The NHL's Northeast Division was formed in 1993 as part of the Eastern Conference in a league realignment, the predecessor of which was the Adams Division.
Boston Bruins:
he Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Expansion and the Big Bad Bruins:
Weston Adams repurchased the Bruins in 1964 after Brown's death and set about rebuilding the team. Adams drafted a defenseman from Parry Sound, Ontario, named Bobby Orr, who entered the league in 1966 and would become, in the eyes of many, the greatest player of all time.[citation needed] He was announced that season's winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year and named to the Second NHL All-Star Team. When asked about Orr's NHL debut game, October 19, 1966, against the Detroit Red Wings, then-Bruins coach Harry
The 21st century:
Boston Bruins Logo: 1995-2007
Despite a fifteen-point improvement from the previous season, the Bruins missed the playoffs in 2000-01. Leading scorer Jason Allison led the Bruins.
The following season, 2001-02, the Bruins improved again with another thirteen points, winning their first Northeast Division title since 1993 with a core built around Joe Thornton, Sergei Samsonov, Brian Rolston, Bill Guerin, and the newly acquired Glen Murray. Their regular season success didn't translate to the postseason, as they lost in six games to the underdog eighth-place Canadiens in the first round.
The 2002-03 season found the Bruins platooning their goaltending staff between Steve Shields and John Grahame for most of the season. A mid-season trade brought in veteran Jeff Hackett. The Bruins managed to finish seventh in the East, but lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils in five games.
Buffalo Sabres:
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Fog and the bat:
After a subpar year in 1974 that saw them miss the playoffs, the Sabres finished in a tie for the best record in the NHL in the 1974-75 regular season. Buffalo would advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in team history to play against the rough Philadelphia Flyers (who had been recently nicknamed the "Broad Street Bullies"), a series which included the legendary Fog Game (game three of the series). Due to unusual heat in Buffalo in May 1975, portions of the game were played in heavy fog. Players, officials, and the puck were invisible to many spectators. During a face-off and through the fog, Sabres center Jim Lorentz spotted a bat flying across the rink, raised his stick, and killed it. Many superstitious Buffalo fans considered this to be an "Evil Omen," pertaining to the result of the series. It was the only time that any player killed an animal during an NHL game. The Sabres won that game thanks to Rene Robert's goal in overtime. However, Philadelphia would wind up taking the Cup Final to six games, winning the series 4 games to 2.
The French Connection, joined by 50-goal scorer Danny Gare, continued to score prolifically for the Sabres in 1975-76, but the team lost in the quarterfinals to the New York Islanders. The Sabres continued to coast through the late 1970s behind the French Connection of Perreault, Martin, Robert, and Gare, but they were unable to return to the Final despite a regular season Conference championship in 1980 and being the first team to beat the Soviet Olympic team when they toured the United States.
Leaving the Aud:
The 1995-96 season was the first season under coach Ted Nolan and the last for the Sabres at the Memorial Auditorium, or the Aud. Nolan brought an exciting brand of hockey to Buffalo. During his coaching tenure, his Sabres were referred to as the "hardest-working team in hockey". [citation needed] Even though the Sabres failed to have success in the win column and played before an average of only a little over 13,000 fans, fourth-fewest in the history of the team at the Aud, the fans had a special love affair with the team. Brad May, Rob Ray and Matthew Barnaby became the 1990s version of the characters from the movie Slap Shot, "The Hanson Brothers." This season also featured the debut of "walk-on" veteran player Randy Burridge. After attending training camp on a try-out basis, Burridge earned a spot on the roster. He scored 25 goals that season and was second in team scoring to Pat LaFontaine. Burridge also earned the Tim Horton Award for being the unsung hero and was voted team Most Valuable Player.
Montreal Canadiens:
The Montreal Canadiens (French: Canadiens de Montréal) are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The franchise is officially known as Le Club de Hockey Canadien. Other French nicknames for the team include Le Canadien, Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, La Sainte-Flanelle, Le Tricolore, Les Glorieux, Les Habitants and Le Grand Club. In English, the main nickname is the Habs (coming from "Les Habitants").
The Canadiens are one of the teams known as the 'Original Six', the teams of the NHL, before the 1967 expansion. They have won more Stanley Cups (24, the first in 1916, before the NHL existed) than any other NHL team; the Toronto Maple Leafs have the second most with a total of 13. On a percentage basis, as of 2006, this makes them the third most historically successful major pro sports team in North America, having won 25% of all NHL/NHA Stanley Cup championships. Only the Boston Celtics of the NBA (26.2%) and the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (25.5%) have higher success rates.
The Canadiens play their home games at the Bell Centre, which was previously named the Molson Centre up until 2003. Former homes of the team include Jubilee Rink, Montreal Westmount Arena, Mount Royal Arena and the famous Montreal Forum. The Forum was considered a veritable shrine to hockey fans everywhere, and housed the team for seven decades and all but two of their Stanley Cup championships.
The team's Championship season in 1992-93 still marks the last time that a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup, in a current span of thirteen seasons (fourteen years, due to the NHL lockout season).
