# 1951–52 Boston Bruins season

The 1951–52 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 28th season in the NHL.

## Offseason

Despite a successful two seasons in goal, including winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year in the 1950 season, Bruins goaltender Jack Gelineau asked general manager Art Ross for a raise. Upon being rejected, he left the team for a business position in Montreal. The Bruins acquired former Rangers and Black Hawks goaltender Jim Henry to replace him. In another offseason deal, the Bruins traded Paul Ronty to the Rangers for former Bruin farmland and 1949 Calder Trophy winner Pentti Lund and Gus Kyle.

## Regular season

On October 12—the day after the season started—team owner Weston Adams sold a controlling interest in the Bruins to the Boston Garden-Arena Corporation, led by Walter A. Brown, the general manager of Boston Garden and owner of the Boston Celtics.
Due to a collapse of the brine pipes at Boston Garden, the February 26th game against the Detroit Red Wings had to be transferred to Boston Arena, the Bruins' original home. The 4–3 loss would prove to be the final regular season game the Bruins played at the Arena.
On March 18 against the Chicago Black Hawks, team captain Milt Schmidt not only scored his 200th goal, but was honored in a game that saw former Kraut Line teammate Bobby Bauer come out of a five-year retirement to join Schmidt and Woody Dumart in the match. Bauer scored a goal and assist in the Bruins' 4–0 win, his final NHL game.

### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 44 | 14 | 12 | 215 | 133 | +82 | 100 |
| 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 34 | 26 | 10 | 195 | 164 | +31 | 78 |
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 29 | 25 | 16 | 168 | 157 | +11 | 74 |
| 4 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 25 | 29 | 16 | 162 | 176 | −14 | 66 |
| 5 | New York Rangers | 70 | 23 | 34 | 13 | 192 | 219 | −27 | 59 |
| 6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 17 | 44 | 9 | 158 | 241 | −83 | 43 |

