Can the Boston Bruins Finish out Greatest NHL Regular Season with a First Stanley Cup Title in Over a Decade?
This content was produced in partnership with Gambler Labs.
If you are a fan of the Boston Bruins, this has been one of the greatest seasons of your life.
Boston just set the regular season record for wins in a season with 63, and stormed through the National Hockey League’s 2022-23 campaign from the first puck drop until the last with the look of a team on a mission to win a first Stanley Cup since 2011.
The Bruins finished 20-plus points clear of any other team in the league, and will head into the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the clear favorites to win the cup: Boston is currently listed with odds of +325, well ahead of defending champions Colorado (odds of +600) and the Edmonton Oilers (+800) as per MA betting apps.
However–and there is a however here, no matter how dominant Boston has been this season–there are a few historical things the Bruins are going to have to overcome to bring Lord Stanley back to Beantown.
Teams that win the President’s Trophy have not had a lot of success winning the Stanley Cup. In the last two decades, there have been two teams able to do it, and you have to go back a decade to find the first: the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks (who were in the middle of three titles in six seasons) accomplished the feat, as did the 2008 Detroit Red Wings (who won four President’s Trophies in six seasons and two cups). Both of those teams were in the middle of dynasties.
Right now, there is an Eastern Conference dynasty that the Bruins must break to even make a finals appearance. The Tampa Bay Lightning have been to three-straight finals, and won two Stanley Cups: they will not be going gently into that good night.
Finally, and maybe the thing that is most important, is Boston’s Stanley Cup Finals record. The Bruins are 1-7 in finals in their last eight appearances over the last 50 years, and 3-12 dating back to 1943: that is a lot of history to overcome this year.
All of those things, though, exist outside of this 2022-23 season bubble: this is the best team to have ever played in the regular season, and they have done it from start to finish.
Now, all they have to do is add two more trophies to the case to make this the best ever season, period.
If you or anyone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.