Jerseys:
The current team colours are red, blue and white, and they can all be seen on the home, road and third jerseys. The home jersey, which was the team's road jersey from 1970 until 2003 when the NHL decided to switch home and road jerseys, is predominantly red in colour. There are four blue and white stripes, one across each arm, one across the chest and the other across the waist. The main road jersey is the team's former home jersey, it is mainly white with a red and blue stripe across the waist, red at the end of both arm sleeves and the shoulders are also draped with red. The third jersey is white in colour with a similar design to the home jersey, except that the three stripes are blue and red, with a single red stripe dabbing the end of each arm sleeve. The third jersey design is based upon the white sweater worn by the Canadiens in the mid-1940s; as a vintage design, it sports a solid red crew collar, as opposed to the blue-white-blue striped V-neck on the home and road jerseys.
The Canadiens' famous colours are an important part of French Canadian culture. In the short story The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier a young Quebecois boy is accidentally given the jersey of the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. The poem was later made into an animated short; a quote from it appears on the Canadian five dollar bill.
Because of the team's rich history and significance, the jersey is referred to by many as La sainte flanelle (the holy flannel sweater).
Mascot:
Beginning in the 2004-05 NHL season, the Canadiens adopted a furry, orange creature named Youppi as their official mascot, the first in their 90+ year history. Youppi was the longtime mascot for the Montreal Expos baseball team, but was dropped from the franchise when they moved to Washington, D.C. in 2004 and became the Nationals. With the switch, Youppi became the first mascot in professional sports to switch leagues.
Ottawa Senators:
The Ottawa Senators (French: Les Sénateurs d'Ottawa) are a professional men's ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Senators are the current Eastern Conference champions, holders of the Prince of Wales Trophy, and runner-up in the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.
Founded in 1991 by Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone, the team is the namesake of the famous original Senators hockey club of 1884 to 1934 which won 10 Stanley Cups and was one of the founding five teams of the NHL. From their first season of play in 1992-93, the club has seen hard times, both on and off the ice. Today the club is now one of the most successful in the league, featuring several top star players and is one of the top teams in average attendance.
First finals in 80 years:
Further information: 2007 Stanley Cup Finals
They were the first Ottawa team to be in the Stanley Cup Finals since the 1926-27 Ottawa Senators defeated the Boston Bruins. Despite that 80 year gap, one fan attended both finals. The third game of the series and first home game for Ottawa on June 2, was attended by 91-year old Russell Williams as a guest of the Senators. He had attended the last Finals game in Ottawa on April 13, 1927, played in the old Ottawa Auditorium. His presence was a good-luck charm; as the game was won by the Senators, marking a potential comeback.
It marked the first time that a NHL team captain from Europe had made the finals, as Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson is from Sweden. Previously, only Americans or Canadians had captained teams in the Finals. The Ducks were captained by a Canadian (Scott Niedermayer) and would have more Canadian players than the Senators. Alfredsson would be one of the bright lights for the Senators in the series, as he had been in all of the playoff series. But he would be one of the few bright lights as the series was won by Anaheim's strong defensive play and opportunistic scoring. The Ducks had been favoured to win the Cup since before the season started.
New Shoulder Patch:
The new shoulder patch logo replaces the winged 'S' 'established MDCCCXCIV' (1894) shoulder patch with the jersey logo of the original Ottawa Senators club.
Spartacat:
Spartacat is an anthropomorphic lion and the official mascot of the Senators. He is unable to talk but expresses himself through wild gestures and a constant smile. He is also known to be quite an acrobat as he has been seen swinging through the Scotiabank Place arena to get the crowd pumped up before games.
Toronto Maple Leafs:
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The organization, one of the "Original Six" members of the NHL, is officially known as the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club, owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE). They play at the Air Canada Centre (ACC). The 'Leafs' are well known for their long and bitter rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens. The franchise has won thirteen Stanley Cups, eleven as the Leafs, one as the Toronto St. Patricks, and one as the Toronto Arenas.
Leafs Nation:
Maple Leafs fans worldwide are known by the collective nickname "Leafs Nation"; the club uses this term as the title of its website. Conversely, there is an equally passionate dislike of the team by fans of several other NHL teams. In November 2002, the Leafs were named by Sports Illustrated hockey writer Michael Farber as the "Most Hated Team in Hockey." He even mentioned that many rival fans believe that the referees were partial towards the Leafs, although the team's consistent position near the top of the penalty minutes statistics over the years may disprove that theory.
Rivalries:
The Maple Leafs' greatest rival is the Montreal Canadiens, given the long history of Original Six matchups and playoff meetings between the two clubs. The fact that Montreal is Canada's most populated French-speaking city also gives the rivalry a nationalistic flair, which is perhaps best captured in the popular Canadian short story "The Hockey Sweater" by Roch Carrier.
The rivalry between the Leafs and the Ottawa Senators, known as The Battle of Ontario, has heated up since the late 1990s, owing in no small part to the Canadiens' struggles during that period. While Ottawa has dominated during most of the teams' regular season matchups in recent years, the Leafs have won all four postseason series between the two teams.
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