# 1975–76 Boston Bruins season

The 1975–76 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 52nd season in the NHL. The season involved trading Phil Esposito to the New York Rangers, while a knee injury limited Bobby Orr to 10 games.

## Offseason
### NHL Draft

| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team |
| 1 | 14 | Doug Halward (D) | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHA) |
| 2 | 32 | Barry Smith (C) | Canada | New Westminster Bruins (WCHL) |
| 4 | 60 | Rick Adduono (C) | Canada | St. Catharines Black Hawks (OMJHL) |
| 4 | 68 | Denis Daigle (LW) | Canada | Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 86 | Stan Jonathan (LW) | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OMJHL) |
| 6 | 104 | Matti Hagman (C) | Finland | HIFK (Finland) |
| 7 | 122 | Gary Carr (G) | Canada | Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL) |
| 8 | 140 | Bo Berglund (LW) | Sweden | Modo AIK (Sweden) |
| 9 | 156 | Joe Rando (D) | United States | University of New Hampshire (ECAC) |
| 10 | 171 | Kevin Nugent (RW) | United States | University of Notre Dame (WCHA) |

## Regular season
### Season standings

Adams Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Boston Bruins | 80 | 48 | 15 | 17 | 313 | 237 | 113 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 46 | 21 | 13 | 339 | 240 | 105 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 80 | 34 | 31 | 15 | 294 | 276 | 83 |
| California Golden Seals | 80 | 27 | 42 | 11 | 250 | 278 | 65 |
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
1975–76 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
CAL
TOR
Total
Boston
—3–2–15–14–1–112–4–2
Buffalo
2–3–1—5–0–14–211–5–2
California
1–50–5–1—1–3–22–13–3
Toronto
1–4–12–43–1–2—6–9–3
Vs. Norris Division
1975–76 NHL records
Team
DET
LAK
MTL
PIT
WSH
Total
Boston
3–0–24–10–3–23–0–24–0–114–4–7
Buffalo
4–13–22–34–14–0–117–7–1
California
3–1–12–30–52–2–13–1–110–12–3
Toronto
2–1–23–1–11–3–11–44–0–111–9–5
Vs. Patrick Division
1975–76 NHL records
Team
ATL
NYI
NYR
PHI
Total
Boston
3–22–0–23–12–1–110–4–3
Buffalo
2–1–12–22–0–30–3–16–6–5
California
1–31–33–10–4–15–11–1
Toronto
2–21–3–14–00–3–17–8–2
Vs. Smythe Division
1975–76 NHL records
Team
CHI
KCS
MIN
STL
VAN
Total
Boston
3–0–12–1–13–0–12–1–12–1–112–3–5
Buffalo
2–0–23–0–14–02–1–11–2–112–3–5
California
2–1–11–2–13–12–1–12–1–110–6–4
Toronto
1–2–13–0–13–12–0–21–2–110–5–5 :

