Editing Boston Bruins (section)

===Expansion and the Big Bad Bruins (1967–1979)===
Weston Adams repurchased the Bruins in 1964 after Brown's death. Adams signed future superstar defenseman [[Bobby Orr]], who entered the league in [[1966–67 NHL season|1966]]. Orr was that season's winner of the [[Calder Memorial Trophy]] for Rookie of the Year and named to the second NHL All-Star Team. Despite Orr's stellar rookie season, the Bruins would miss the playoffs. 

The next season, Boston made the playoffs for the first of 29 consecutive seasons, an all-time record. The Bruins then obtained forwards [[Phil Esposito]], [[Ken Hodge]] and [[Fred Stanfield]] from [[Chicago]] in a deal celebrated as one of the most one-sided in hockey history. Hodge and Stanfield became key elements of the Bruins' success, and Esposito, who centered a line with Hodge and [[Wayne Cashman]], became the league's top goal scorer and the first NHL player to break the 100-point mark, setting many goal- and point-scoring records. With other stars like forwards Bucyk, [[John McKenzie (hockey player)|John McKenzie]], [[Derek Sanderson]], and Hodge, defenders like [[Dallas Smith (ice hockey)|Dallas Smith]] and goaltender [[Gerry Cheevers]], the "Big Bad Bruins" became one of the league's top teams from the late 1960s into the 1980s.

In [[1969–70 NHL season|1970]], a 29-year Stanley Cup drought came to an end in Boston, as the Bruins defeated the [[St. Louis Blues]] in four games in the [[1970 Stanley Cup Finals]]. Orr scored the game-winning goal in overtime to clinch the Stanley Cup. The same season was Orr's most awarded—the third of eight consecutive years he won the [[James Norris Memorial Trophy]] as the top defenseman in the NHL—and he won the [[Art Ross Trophy]], the [[Conn Smythe Trophy]] and the [[Hart Memorial Trophy]], the only player to ever win four major awards in the same season.

While Sinden temporarily retired from ice hockey before the [[1970–71 NHL season|1970–71 season]] to enter business (he was replaced by ex-Bruins and Canadiens defenseman [[Tom Johnson (ice hockey)|Tom Johnson]]), the Bruins set dozens of offensive scoring records: they had seven of the league's top ten scorers—a feat not achieved before or since—set the record for wins in a season, and in a league that had never seen a 100-point scorer before the [[1968–69 NHL season|1968–69 season]], the Bruins had four that year. All four (Orr, Esposito, Bucyk and Hodge) were named First Team All-Stars. Boston were favored to repeat as Cup champions but lost to the Canadiens (and rookie goaltender [[Ken Dryden]]) in seven games.

While the Bruins were not quite as dominant the next season, Esposito and Orr were once again one-two in the scoring standings and Boston regained the Stanley Cup by defeating the [[New York Rangers]] in six games in the [[1972 Stanley Cup Finals]]. 

The [[1972–73 NHL season|1972–73 season]] saw upheaval for the Bruins. Former head coach Sinden became the general manager. Bruins players Gerry Cheevers, Derek Sanderson, [[Johnny McKenzie]] and [[Ted Green]] left to join the [[World Hockey Association]] (WHA). Coach Tom Johnson was fired 52 games into the season, replaced by [[Bep Guidolin]]. The Adams family, which had owned the team since its founding in the 1920s, sold it to [[Storer Broadcasting]]. The Bruins' season came to a premature end in a first-round loss to the Rangers in the [[1973 Stanley Cup playoffs|1973 playoffs]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Brunt |first=Stephen |year=2006 |pages=53–254 |publisher=Random House |title=Searching for Bobby Orr |isbn=978-0-676-97651-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kgXsAiT97voC |access-date=January 13, 2020 |archive-date=February 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209170211/https://books.google.com/books?id=kgXsAiT97voC |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1974, the Bruins regained their first-place standing in the regular season, with three 100-point scorers on the team (Esposito, Orr, and Hodge). However, they lost the [[1974 Stanley Cup Finals]] in an upset to the [[Philadelphia Flyers]].

[[File:Terry O'Reilly 78-79.JPG|upright|thumb|left|[[Terry O'Reilly]] was drafted by the Bruins 14th overall in the [[1971 NHL amateur draft|1971 draft]]. He played his entire career with the Bruins from 1971 to 1985.]]
[[Don Cherry (ice hockey)|Don Cherry]] stepped behind the bench as the new coach in [[1974–75 NHL season|1974–75]]. The Bruins stocked themselves with [[Enforcer (hockey)|enforcers]] and grinders, and remained competitive under Cherry's reign, the so-called "Lunch Pail A.C"., behind players such as [[Gregg Sheppard]], [[Terry O'Reilly]], [[Stan Jonathan]] and [[Peter McNab]]. This would also turn out to be Orr's final full season in the league, before his knee injuries worsened, as well as the last time Orr and Esposito would finish 1–2 in regular season scoring. The Bruins placed second in the Adams Division, and lost to the [[Chicago Black Hawks]] in the first round of the [[1975 Stanley Cup playoffs|1975 playoffs]], losing a best-of-three series, two games to one.

Continuing with Sinden's rebuilding of the team, the Bruins traded Esposito and [[Carol Vadnais]] for [[Brad Park]], [[Jean Ratelle]] and [[Joe Zanussi]] to the Rangers. The Bruins made the semifinals again, losing to the Flyers, before losing Orr as a free agent to Chicago in the off-season.

Cheevers returned in [[1976–77 NHL season|1977]], and the Bruins got past the Flyers in the semifinals, but were swept by the Canadiens in the [[1977 Stanley Cup Finals|Stanley Cup Finals]]. The story repeated itself in [[1977–78 NHL season|1978]]—with a balanced attack that saw Boston have 11 players with 20+ goal seasons, still the NHL record—as the Bruins made the [[1978 Stanley Cup Finals|Cup Finals]] once more, but lost in six games to Montreal. After that series, John Bucyk retired, holding virtually every Bruins' career longevity and scoring mark to that time.

The [[1979 Stanley Cup playoffs|1979 semifinals]] series against the Canadiens proved to be Cherry's undoing. In the deciding seventh game, the Bruins, up by a goal, were called for having too many men on the ice in the late stages of the third period. Montreal tied the game on the ensuing power play and won in overtime. Cherry was dismissed as head coach thereafter.