2008–09 Boston Bruins season
| 2008–09 Boston Bruins | |
|---|---|
|
Northeast Division champions
|
|
| Division | 1st Northeast |
| Conference | 1st Eastern |
| 2008–09 record | 53–19–10 |
| Home record | 29–6–6 |
| Road record | 24–13–4 |
| Goals for | 274 |
| Goals against | 196 |
| Team information | |
| General Manager | Peter Chiarelli |
| Coach | Claude Julien |
| Captain | Zdeno Chara |
| Alternate captains |
Patrice Bergeron Rotating P. J. Axelsson Andrew Ference Marco Sturm Stephane Yelle |
| Arena | TD Banknorth Garden |
| Average attendance | 17,039 (97.0%) Total: 698,638 |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Phil Kessel (36) |
| Assists | Marc Savard (63) |
| Points | Marc Savard (88) |
| Penalties in minutes | Milan Lucic (136) |
| Plus/minus | David Krejci (+37) |
| Wins | Tim Thomas (36) |
| Goals against average | Tim Thomas (2.10) |
The 2008–09 Boston Bruins season is the Bruins' 85th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). Their regular season began on the road on October 9, 2008, in Denver versus the Colorado Avalanche and concluded on April 12, 2009, against the New York Islanders. The Bruins looked to improve upon the accomplishments of the 2007–08 season, which included Boston's return to the NHL playoffs for the first time since the 2003–04 season.
Marc Savard again led the team in scoring for the regular season, his 88 points good for ninth in the league. Tim Thomas led all goaltenders in both save percentage and goals against at season's end, while sophomore sensation David Krejci led the league in plus-minus, narrowly beating out rookie teammate Blake Wheeler.
The Bruins claimed their first division title since 2004 and clinched top seed in the East for the first time since 2002.
“I’m not big on going out there and making those big declarations, or comments, but I think we can go as far as we believe we can go.”
Arguably the two biggest events to occur during the Bruins' off-season were the acquisition of Montreal Canadiens forward Michael Ryder, a noted 30-goal scorer, and Blake Wheeler, a promising 21-year-old from the University of Minnesota. Twelve-year veteran Stephane Yelle was another strong addition to the roster. Added to a line-up featuring young stars such as Phil Kessel and Milan Lucic, the return of Patrice Bergeron, the improved goaltending of veteran Tim Thomas and coming off the back of an impressive post-season, expectations were high for the team.
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