Bruins announce their All-Centennial Team; Who was snubbed from list? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
One of the many ways the Boston Bruins are celebrating their 100th anniversary during the 2023-24 NHL season is by putting together an all-time team.
The roster includes 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders. Given the amount of great players who have worn the spoked-B over the last century, there were inevitably going to be some notable names left off the list.
Here’s the final All-Centennial Team roster announced by the Bruins on Thursday:
Forwards
Defensemen
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Ray Bourque
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Zdeno Chara
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Dit Clapper
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Bobby Orr
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Brad Park
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Eddie Shore
Goaltenders
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Frank Brimsek
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Gerry Cheevers
It’s hard to find many, if any, issues with this list. Most of these players are very easy selections. Goaltender might be the one position where you can have a serious debate over.
Tim Thomas won the Vezina Trophy twice and was the most important player in the Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup triumph, which is the franchise’s only championship since 1972. Thomas won the Conn Smythe Trophy during that playoff run, too. You could make a case for Tuukka Rask as well. His stats, including a team record 308 wins, make him a good candidate. The obvious case against Rask is he never won a Stanley Cup as a starting netminder.
The group of forwards is pretty solid. Adam Oates had a nice Bruins career, but it lasted just six seasons. The group of defensemen is pretty straight forward. It would be pretty tough to take out any of those six guys. That list of blueliners is probably the best of any team in league history.
Overall, it’s a fantastic team without any real questionable selections outside of goalie. The selection committee did a good job.
