1999–2000 Boston Bruins season

The 1999–2000 Boston Bruins season was the team's 76th season of operation. The Bruins failed to qualify for the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs.

1999–2000 Boston Bruins
Division	5th Northeast
Conference	12th Eastern
1999–2000 record	24–33–19–6
Home record	12–17–11–1
Road record	12–16–8–5
Goals for	210
Goals against	248
Team information
General manager	Harry Sinden
Coach	Pat Burns
Captain	Ray Bourque (Oct.–Mar.) Vacant (Mar.–Apr.)
Arena	Fleet Center
Average attendance	16,322
Minor league affiliate(s)	Providence Bruins (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Joe Thornton (23)
Assists	Joe Thornton (37)
Points	Joe Thornton (60)
Penalty minutes	Joe Thornton (82)
Plus/minus	Anson Carter (+8)
Wins	Byron Dafoe (13)
Goals against average	John Grahame (2.46)
← 1998–99 2000–01 →

Off-season

Following a second-round loss to the Buffalo Sabres the year previous, the Bruins headed into the 1999–2000 season with confidence that they could reach the playoffs for the third straight year under head coach Pat Burns. General manager Harry Sinden signed no free agents in the offseason and made no significant moves heading into the season. Goaltender Byron Dafoe was to be the starter for the third straight year following his best season in 1998–99, going 32–23–11 with a .926 save percentage.

Regular season

The Bruins played the first month of the season without star goaltender Byron Dafoe, who held out after becoming embroiled in a bitter contract dispute with general manager Harry Sinden.^[1] Dafoe's absence hurt Boston, who stumbled out of the gate to a 0-5-4 record. After Dafoe's return to the team, the Bruins would regroup to win eight of ten, and improved their record to 11-8-6 by the end of November, after which the team began a steep decline. Center Jason Allison, the team's leading point-scorer the previous season, was hampered by wrist and thumb injuries, and elected to undergo season-ending surgery in January.^[2][3][4] Dafoe himself saw his effectiveness limited by a worsening knee injury which would cause him to miss the final two months of the season,^[5] and in February, forward Anson Carter suffered two separate injuries of his own, which would sideline him for the final 17 games.^[6]

On February 21st, the club was further demoralized when defenseman Marty McSorley swung his stick and hit Donald Brashear in the head with seconds left during a game against the Vancouver Canucks. Brashear lost consciousness and suffered a grade 3 concussion, but not from immediate contact with the stick. The stick hit Brashear's helmet, but caused him to fall backward, and his head hit hard on the ice.

As a result of the stick incident, McSorley was charged with assault and suspended by the NHL for the remainder of the 1999–2000 season (including playoffs) missing 23 games. On October 4, 2000, a jury found McSorley guilty of assault with a weapon for his attack on Brashear. He was sentenced to 18 months probation. The trial was the first for an on-ice attack by an NHL player since 1988. After his assault conviction, his NHL suspension was extended to one full year (through February 21, 2001).^[7] This suspension was the longest in NHL history and afterwards McSorley never played in another NHL game.

In March, with the Bruins well out of playoff contention, the team received a final blow when 21 year-veteran defenseman Ray Bourque requested -- and received -- a trade to the Colorado Avalanche.^[8] Bourque would go on to win the Stanley Cup as a member of the Avalanche the following season.^[9]

During the regular season, the Bruins were the only team not to score a short-handed goal.^[10]

Final standings

Northeast Division^[11]

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	3	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	45	27	7	3	246	222	100
2	6	Ottawa Senators	82	41	28	11	2	244	210	95
3	8	Buffalo Sabres	82	35	32	11	4	213	204	85
4	10	Montreal Canadiens	82	35	34	9	4	196	194	83
5	11	Boston Bruins	82	24	33	19	6	210	248	73

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference^[12]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	z – Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	45	22	12	3	237	179	105
2	y – Washington Capitals	SE	82	44	24	12	2	227	194	102
3	y – Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	45	27	7	3	246	222	100
4	New Jersey Devils	AT	82	45	24	8	5	251	203	103
5	Florida Panthers	SE	82	43	27	6	6	244	209	98
6	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	41	28	11	2	244	210	95
7	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	37	31	8	6	241	236	88
8	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	35	32	11	4	213	204	85
8.5
9	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	37	35	10	0	217	216	84
10	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	35	34	9	4	196	194	83
11	New York Rangers	AT	82	29	38	12	3	218	246	73
12	Boston Bruins	NE	82	24	33	19	6	210	248	73
13	New York Islanders	AT	82	24	48	9	1	194	275	58
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	19	47	9	7	204	310	54
15	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	14	57	7	4	170	313	39

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs; z – Won conference; y – Won division