## Schedule and results

Regular season schedule :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | October 9, 1975 | 4–9 | Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | T | October 12, 1975 | 3–3 | New York Islanders (1975–76) | 0–1–1 |
| 3 | T | October 16, 1975 | 2–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) | 0–1–2 |
| 4 | W | October 18, 1975 | 5–2 | @ New York Islanders (1975–76) | 1–1–2 |
| 5 | W | October 19, 1975 | 3–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) | 2–1–2 |
| 6 | L | October 23, 1975 | 2–3 | Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) | 2–2–2 |
| 7 | L | October 25, 1975 | 2–6 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) | 2–3–2 |
| 8 | W | October 26, 1975 | 7–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) | 3–3–2 |
| 9 | W | October 30, 1975 | 3–2 | St. Louis Blues (1975–76) | 4–3–2 |
| 10 | L | November 1, 1975 | 1–8 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) | 4–4–2 |
| 11 | W | November 2, 1975 | 5–0 | California Golden Seals (1975–76) | 5–4–2 |
| 12 | L | November 5, 1975 | 0–4 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) | 5–5–2 |
| 13 | L | November 8, 1975 | 2–4 | @ Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) | 5–6–2 |
| 14 | W | November 9, 1975 | 6–3 | @ California Golden Seals (1975–76) | 6–6–2 |
| 15 | W | November 13, 1975 | 6–0 | Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) | 7–6–2 |
| 16 | W | November 15, 1975 | 5–3 | @ Atlanta Flames (1975–76) | 8–6–2 |
| 17 | W | November 16, 1975 | 4–2 | Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) | 9–6–2 |
| 18 | T | November 19, 1975 | 3–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) | 9–6–3 |
| 19 | T | November 20, 1975 | 2–2 | New York Islanders (1975–76) | 9–6–4 |
| 20 | T | November 23, 1975 | 3–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) | 9–6–5 |
| 21 | W | November 25, 1975 | 4–2 | Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) | 10–6–5 |
| 22 | W | November 26, 1975 | 6–4 | @ New York Rangers (1975–76) | 11–6–5 |
| 23 | T | November 29, 1975 | 4–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) | 11–6–6 |
| 24 | W | November 30, 1975 | 4–2 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) | 12–6–6 |
| 25 | W | December 4, 1975 | 3–2 | Washington Capitals (1975–76) | 13–6–6 |
| 26 | W | December 6, 1975 | 4–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) | 14–6–6 |
| 27 | T | December 7, 1975 | 2–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) | 14–6–7 |
| 28 | L | December 11, 1975 | 1–5 | New York Rangers (1975–76) | 14–7–7 |
| 29 | T | December 13, 1975 | 4–4 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) | 14–7–8 |
| 30 | W | December 14, 1975 | 3–2 | Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) | 15–7–8 |
| 31 | W | December 17, 1975 | 3–2 | @ Washington Capitals (1975–76) | 16–7–8 |
| 32 | W | December 20, 1975 | 5–3 | Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) | 17–7–8 |
| 33 | L | December 21, 1975 | 1–2 | Atlanta Flames (1975–76) | 17–8–8 |
| 34 | L | December 23, 1975 | 3–4 | Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) | 17–9–8 |
| 35 | W | December 26, 1975 | 6–3 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) | 18–9–8 |
| 36 | W | December 28, 1975 | 4–2 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) | 19–9–8 |
| 37 | W | December 31, 1975 | 6–1 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) | 20–9–8 |
| 38 | T | January 2, 1976 | 4–4 | @ Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) | 20–9–9 |
| 39 | W | January 3, 1976 | 3–0 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) | 21–9–9 |
| 40 | W | January 10, 1976 | 3–2 | California Golden Seals (1975–76) | 22–9–9 |
| 41 | W | January 11, 1976 | 7–4 | @ Washington Capitals (1975–76) | 23–9–9 |
| 42 | W | January 13, 1976 | 6–2 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) | 24–9–9 |
| 43 | W | January 15, 1976 | 4–0 | Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) | 25–9–9 |
| 44 | L | January 17, 1976 | 5–7 | @ St. Louis Blues (1975–76) | 25–10–9 |
| 45 | W | January 22, 1976 | 5–3 | Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) | 26–10–9 |
| 46 | W | January 24, 1976 | 6–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) | 27–10–9 |
| 47 | W | January 25, 1976 | 5–3 | Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) | 28–10–9 |
| 48 | W | January 29, 1976 | 5–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) | 29–10–9 |
| 49 | W | January 30, 1976 | 4–2 | @ Atlanta Flames (1975–76) | 30–10–9 |
| 50 | W | February 1, 1976 | 5–3 | Atlanta Flames (1975–76) | 31–10–9 |
| 51 | W | February 5, 1976 | 5–1 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) | 32–10–9 |
| 52 | L | February 7, 1976 | 4–11 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) | 32–11–9 |
| 53 | W | February 8, 1976 | 7–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) | 33–11–9 |
| 54 | W | February 11, 1976 | 5–2 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) | 34–11–9 |
| 55 | W | February 13, 1976 | 6–5 | @ California Golden Seals (1975–76) | 35–11–9 |
| 56 | W | February 15, 1976 | 4–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) | 36–11–9 |
| 57 | T | February 18, 1976 | 3–3 | @ Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) | 36–11–10 |
| 58 | W | February 21, 1976 | 2–1 | @ New York Islanders (1975–76) | 37–11–10 |
| 59 | W | February 22, 1976 | 5–2 | @ New York Rangers (1975–76) | 38–11–10 |
| 60 | W | February 26, 1976 | 4–2 | St. Louis Blues (1975–76) | 39–11–10 |
| 61 | T | February 27, 1976 | 3–3 | @ Washington Capitals (1975–76) | 39–11–11 |
| 62 | W | February 29, 1976 | 5–3 | Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) | 40–11–11 |
| 63 | W | March 3, 1976 | 5–3 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) | 41–11–11 |
| 64 | L | March 5, 1976 | 3–4 | @ California Golden Seals (1975–76) | 41–12–11 |
| 65 | W | March 7, 1976 | 4–3 | Washington Capitals (1975–76) | 42–12–11 |
| 66 | L | March 9, 1976 | 0–9 | @ Atlanta Flames (1975–76) | 42–13–11 |
| 67 | W | March 11, 1976 | 6–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) | 43–13–11 |
| 68 | L | March 13, 1976 | 2–4 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) | 43–14–11 |
| 69 | W | March 14, 1976 | 4–2 | California Golden Seals (1975–76) | 44–14–11 |
| 70 | T | March 16, 1976 | 3–3 | @ St. Louis Blues (1975–76) | 44–14–12 |
| 71 | W | March 18, 1976 | 5–2 | @ Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) | 45–14–12 |
| 72 | W | March 20, 1976 | 8–1 | New York Rangers (1975–76) | 46–14–12 |
