# 2009–10 Boston Bruins season

The 2009–10 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 86th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). Their regular season began with a nationally-televised home game against the Washington Capitals on October 1, 2009, and ended with a road game against the same Capitals team on April 11, 2010. The Bruins failed to defend their regular-season division and conference titles from the 2008–09 season.

## Off-season

At the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Bruins chose Jordan Caron with their first-round pick, 25th overall. The NHL announced on July 15, 2009, that the Bruins would face the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 NHL Winter Classic on New Year's Day at Fenway Park.
Due to salary cap constraints and free agent movement, general manager Peter Chiarelli made substantial changes to the Bruins' lineup in the offseason. Most notable was the trade of leading goalscorer Phil Kessel, who declined contract offers and was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for three draft picks on September 18. Other departures included winger P. J. Axelsson—at 11 seasons, the longest tenured Bruin—center Stephane Yelle, defensemen Shane Hnidy and Steve Montador, and goaltender Manny Fernandez. These veteran players were considered expendable due to competition from younger, lower-paid players in the Bruins organization.
Chiarelli entered the 2009 off-season with the goal of acquiring an offensive-minded defenseman, in part due to Boston's weakness in that area during the previous playoffs. On July 24, defenseman Derek Morris signed a one-year contract with the team. Gritty forward Steve Begin was also signed to provide forward depth. In goal, Fernandez was replaced with rookie Tuukka Rask, who had spent several seasons playing in the American Hockey League (AHL).

## Regular season

The Bruins were slow to gain traction with their retooled roster, alternating wins and losses in the early weeks of the season. Chiarelli quickly dealt popular winger Chuck Kobasew to the Minnesota Wild, while penalty-killing expert Daniel Paille was brought in from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for draft picks, a move that was interpreted as a sign of dissatisfaction with the team's productivity.
In particular, the team struggled offensively in Kessel's absence. Having nearly finished first in scoring the previous season, the Bruins lingered near the bottom of the league in goal production. However, they were able to stay competitive due to their exceptional defense and strong goaltending tandem. While defending Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas was recovering from an early injury, rookie netminder Tuukka Rask emerged as a potential Calder Memorial Trophy candidate. A four-game winning streak in November set the Bruins back on course, and a 5–1–0 home record in December got them back into the divisional race by Christmas.
Perhaps the most memorable game of the season was the Winter Classic, which the Bruins hosted at Fenway Park in Boston. Despite trailing for most of the game, the team rallied in the final moments and won in overtime before a large national audience. After the game, Thomas was announced as a member of the United States men's hockey team, joining five teammates (Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, Marco Sturm, David Krejci and Miroslav Satan) who would represent various countries in Vancouver.
The Bruins went on a long losing streak lasting from mid-January to just before the Olympic break.
In the 81st game of the season, the Bruins scored three shorthanded goals in a span of 64 seconds. This outburst during a single penalty kill not only equaled their previous shorthanded goal total for the entire season, it was an NHL record for the fastest three shorthanded goals during a game. The 4–2 victory over the Hurricanes secured a playoff spot for the Bruins.
The Bruins finished the regular season having scored 196 goals (excluding 10 shootout-winning goals), the fewest in the NHL. They were the most disciplined team in the League, with a league-low 37 power-play goals against.

### Divisional standings

Northeast Division :
| | | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | y – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 235 | 207 | 100 |
| 2 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 44 | 32 | 6 | 225 | 238 | 94 |
| 3 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 39 | 30 | 13 | 206 | 200 | 91 |
| 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 39 | 33 | 10 | 217 | 223 | 88 |
| 5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 30 | 38 | 14 | 214 | 263 | 74 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | p – Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 54 | 15 | 13 | 318 | 233 | 121 |
| 2 | y – New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 48 | 27 | 7 | 222 | 191 | 103 |
| 3 | y – Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 235 | 207 | 100 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 47 | 28 | 7 | 257 | 237 | 101 |
| 5 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 44 | 32 | 6 | 225 | 238 | 94 |
| 6 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 39 | 30 | 13 | 206 | 200 | 91 |
| 7 | Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 41 | 35 | 6 | 236 | 225 | 88 |
| 8 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 39 | 33 | 10 | 217 | 223 | 88 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 38 | 33 | 11 | 222 | 218 | 87 |
| 10 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 35 | 34 | 13 | 234 | 256 | 83 |
| 11 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 230 | 256 | 80 |
| 12 | Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 217 | 260 | 80 |
| 13 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 222 | 264 | 79 |
| 14 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 32 | 37 | 13 | 208 | 244 | 77 |
| 15 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 30 | 38 | 14 | 214 | 267 | 74 |
bold – Qualified for playoffs; y – Won division; p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and division)
AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

### Game log

2009–10 game log :

## Playoffs

The Bruins clinched a playoff spot for the third consecutive season.