Schedule and results

1999–2000 regular season[13]
October: 4–5–4–0 (home: 2–1–2–0; road: 2–4–2–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 October 2, 1999 1–3 Carolina Hurricanes (1999–2000) 0–1–0–0 L 2 October 4, 1999 0–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1999–2000) 0–2–0–0 L 3 October 7, 1999 3–4 @ Ottawa Senators (1999–2000) 0–3–0–0 L 4 October 9, 1999 1–1 OT Philadelphia Flyers (1999–2000) 0–3–1–0 T 5 October 11, 1999 3–3 OT Colorado Avalanche (1999–2000) 0–3–2–0 T 6 October 13, 1999 1–2 @ Colorado Avalanche (1999–2000) 0–4–2–0 L 7 October 15, 1999 2–2 OT @ Dallas Stars (1999–2000) 0–4–3–0 T 8 October 16, 1999 1–2 @ Phoenix Coyotes (1999–2000) 0–5–3–0 L 9 October 20, 1999 2–2 OT @ Los Angeles Kings (1999–2000) 0–5–4–0 T 10 October 23, 1999 3–1 @ San Jose Sharks (1999–2000) 1–5–4–0 W 11 October 24, 1999 3–2 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1999–2000) 2–5–4–0 W 12 October 28, 1999 7–3 Tampa Bay Lightning (1999–2000) 3–5–4–0 W 13 October 30, 1999 3–0 Buffalo Sabres (1999–2000) 4–5–4–0 W
November: 7–3–2–0 (home: 4–2–1–0; road: 3–1–1–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 14 November 4, 1999 3–1 New Jersey Devils (1999–2000) 5–5–4–0 W 15 November 6, 1999 4–2 Atlanta Thrashers (1999–2000) 6–5–4–0 W 16 November 10, 1999 2–6 @ Buffalo Sabres (1999–2000) 6–6–4–0 L 17 November 11, 1999 4–3 OT Toronto Maple Leafs (1999–2000) 7–6–4–0 W 18 November 13, 1999 5–2 @ New York Rangers (1999–2000) 8–6–4–0 W 19 November 17, 1999 2–2 OT @ New Jersey Devils (1999–2000) 8–6–5–0 T 20 November 18, 1999 5–3 New York Rangers (1999–2000) 9–6–5–0 W 21 November 20, 1999 0–3 Washington Capitals (1999–2000) 9–7–5–0 L 22 November 22, 1999 2–1 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1999–2000) 10–7–5–0 W 23 November 24, 1999 5–2 @ Nashville Predators (1999–2000) 11–7–5–0 W 24 November 26, 1999 2–2 OT Vancouver Canucks (1999–2000) 11–7–6–0 T 25 November 28, 1999 1–2 New York Islanders (1999–2000) 11–8–6–0 L
December: 2–6–3–2 (home: 1–3–2–0; road: 1–3–1–2) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 26 December 2, 1999 2–2 OT @ Washington Capitals (1999–2000) 11–8–7–0 T 27 December 4, 1999 3–9 Chicago Blackhawks (1999–2000) 11–9–7–0 L 28 December 9, 1999 2–2 OT Edmonton Oilers (1999–2000) 11–9–8–0 T 29 December 11, 1999 4–5 Detroit Red Wings (1999–2000) 11–10–8–0 L 30 December 13, 1999 2–0 Phoenix Coyotes (1999–2000) 12–10–8–0 W 31 December 14, 1999 2–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1999–2000) 12–11–8–0 L 32 December 17, 1999 3–1 @ Atlanta Thrashers (1999–2000) 13–11–8–0 W 33 December 18, 1999 0–4 @ St. Louis Blues (1999–2000) 13–12–8–0 L 34 December 21, 1999 1–3 Nashville Predators (1999–2000) 13–13–8–0 L 35 December 23, 1999 3–3 OT Montreal Canadiens (1999–2000) 13–13–9–0 T 36 December 27, 1999 0–3 @ New York Islanders (1999–2000) 13–14–9–0 L 37 December 29, 1999 4–5 OT @ New Jersey Devils (1999–2000) 13–14–9–1 OTL 38 December 30, 1999 4–5 OT @ Ottawa Senators (1999–2000) 13–14–9–2 OTL
January: 4–4–4–2 (home: 1–4–3–1; road: 3–0–1–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 39 January 1, 2000 2–2 OT New Jersey Devils (1999–2000) 13–14–10–2 T 40 January 4, 2000 7–3 @ New York Islanders (1999–2000) 14–14–10–2 W 41 January 6, 2000 3–7 Carolina Hurricanes (1999–2000) 14–15–10–2 L 42 January 8, 2000 2–5 New York Islanders (1999–2000) 14–16–10–2 L 43 January 11, 2000 2–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1999–2000) 14–17–10–2 L 44 January 13, 2000 0–0 OT Buffalo Sabres (1999–2000) 14–17–11–2 T 45 January 15, 2000 2–2 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1999–2000) 14–17–12–2 T 46 January 17, 2000 3–3 OT Atlanta Thrashers (1999–2000) 14–17–13–2 T 47 January 19, 2000 4–3 @ Atlanta Thrashers (1999–2000) 15–17–13–2 W 48 January 20, 2000 4–2 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1999–2000) 16–17–13–2 W 49 January 22, 2000 3–4 OT @ Florida Panthers (1999–2000) 16–17–13–3 OTL 50 January 24, 2000 3–4 OT Calgary Flames (1999–2000) 16–17–13–4 OTL 51 January 29, 2000 1–0 Buffalo Sabres (1999–2000) 17–17–13–4 W 52 January 31, 2000 2–4 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1999–2000) 17–18–13–4 L