### Record vs. opponents

1951–52 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 9–3–2 | 3–8–3 | 7–5–2 | 4–6–4 | 2–7–5 |
| Chicago | 3–9–2 | — | 2–12 | 1–10–3 | 5–7–2 | 6–6–2 |
| Detroit | 8–3–3 | 12–2 | — | 9–2–3 | 9–3–2 | 6–4–4 |
| Montreal | 5–7–2 | 10–1–3 | 2–9–3 | — | 9–4–1 | 8–5–1 |
| New York | 6–4–4 | 7–5–2 | 3–9–2 | 4–9–1 | — | 3–7–4 |
| Toronto | 7–2–5 | 6–6–2 | 4–6–4 | 5–8–1 | 7–3–4 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season schedule :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | October 11, 1951 | 0–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 0–1–0 |
| 3 | L | October 14, 1951 | 3–4 | Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 1–2–0 |
| 4 | L | October 17, 1951 | 2–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 1–3–0 |
| 5 | T | October 21, 1951 | 1–1 | New York Rangers (1951–52) | 1–3–1 |
| 6 | W | October 24, 1951 | 3–1 | @ New York Rangers (1951–52) | 2–3–1 |
| 7 | W | October 28, 1951 | 2–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 3–3–1 |
| 8 | W | November 1, 1951 | 3–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 4–3–1 |
| 9 | W | November 4, 1951 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 5–3–1 |
| 10 | T | November 6, 1951 | 0–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 5–3–2 |
| 11 | L | November 8, 1951 | 2–4 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 5–4–2 |
| 12 | T | November 11, 1951 | 1–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 5–4–3 |
| 13 | L | November 13, 1951 | 1–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 5–5–3 |
| 14 | T | November 17, 1951 | 1–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 5–5–4 |
| 15 | T | November 18, 1951 | 3–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 5–5–5 |
| 16 | L | November 20, 1951 | 0–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 5–6–5 |
| 17 | T | November 21, 1951 | 3–3 | @ New York Rangers (1951–52) | 5–6–6 |
| 18 | L | November 25, 1951 | 1–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 5–7–6 |
| 19 | T | November 27, 1951 | 1–1 | New York Rangers (1951–52) | 5–7–7 |
| 20 | T | November 29, 1951 | 1–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 5–7–8 |
| 21 | W | December 2, 1951 | 4–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 6–7–8 |
| 22 | W | December 4, 1951 | 3–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 7–7–8 |
| 23 | W | December 5, 1951 | 3–2 | @ New York Rangers (1951–52) | 8–7–8 |
| 24 | L | December 9, 1951 | 3–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 8–8–8 |
| 25 | W | December 11, 1951 | 4–2 | New York Rangers (1951–52) | 9–8–8 |
| 26 | L | December 12, 1951 | 3–6 | @ New York Rangers (1951–52) | 9–9–8 |
| 27 | L | December 15, 1951 | 1–3 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 9–10–8 |
| 28 | L | December 16, 1951 | 2–4 | Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 9–11–8 |
| 29 | T | December 18, 1951 | 5–5 | Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 9–11–9 |
| 30 | L | December 22, 1951 | 2–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 9–12–9 |
| 31 | W | December 23, 1951 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 10–12–9 |
| 32 | L | December 25, 1951 | 2–6 | Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 10–13–9 |
| 33 | L | December 29, 1951 | 0–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 10–14–9 |
| 34 | L | January 1, 1952 | 2–4 | New York Rangers (1951–52) | 10–15–9 |
| 35 | W | January 5, 1952 | 3–2 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 11–15–9 |
| 36 | L | January 6, 1952 | 2–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 11–16–9 |
| 37 | W | January 8, 1952 | 7–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 12–16–9 |
| 38 | W | January 13, 1952 | 5–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 13–16–9 |
| 39 | L | January 15, 1952 | 0–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 13–17–9 |
| 40 | L | January 17, 1952 | 0–5 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 13–18–9 |
| 41 | L | January 19, 1952 | 2–6 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 13–19–9 |
| 42 | W | January 20, 1952 | 2–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 14–19–9 |
| 43 | T | January 22, 1952 | 3–3 | New York Rangers (1951–52) | 14–19–10 |
| 44 | L | January 26, 1952 | 3–5 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 14–20–10 |
| 45 | L | January 27, 1952 | 0–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 14–21–10 |
| 46 | W | January 29, 1952 | 3–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 15–21–10 |
| 47 | T | January 31, 1952 | 0–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 15–21–11 |
| 48 | T | February 2, 1952 | 1–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 15–21–12 |
| 49 | W | February 3, 1952 | 1–0 | Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 16–21–12 |
| 50 | W | February 5, 1952 | 5–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 17–21–12 |
| 51 | L | February 9, 1952 | 2–4 | New York Rangers (1951–52) | 17–22–12 |
| 52 | L | February 10, 1952 | 0–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 17–23–12 |
| 53 | L | February 13, 1952 | 2–6 | @ New York Rangers (1951–52) | 17–24–12 |
| 54 | W | February 17, 1952 | 5–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 18–24–12 |
| 55 | L | February 18, 1952 | 2–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 18–25–12 |
| 56 | T | February 21, 1952 | 3–3 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 18–25–13 |
| 57 | L | February 24, 1952 | 2–5 | @ New York Rangers (1951–52) | 18–26–13 |
| 58 | L | February 26, 1952 | 3–4 | Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 18–27–13 |
| 59 | T | March 1, 1952 | 1–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 18–27–14 |
| 60 | T | March 2, 1952 | 2–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 18–27–15 |
| 61 | W | March 4, 1952 | 4–1 | New York Rangers (1951–52) | 19–27–15 |
| 62 | L | March 6, 1952 | 1–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 19–28–15 |
| 63 | W | March 9, 1952 | 4–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 20–28–15 |
| 64 | W | March 11, 1952 | 3–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) | 21–28–15 |
| 65 | T | March 13, 1952 | 3–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 21–28–16 |
| 66 | W | March 15, 1952 | 2–0 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 22–28–16 |
| 67 | W | March 16, 1952 | 2–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1951–52) | 23–28–16 |
| 68 | W | March 18, 1952 | 4–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) | 24–28–16 |
| 69 | L | March 19, 1952 | 4–6 | @ New York Rangers (1951–52) | 24–29–16 |
| 70 | W | March 23, 1952 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) | 25–29–16 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Milt Schmidt | C/D | 69 | 21 | 29 | 50 | 57 |
| Johnny Peirson | RW | 68 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 30 |
| Dave Creighton | C | 49 | 20 | 17 | 37 | 18 |
| Jack McIntyre | D | 52 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 18 |
| Dunc Fisher | RW | 65 | 15 | 12 | 27 | 2 |
| Ed Sandford | LW | 65 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 54 |
| Real Chevrefils | LW | 33 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 8 |
| Red Sullivan | C | 67 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 24 |
| Bill Quackenbush | D | 69 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 6 |
| Adam Brown | LW | 33 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 6 |
| Woody Dumart | LW | 39 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 0 |
| Gus Kyle | D | 69 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 127 |
| Hal Laycoe | D | 70 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 61 |
| Bill Ezinicki | RW | 28 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 47 |
| Fleming MacKell | C | 30 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 24 |
| Ed Kryzanowski | D | 70 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 33 |
| Lorne Ferguson | LW | 27 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 14 |
| Leo Labine | RW | 15 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| Murray Henderson | D | 56 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 51 |
| Pentti Lund | RW | 23 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Vic Lynn | LW/D | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Ray Barry | C | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Bobby Bauer | RW | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Jim Morrison | D | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Jim Henry | G | 70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Jim Henry | 4200 | 70 | 25 | 29 | 16 | 176 | 2.51 | 7 |
| Team: | 4200 | 70 | 25 | 29 | 16 | 176 | 2.51 | 7 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Ed Sandford | LW | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Dave Creighton | C | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Fleming MacKell | C | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| Milt Schmidt | C/D | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Jack McIntyre | D | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Bill Quackenbush | D | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Real Chevrefils | LW | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Hal Laycoe | D | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| Johnny Peirson | RW | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Pentti Lund | RW | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Woody Dumart | LW | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Leo Labine | RW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Bob Armstrong | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Dunc Fisher | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Murray Henderson | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Jim Henry | G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Kryzanowski | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gus Kyle | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Red Sullivan | C | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Jim Henry | 448 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 2.41 | 1 |
| Team: | 448 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 2.41 | 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;