Editing Boston Bruins (section)

===Ray Bourque era (1979–2000)===
The [[1979–80 NHL season|1979–80 season]] saw a new head coach [[Fred Creighton]], and also included a trade of goaltender [[Ron Grahame]] to the [[Los Angeles Kings]] for a first-round pick which was used to select [[Ray Bourque]], one of the greatest defensemen of all-time and the face of the Bruins for over two decades.<ref>{{cite news|work =CNNSI.com |title = Say It Ain't So: Los Angeles Kings |date =February 27, 2001 | url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/news/2001/02/22/sayitaintso_kings/ | publisher=CNN |archive-date =October 25, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121025121254/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/news/2001/02/22/sayitaintso_kings/}}</ref> The Bruins made the playoffs every year through the 1980s behind stars such as Park, Bourque and [[Rick Middleton]], and had the league's best record in [[1982–83 NHL season|1982–83]] behind a [[Vezina Trophy]]-winning season from ex-Flyers goaltender [[Pete Peeters]], with 110 points, but fell short of making the Stanley Cup Finals.

[[File:Bourque 7.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ray Bourque]], shown in 1981 and before switching to his familiar No. 77, led the Bruins to two Stanley Cup Finals appearances in [[1988 Stanley Cup Finals|1988]] and [[1990 Stanley Cup Finals|1990]].]]
Bourque, [[Cam Neely]] and [[Keith Crowder]] led the Bruins to another Stanley Cup Finals appearance in [[1987–88 NHL season|1988]] against the [[Edmonton Oilers]].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1067342/index.htm | publisher=CNN | title=Devilish Feat by the Bruins | date=May 23, 1988 | access-date=April 26, 2010 | archive-date=November 5, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105021420/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1067342/index.htm | url-status=dead}}</ref> The Bruins lost in a four-game sweep. Boston returned to the Stanley Cup Finals in [[1990 Stanley Cup Finals|1990]] (with Neely, Bourque, [[Craig Janney]], [[Bobby Carpenter (ice hockey)|Bobby Carpenter]], and [[rookie]] [[Don Sweeney]], and former Oilers goaltender [[Andy Moog]] and [[Réjean Lemelin|Reggie Lemelin]] splitting goaltending duties), but again lost to the Oilers, this time in five games.

In the [[1987–88 NHL season]], the Bruins defeated their [[Original Six]] nemesis Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs. In [[1990–91 NHL season|1991]] and [[1991–92 NHL season|1992]], the Bruins suffered two consecutive conference finals losses to the eventual Cup champion, the [[Pittsburgh Penguins]]. Starting from the [[1992–93 NHL season]] onwards, the Bruins had not gotten past the second round of the playoffs until winning the Stanley Cup after the [[2010–11 NHL season|2011 season]].

The 1992–93 season ended disappointingly. Despite finishing with the second-best regular season record after Pittsburgh, Boston was swept in the first round by the [[Buffalo Sabres]]. Bourque made the NHL All-Star First Team.

The [[1994–95 NHL season|1995 season]] was the Bruins' last at the [[Boston Garden]]. The final official match played in the Garden was a 3–0 loss to the [[New Jersey Devils]] in the 1995 playoffs; the Bruins went on to play the final game at the old arena on September 28, 1995, in an exhibition matchup against the Canadiens. They subsequently moved into the FleetCenter, now known as the [[TD Garden]]. In the 1996 playoffs, the Bruins lost their first-round series to the [[Florida Panthers]] in five games.

In [[1996–97 NHL season|1997]], Boston missed the playoffs for the first time in 30 years (and for the first time in the expansion era), having set the North American major professional record for most consecutive seasons in the playoffs. The Bruins lost in the first round of the 1998 playoffs to the [[Washington Capitals]] in six games. In 1999, the Bruins defeated the [[Carolina Hurricanes]] in six games during the first round of the playoffs. Nevertheless, they would lose to the Sabres in six games in the second round of the playoffs.