### Playoff log

2010 Stanley Cup playoffs :
* Scorer of game-winning goal in italics
* *Denotes if necessary

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| Patrice Bergeron | 73 | 19 | 33 | 52 | 6 | 28 |
| David Krejci | 79 | 17 | 35 | 52 | 8 | 26 |
| Zdeno Chara | 80 | 7 | 37 | 44 | 19 | 87 |
| Mark Recchi | 81 | 18 | 25 | 43 | 4 | 34 |
| Blake Wheeler | 82 | 18 | 20 | 38 | -4 | 53 |
| Marco Sturm | 76 | 22 | 15 | 37 | 14 | 30 |
| Marc Savard | 41 | 10 | 23 | 33 | 2 | 14 |
| Michael Ryder | 82 | 18 | 15 | 33 | 3 | 35 |
| Dennis Wideman | 76 | 6 | 24 | 30 | -14 | 34 |
| Derek Morris$^‡$ | 58 | 3 | 22 | 25 | -2 | 26 |
| Milan Lucic | 50 | 9 | 11 | 20 | -7 | 44 |
| Daniel Paille$^†$ | 74 | 10 | 9 | 19 | -4 | 12 |
| Johnny Boychuk | 51 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 43 |
| Miroslav Satan | 38 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 8 | 12 |
| Steve Begin | 77 | 5 | 9 | 14 | -7 | 53 |
| Matt Hunwick | 76 | 6 | 8 | 14 | -16 | 32 |
| Shawn Thornton | 74 | 1 | 9 | 10 | -9 | 141 |
| Vladimir Sobotka | 61 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -7 | 30 |
| Byron Bitz$^‡$ | 45 | 4 | 5 | 9 | -9 | 31 |
| Dennis Seidenberg$^†$ | 17 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 6 |
| Andrew Ference | 51 | 0 | 8 | 8 | -7 | 16 |
| Mark Stuart | 56 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 80 |
| Tuukka Rask$^{(G)}$ | 45 | 0 | 3 | 3 | — | 2 |
| Trent Whitfield | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 7 |
| Adam McQuaid | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -5 | 21 |
| Brad Marchand | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 20 |
| Zach Hamill | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Chuck Kobasew$^‡$ | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 2 |
| Guillaume Lefebvre | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Drew Larman | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| Andy Wozniewski | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mikko Lehtonen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| Andrew Bodnarchuk | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 2 |
| Jeff Penner | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Thomas$^{(G)}$ | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 |
| Totals | — | 196 | 347 | 543 | -2 | 929 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| Dennis Wideman | 13 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 4 |
| Patrice Bergeron | 13 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 2 |
| Mark Recchi | 13 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 6 |
| Miroslav Satan | 13 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 16 |
| Milan Lucic | 13 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 19 |
| David Krejci | 9 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| Zdeno Chara | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 29 |
| Johnny Boychuk | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Blake Wheeler | 13 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -6 | 6 |
| Matt Hunwick | 13 | 0 | 6 | 6 | -1 | 2 |
| Michael Ryder | 13 | 4 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 2 |
| Marc Savard | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| Daniel Paille | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 2 |
| Vladimir Sobotka | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -10 | 15 |
| Steve Begin | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -7 | 10 |
| Andrew Ference | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -9 | 18 |
| Tuukka Rask$^{(G)}$ | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Marco Sturm | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Shawn Thornton | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 4 |
| Adam McQuaid | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 6 |
| Trent Whitfield | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| Mark Stuart | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 6 |
| Totals | — | 36 | 63 | 99 | -7 | 167 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

Regular season :
| Player | Award | Date |
| Tuukka Rask | NHL Third Star of the Week | April 5, 2010 |
| Mark Recchi | Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy nominee | Nominated by the Writers' Association for league-wide recognition. |
On April 8, prior to the game against the Buffalo Sabres, the team announced its award winners for the season.
Bruins annual awards :
| Player | Award | Notes |
| Tuukka Rask | NESN Seventh Player Award | Awarded to the player who exceeded the expectations of Bruins fans during the season. |
| Mark Recchi | Eddie Shore Award | Awarded to the player who exhibits exceptional hustle and determination. |
| Patrice Bergeron | Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy | Awarded by the Boston Chapter of the PHWA, for outstanding performance during home games. |
| Shawn Thornton | John P. Bucyk Award | Awarded to the Bruin with the greatest off-ice charitable contributions. |
| Patrice Bergeron David Krejci Tuukka Rask | Three Star Awards | Awarded to the top performers at home over the course of the season. |

### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Brad Marchand | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | October 21, 2009 |
| Mark Recchi | 1,500th career NHL game | October 24, 2009 |
| Mark Recchi | 900th career NHL assist | November 10, 2009 |
| Shawn Thornton | 400th career NHL PIM | November 16, 2009 |
| Tuukka Rask | 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | November 20, 2009 |
| Marc Savard | 200th career NHL goal | December 2, 2009 |
| Johnny Boychuk | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | December 5, 2009 |
| Johnny Boychuk | 1st career NHL assist | December 10, 2009 |
| Adam McQuaid | 1st career NHL game | December 19, 2009 |
| Vladimir Sobotka | 100th career NHL game | December 23, 2009 |
| Matt Hunwick | 100th career NHL game | December 27, 2009 |
| Adam McQuaid | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | February 7, 2010 |
| Jeffrey Penner | 1st career NHL game | March 9, 2010 |
| David Krejci | 100th career NHL assist | March 25, 2010 |
| Steve Begin | 100th career NHL point | April 10, 2010 |
| Zach Hamill | 1st career NHL game 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | April 11, 2010 |
On December 23, Claude Julien coached his 200th game for Boston, a 6–4 win over Atlanta.

## Transactions

The Bruins have been involved in the following transactions during the 2009–10 season.

### Trades

| July 24, 2009 | To Carolina Hurricanes: Aaron Ward | To Boston: Patrick Eaves 4th-round pick in 2010 |
| September 18, 2009 | To Toronto Maple Leafs: Phil Kessel | To Boston: 1st-round pick in 2010 1st-round pick in 2011 2nd-round pick in 2010 |
| October 18, 2009 | To Minnesota Wild: Chuck Kobasew | To Boston: Alexander Fallstrom Craig Weller 2nd-round pick in 2011 |
| October 20, 2009 | To Buffalo Sabres: 3rd-round pick in 2010 Conditional 4th-round pick in 2010 | To Boston: Daniel Paille |
| March 2, 2010 | To Anaheim Ducks: Conditional 4th-round draft pick in 2010 | To Boston: Steven Kampfer |
| March 2, 2010 | To Edmonton Oilers: Matt Marquardt | To Boston: Cody Wild |
| March 3, 2010 | To Phoenix Coyotes: Derek Morris | To Boston: Conditional pick in 2011 |
| March 3, 2010 | To Florida Panthers: Byron Bitz Craig Weller 2nd-round draft pick in 2010 | To Boston: Dennis Seidenberg Matt Bartkowski |
* ↑ Condition not satisfied.
* ↑ Condition satisfied.
* ↑ Condition satisfied.
| Player | Former team | Contract terms |
| Steve Begin | Dallas Stars | 1 year, $850,000 |
| Drew Fata | Binghamton Senators | 1 year |
| Dany Sabourin | Edmonton Oilers | 1 year |
| Rob Kwiet | Windsor Spitfires | 1 year |
| Drew Larman | Rochester Americans | 1 year |
| Zach McKelvie | United States Military Academy | 1 year |
| Trent Whitfield | St. Louis Blues | 2 years, 2-way contract |
| Derek Morris | New York Rangers | 1 year, $3.3 million |
| Andy Wozniewski | Wilkes-Barre Penguins | 1 year |
| Guillaume Lefebvre | Springfield Falcons | 1 year |
| Miroslav Satan | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1 year, $700,000 |
| Player | New team | Contract terms |
| Steve Montador | Buffalo Sabres | 2 years, $3.1 million |
| Shane Hnidy | Minnesota Wild | 1 year, $750,000 |
| Martin St. Pierre | Ottawa Senators | 1 year, 2-way contract |
| P. J. Axelsson | Frolunda HC | 4 years |
| Patrick Eaves | Detroit Red Wings | 1 year, $500,000 |
| Stephane Yelle | Carolina Hurricanes | 1 year, $550,000 |
| Player | Contract terms |
| Jamie Arniel | undisclosed |
| David Krejci | 3 years, $11.25 million |
| Byron Bitz | 1 year, $675,000 |
| Johnny Boychuk | 1 year |
| Mark Recchi | 1 year, $1 million |
| Matt Hunwick | 2 years, $2.9 million |
| Milan Lucic | 3 years, $12.25 million |
| Tuukka Rask | 2 years, $2.5 million |
| Marc Savard | 7 years, $28 million |
| Andrew Ference | 3 years, $6.75 million contract extension |
| Jordan Caron | entry-level contract |
| Joe Colborne | entry-level contract |
| Michael Hutchinson | entry-level contract |
| Steven Kampfer | entry-level contract |
| Matt Bartkowski | entry-level contract |

## Draft picks

Boston's picks at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal, Quebec.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/junior/club team (league) |
| 1 | 25 | Jordan Caron | Right wing | Canada | Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL) |
| 3 | 86 | Ryan Button | Defense | Canada | Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) |
| 4 | 112 (from Philadelphia) | Lane MacDermid | Forward | United States | Windsor Spitfires (OHL) |
| 6 | 176 | Tyler Randell | Right wing | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHL) |
| 7 | 206 | Ben Sexton | Center | Canada | Nepean Raiders (CJAHL) |