# 1955–56 Boston Bruins season

The 1955–56 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 32nd season in the NHL.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 45 | 15 | 10 | 222 | 131 | +91 | 100 |
| 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 30 | 24 | 16 | 183 | 148 | +35 | 76 |
| 3 | New York Rangers | 70 | 32 | 28 | 10 | 204 | 203 | +1 | 74 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 24 | 33 | 13 | 153 | 181 | −28 | 61 |
| 5 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 23 | 34 | 13 | 147 | 185 | −38 | 59 |
| 6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 19 | 39 | 12 | 155 | 216 | −61 | 50 |

### Record vs. opponents

1955–56 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 3–8–3 | 3–8–3 | 5–8–1 | 7–5–2 | 5–5–4 |
| Chicago | 8–3–3 | — | 2–8–4 | 1–12–1 | 3–10–1 | 5–6–3 |
| Detroit | 8–3–3 | 8–2–4 | — | 4–8–2 | 5–6–3 | 5–5–4 |
| Montreal | 8–5–1 | 12–1–1 | 8–4–2 | — | 8–2–4 | 9–3–2 |
| New York | 5–7–2 | 10–3–1 | 6–5–3 | 2–8–4 | — | 9–5 |
| Toronto | 5–5–4 | 6–5–3 | 5–5–4 | 3–9–2 | 5–9 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season schedule :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | October 8, 1955 | 0–2 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | L | October 9, 1955 | 2–5 | Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 0–2–0 |
| 3 | W | October 12, 1955 | 2–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 1–2–0 |
| 4 | T | October 15, 1955 | 2–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 1–2–1 |
| 5 | W | October 16, 1955 | 4–1 | New York Rangers (1955–56) | 2–2–1 |
| 6 | W | October 20, 1955 | 3–2 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 3–2–1 |
| 7 | T | October 22, 1955 | 0–0 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 3–2–2 |
| 8 | L | October 25, 1955 | 0–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 3–3–2 |
| 9 | W | October 29, 1955 | 1–0 | @ New York Rangers (1955–56) | 4–3–2 |
| 10 | T | November 3, 1955 | 3–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 4–3–3 |
| 11 | L | November 5, 1955 | 2–4 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 4–4–3 |
| 12 | T | November 6, 1955 | 3–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 4–4–4 |
| 13 | W | November 10, 1955 | 5–1 | New York Rangers (1955–56) | 5–4–4 |
| 14 | W | November 12, 1955 | 3–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 6–4–4 |
| 15 | T | November 13, 1955 | 0–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 6–4–5 |
| 16 | L | November 18, 1955 | 1–6 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 6–5–5 |
| 17 | L | November 19, 1955 | 2–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 6–6–5 |
| 18 | T | November 20, 1955 | 1–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 6–6–6 |
| 19 | L | November 23, 1955 | 0–4 | @ New York Rangers (1955–56) | 6–7–6 |
| 20 | L | November 24, 1955 | 0–5 | New York Rangers (1955–56) | 6–8–6 |
| 21 | L | November 26, 1955 | 1–3 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 6–9–6 |
| 22 | L | November 27, 1955 | 0–6 | Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 6–10–6 |
| 23 | L | December 1, 1955 | 1–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 6–11–6 |
| 24 | L | December 3, 1955 | 0–5 | Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 6–12–6 |
| 25 | W | December 4, 1955 | 5–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 7–12–6 |
| 26 | T | December 8, 1955 | 2–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 7–12–7 |
| 27 | T | December 9, 1955 | 1–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 7–12–8 |
| 28 | L | December 11, 1955 | 2–4 | Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 7–13–8 |
| 29 | W | December 15, 1955 | 4–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 8–13–8 |
| 30 | L | December 17, 1955 | 1–5 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 8–14–8 |
| 31 | L | December 18, 1955 | 1–7 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 8–15–8 |
| 32 | T | December 21, 1955 | 3–3 | @ New York Rangers (1955–56) | 8–15–9 |
| 33 | L | December 22, 1955 | 2–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 8–16–9 |
| 34 | L | December 25, 1955 | 2–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 8–17–9 |
| 35 | L | December 29, 1955 | 3–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 8–18–9 |
| 36 | L | December 31, 1955 | 2–6 | @ New York Rangers (1955–56) | 8–19–9 |
| 37 | L | January 1, 1956 | 2–4 | New York Rangers (1955–56) | 8–20–9 |
| 38 | L | January 7, 1956 | 2–6 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 8–21–9 |
| 39 | L | January 8, 1956 | 3–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 8–22–9 |
| 40 | L | January 12, 1956 | 0–5 | Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 8–23–9 |
| 41 | W | January 14, 1956 | 2–0 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 9–23–9 |
| 42 | L | January 15, 1956 | 1–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 9–24–9 |
| 43 | L | January 19, 1956 | 2–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 9–25–9 |
| 44 | W | January 20, 1956 | 3–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 10–25–9 |
| 45 | W | January 22, 1956 | 3–1 | New York Rangers (1955–56) | 11–25–9 |
| 46 | W | January 26, 1956 | 5–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 12–25–9 |
| 47 | L | January 28, 1956 | 1–6 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 12–26–9 |
| 48 | W | January 29, 1956 | 3–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 13–26–9 |
| 49 | T | February 2, 1956 | 2–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 13–26–10 |
| 50 | W | February 4, 1956 | 7–1 | New York Rangers (1955–56) | 14–26–10 |
| 51 | W | February 5, 1956 | 3–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 15–26–10 |
| 52 | T | February 8, 1956 | 3–3 | @ New York Rangers (1955–56) | 15–26–11 |
| 53 | T | February 9, 1956 | 1–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 15–26–12 |
| 54 | W | February 11, 1956 | 3–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 16–26–12 |
| 55 | L | February 12, 1956 | 1–7 | Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 16–27–12 |
| 56 | L | February 15, 1956 | 0–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 16–28–12 |
| 57 | W | February 17, 1956 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 17–28–12 |
| 58 | W | February 19, 1956 | 3–0 | @ New York Rangers (1955–56) | 18–28–12 |
| 59 | L | February 21, 1956 | 1–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 18–29–12 |
| 60 | W | February 25, 1956 | 3–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 19–29–12 |
| 61 | L | February 26, 1956 | 1–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 19–30–12 |
| 62 | L | February 29, 1956 | 2–4 | @ New York Rangers (1955–56) | 19–31–12 |
| 63 | L | March 1, 1956 | 0–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 19–32–12 |
| 64 | W | March 3, 1956 | 5–2 | New York Rangers (1955–56) | 20–32–12 |
| 65 | T | March 4, 1956 | 2–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) | 20–32–13 |
| 66 | L | March 8, 1956 | 2–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 20–33–13 |
| 67 | W | March 10, 1956 | 4–0 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 21–33–13 |
| 68 | W | March 11, 1956 | 3–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1955–56) | 22–33–13 |
| 69 | W | March 13, 1956 | 4–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) | 23–33–13 |
| 70 | L | March 18, 1956 | 2–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) | 23–34–13 |

