas Smith | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Don Head | 2280 | 38 | 9 | 26 | 3 | 158 | 4.16 | 2 |
| Bruce Gamble | 1680 | 28 | 6 | 18 | 4 | 121 | 4.32 | 1 |
| Ed Chadwick | 240 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 5.50 | 0 |
| Team: | 4200 | 70 | 15 | 47 | 8 | 301 | 4.30 | 3 |
    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;