| 73 | T | March 24, 1976 | 5–5 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) | 46–14–13 |
| 74 | W | March 25, 1976 | 4–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) | 47–14–13 |
| 75 | T | March 27, 1976 | 4–4 | Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) | 47–14–14 |
| 76 | T | March 28, 1976 | 2–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) | 47–14–15 |
| 77 | T | March 30, 1976 | 4–4 | Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) | 47–14–16 |
| 78 | L | April 1, 1976 | 2–7 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) | 47–15–16 |
| 79 | W | April 3, 1976 | 4–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) | 48–15–16 |
| 80 | T | April 4, 1976 | 2–2 | Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) | 48–15–17 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Jean Ratelle | C | 67 | 31 | 59 | 90 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 1 | 3 |
| John Bucyk | LW | 77 | 36 | 47 | 83 | 20 | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 |
| Gregg Sheppard | C | 70 | 31 | 43 | 74 | 28 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| Wayne Cashman | LW | 80 | 28 | 43 | 71 | 87 | 30 | 9 | 0 | 6 |
| Bobby Schmautz | RW | 75 | 28 | 34 | 62 | 116 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Ken Hodge | RW | 72 | 25 | 36 | 61 | 42 | 19 | 8 | 0 | 5 |
| Brad Park | D | 43 | 16 | 37 | 53 | 95 | 23 | 7 | 1 | 2 |
| Terry O'Reilly | RW | 80 | 23 | 27 | 50 | 150 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Andre Savard | C | 79 | 17 | 23 | 40 | 60 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Don Marcotte | LW | 58 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 24 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Dallas Smith | D | 77 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 103 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Forbes | LW | 79 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 52 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Doug Gibson | C | 50 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Darryl Edestrand | D | 77 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 103 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Bobby Orr | D | 10 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 22 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Phil Esposito | C | 12 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 8 | -1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Hank Nowak | LW | 66 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 41 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Zanussi | D | 60 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Sims | D | 48 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 43 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carol Vadnais | D | 12 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Doak | D | 58 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 60 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Doug Halward | D | 22 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 6 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Barry Smith | C | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Earl Anderson | RW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gordie Clark | RW | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kent Ruhnke | RW | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Simmons | D | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Adduono | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry Cheevers | G | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gilles Gilbert | G | 55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stan Jonathan | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Langdon | LW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Maluta | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Milbury | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul O'Neil | C/RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Reece | G | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Gilles Gilbert | 3123 | 55 | 33 | 8 | 10 | 151 | 2.90 | 3 |
| Gerry Cheevers | 900 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 41 | 2.73 | 1 |
| Dave Reece | 777 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 43 | 3.32 | 2 |
| Team: | 4800 | 80 | 48 | 15 | 17 | 235 | 2.94 | 6 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Jean Ratelle | C | 12 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Gregg Sheppard | C | 12 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Brad Park | D | 11 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ken Hodge | RW | 12 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Bobby Schmautz | RW | 11 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| John Bucyk | LW | 12 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Marcotte | LW | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Wayne Cashman | LW | 11 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andre Savard | C | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry O'Reilly | RW | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dallas Smith | D | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Darryl Edestrand | D | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Forbes | LW | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Gary Doak | D | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Zanussi | D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry Cheevers | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gordie Clark | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gilles Gilbert | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Halward | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Langdon | LW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Maluta | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Milbury | D | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hank Nowak | LW | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Sims | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Gilles Gilbert | 360 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 3.17 | 2 |
| Gerry Cheevers | 392 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 2.14 | 1 |
| Team: | 752 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 33 | 2.63 | 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;

## Awards and honors

* Jack Adams Award: || Don Cherry
* Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: || Jean Ratelle
* Brad Park, Defenceman, NHL First Team All-Star