## Playoffs

The Bruins failed to make the playoffs – leading to a moment of NHL history.
As was then customary for the Bruins when missing the playoffs, the team played an exhibition tour. This resulted in the first ever outdoor game in Canada involving an NHL team, the 1956 Boston Bruins exhibition game in Newfoundland, on the night of April 9, 1956.

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Vic Stasiuk | LW | 59 | 19 | 18 | 37 | 118 |
| Cal Gardner | C | 70 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 57 |
| Leo Labine | RW | 68 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 104 |
| Don McKenney | C | 65 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 20 |
| Johnny Peirson | RW | 33 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 10 |
| Bill Quackenbush | D | 70 | 3 | 22 | 25 | 4 |
| Fern Flaman | D | 62 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 70 |
| Leo Boivin | D | 68 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 80 |
| Real Chevrefils | LW | 25 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 10 |
| Doug Mohns | LW/D | 64 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 48 |
| Marcel Bonin | W | 67 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 49 |
| Fleming MacKell | C | 52 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 59 |
| Jerry Toppazzini | RW | 28 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 22 |
| Lorne Ferguson | LW | 32 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 18 |
| Murray Costello | C | 41 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 19 |
| Bob Armstrong | D | 68 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 122 |
| Hal Laycoe | D | 65 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 16 |
| Orval Tessier | C | 23 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Ed Panagabko | C | 28 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 38 |
| Lionel Heinrich | LW | 35 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 33 |
| Lorne Davis | RW | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| John Henderson | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Nicholson | LW | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Ellard O'Brien | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Claude Pronovost | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Terry Sawchuk | G | 68 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Terry Sawchuk | 4080 | 68 | 22 | 33 | 13 | 177 | 2.60 | 9 |
| Claude Pronovost | 60 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| John Henderson | 60 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 4200 | 70 | 23 | 34 | 13 | 181 | 2.59 | 10 |
    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;