The latest issue of The Hockey News includes a special and lengthy feature on the history of retired numbers in the NHL. Buried in the impressive article is an interesting fact about the Boston Bruins. The original six franchise has never retired the number of a goaltender.
The Boston Bruins are the only Original Six team to never retire a goalies number. There’s more than a few candidates in their history.
Every other original six franchise has sent the sweater of a net minder into the rafters, but not Boston. The Bruins have had no shortage of impressive net minders. Who are a few obvious suspects for the honor? Also what’s stopping Boston from retiring them in the first place?
The first goalie that came to mind was Gerry Cheevers, who backstopped the team during the “Big Bad Bruins” years of Bobby Orr and two Stanley Cups. Maybe it’s the fact that team “underachieved” and only won two cups? We say “underachieved” for lack of a better word, as Bobby Orr has said the teams should have been a dynasty but was hurt by the exodus of talent to the World Hockey Association. Cheever’s himself also played in the upstart league for four seasons after winning the 1972 Stanley Cup with Boston.
Cheevers career was also overshadowed by other 1970’s goalies such as Bernie Parent, Tony Espositio, and Rogie Vachoun. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985, although spending his prime years with the WHA hurt his “official” NHL stats. Never an All Star or a Vezina winner, Cheevers was very good, but perhaps not enough for immortality with a jersey retirement.
The most legendary goalie in Bruins history is Tiny Thompson who played eleven seasons for the team throughout the late 1920s and 1930s. Thompson might have had the most crowded trophy case of any goalie to ever wear a Bruins jersey with four Vezinas and a Stanley Cup in his rookie season. He retired with most Bruins goaltending records, although some of the important ones have been broken by Tuukka Rask (we’ll get to him in a second).
If any Bruins goaltender should have had their number retired by now, you think it would have been Thompson. Well if it hasn’t happened already, it probably won’t happen. Thompson passed away in the 1980’s, and no one alive today saw him play or remembers the impact he had. His legacy today only exists in the history books. It’s a great case for him being in the Hall of Fame (he was inducted in 1959). For the Bruins, who at the end of the day are still a business and have to think about selling tickets and merchandise and the fanfare of a jersey retirement on the bottom line, retiring Thompson’s number might not be a wise business decision in lieu of others. Although he does deserve it.
DALLAS, TX – MARCH 08: Tim Thomas #30 of the Dallas Stars in goal against the Minnesota Wild on March 8, 2014 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Dallas won 4-3. (Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images) /
Next we have Tim Thomas. The late bloomer was a great story, leading Boston to its first Stanley Cup in almost 40 years and winning the Conn Smythe and Vezina in his age 37 season (all the same year by the way). Thomas’s time as a regular in Boston was short. He played with the big club from the 2005-2006 season until the 2011-2012 season. After that he took a season long break from hockey. Following a short and unsuccessful return to hockey with the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars in the 2013-2014 he hasn’t played since.
Thomas is known for two things: his record breaking playoff run in 2011, and some controversial decisions. We already talked about his one season sabbatical one year removed from the cup win. He also made headlines by not attending the team’s White House visit with the cup. Although absences like that have become semi-commonplace in the world of professional sports Thomas as unique at the time and the case grabbed headlines. In his defense, he put out a statement trying to gracefully explain his reasoning and avoid drama, but it still became a contentious point.
Not only that but Thomas been pretty much off the grid since leaving the NHL. He re-appeared in 2019 to be inducted in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame where he explained his playing career left him with brain damage. A retirement jersey for him doesn’t seem to be on the Bruins “to-do list” anytime soon.
Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
Finally we come to their current (kind-of, sort-of, not really) goaltender in Tuukka Rask. Rask is still rehabbing from surgery but is without a contract. The general feeling is that when he’s ready he’ll be back in the Bruins crease, although that could change.
So when Rask finally hangs up the pads, what is his legacy in the spoked wheel? Drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2005, he was traded to Boston and they became the only NHL team he’s ever known. He backed up Thomas on the 2011 cup run and lead Boston to a pair of finals himself as starter in 2013 and 2019. Both ended in defeat at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks and then St. Louis Blues. Not winning a cup as a starter might be a deterrence to his legacy, but this is also the man that boke many of Tiny Thompson’s records.
If any other these four goaltenders is going to have their number retired, Rask and Cheevers are the main candidates. Although we do have to wait for Rask to officially retire. Speaking of retirement, the next Bruin to have their number retired will without a doubt be former captain Zdeno Chara. That is, whenever the 44 year old current New York islanders decides to hang them up.
