Boston Bruins Tickets : The Boston Bruins Were The Top Seeded Team In The East

The 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). The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the United States. They are also an Original Six team, along with the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks.

Boston has the second highest total of Stanley Cup championships won by an American team at six, behind the Detroit Red Wings with 11. Their home arena is the TD Garden, where they have played since 1995 after the closure of the Boston Garden (which had been their home since 1928).The Adams family, which had owned the team since its founding in the 1920s, sold it to Storer Broadcasting in 1972-73.

In August 1975, Storer Broadcasting then sold the team to an ownership group headed by Jeremy Jacobs. Jacobs had to promise to keep Bobby Orr as a condition of the purchase.The Bruins and Orr reached a verbal agreement with the Jacobs during the summer of 1975, including a controversial agreement for Orr to take an 18.5% share of the Bruins after his playing days were over.

The agreement was to be checked out as to whether it would be legal for tax reasons and whether or not the league would approve it. However Orr's agent Alan Eagleson rejected the deal on behalf of his client, so Jacobs remained owner of the team.Jacobs represents the club on the NHL's Board of Governors, and serves on its Executive Committee, and he has chaired the Finance Committee.

At the NHL Board of Governors meeting in June 2007, Jacobs was elected Chairman of the Board, replacing the Calgary Flames' Harley Hotchkiss, who stepped down after 12 years in the position. He has frequently been listed by Sports Business Journal as one of the most influential people in sports in its annual poll and by Hockey News.Jacobs company owns the TD Garden and he is partners with John Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox, in the New England Sports Network (NESN).

After taking over as owner in 1975, the Bruins have been competitive (making the playoffs for 29 straight seasons from 1967-68 to 1995-96, 20 of which were with Jacobs as owner) but have won the Stanley Cup only once, in 2011 and only in his 36th year as owner. Under previous ownerships, the Bruins had won the Stanley Cup five times.

Under Jacobs, the Bruins have reached the Stanley Cup Final five times (twice against the Bruins' arch-rival Montreal Canadiens in 1977 and 1978, twice against the Edmonton Oilers in 1988 and 1990, finally winning in 2011 against the Vancouver Canucks). Jacobs's management of the team in the past earned him spots on ESPN. "Page 2" polls of "The Worst Owners in Sports", and No.7 on their 2005 "Greediest Owners In sports" list.

Sports Illustrated has suggested that longtime star defenseman Ray Bourque, who "often drawn the ire of the NHLPA for his willingness to re-sign with Boston with minimal negotiations over the years" instead of setting the "watermark for defenseman salaries", requested and received a trade in 2000 since the team's "hardline and spendthrift ways" meant that he would have to make the move to get his elusive Stanley Cup.

Prior to the new collective bargaining agreement signed in 2005, fans felt team management was not willing to spend to win the Stanley Cup.Since 2005, Jacobs's public image has improved as he invested in the team and rebuilding the front office to make the team more competitive.The Bruins were the second highest ranked team in the NHL in the 2008/2009 season and were the top seeded team in the East. With a complete change in management including new General Manager Peter Chiarelli, Coach Claude Julien and Cam Neely's appointment as President, which subsequently led to the Bruins' Stanley Cup victory in 2011.