February: 2–5–4–0 (home: 1–2–1–0; road: 1–3–3–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 53 February 1, 2000 4–4 OT @ Ottawa Senators (1999–2000) 17–18–14–4 T 54 February 3, 2000 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1999–2000) 18–18–14–4 W 55 February 8, 2000 2–2 OT Washington Capitals (1999–2000) 18–18–15–4 T 56 February 11, 2000 2–5 @ New York Rangers (1999–2000) 18–19–15–4 L 57 February 12, 2000 1–5 Florida Panthers (1999–2000) 18–20–15–4 L 58 February 16, 2000 3–3 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1999–2000) 18–20–16–4 T 59 February 21, 2000 2–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1999–2000) 18–21–16–4 L 60 February 23, 2000 2–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1999–2000) 18–22–16–4 L 61 February 25, 2000 3–0 @ Washington Capitals (1999–2000) 19–22–16–4 W 62 February 26, 2000 2–2 OT @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1999–2000) 19–22–17–4 T 63 February 29, 2000 3–5 Ottawa Senators (1999–2000) 19–23–17–4 L
March: 4–7–1–2 (home: 2–5–1–0; road: 2–2–0–2) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 64 March 2, 2000 2–5 Montreal Canadiens (1999–2000) 19–24–17–4 L 65 March 4, 2000 0–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1999–2000) 19–25–17–4 L 66 March 6, 2000 1–5 Ottawa Senators (1999–2000) 19–26–17–4 L 67 March 8, 2000 1–2 OT @ Buffalo Sabres (1999–2000) 19–26–17–5 OTL 68 March 10, 2000 5–3 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1999–2000) 20–26–17–5 W 69 March 11, 2000 5–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1999–2000) 21–26–17–5 W 70 March 16, 2000 4–5 OT @ Chicago Blackhawks (1999–2000) 21–26–17–6 OTL 71 March 18, 2000 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1999–2000) 22–26–17–6 W 72 March 19, 2000 2–6 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1999–2000) 22–27–17–6 L 73 March 21, 2000 4–0 Tampa Bay Lightning (1999–2000) 23–27–17–6 W 74 March 23, 2000 1–3 Florida Panthers (1999–2000) 23–28–17–6 L 75 March 25, 2000 4–4 OT Los Angeles Kings (1999–2000) 23–28–18–6 T 76 March 29, 2000 3–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1999–2000) 23–29–18–6 L 77 March 30, 2000 2–3 St. Louis Blues (1999–2000) 23–30–18–6 L
April: 1–3–1–0 (home: 1–0–1–0; road: 0–3–0–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 78 April 1, 2000 2–2 OT New York Rangers (1999–2000) 23–30–19–6 T 79 April 4, 2000 4–5 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1999–2000) 23–31–19–6 L 80 April 5, 2000 3–6 @ Florida Panthers (1999–2000) 23–32–19–6 L 81 April 8, 2000 0–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1999–2000) 23–33–19–6 L 82 April 9, 2000 3–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1999–2000) 24–33–19–6 W
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point) OTL Overtime loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
6	Joe Thornton	C	81	23	37	60	−5	82
33	Anson Carter	RW	59	22	25	47	8	14
14	Sergei Samsonov	LW	77	19	26	45	−6	4
77	Ray Bourque‡	D	65	10	28	38	−11	20
38	Dave Andreychuk‡	LW	63	19	14	33	−11	28
41	Jason Allison	C	37	10	18	28	5	20
20	Darren Van Impe	D	79	5	23	28	−19	73
11	P. J. Axelsson	LW	81	10	16	26	1	24
23	Steve Heinze	RW	75	12	13	25	−8	36
19	Rob DiMaio‡	RW	50	5	16	21	−1	42
28	Andre Savage	C	43	7	13	20	−8	10
18	Kyle McLaren	D	71	8	11	19	−4	67
22	Mikko Eloranta	LW	50	6	12	18	−10	36
43	Joe Murphy†‡	RW	26	7	7	14	−7	41
32	Don Sweeney	D	81	1	13	14	−14	48
10	Cameron Mann	RW	32	8	4	12	−6	13
17	Shawn Bates	C	44	5	7	12	−17	14
25	Hal Gill	D	81	3	9	12	0	51
21	Eric Nickulas	RW	20	5	6	11	−1	12
57	Antti Laaksonen	LW	27	6	3	9	3	2
12	Brian Rolston†	LW	16	5	4	9	−4	6
37	Mattias Timander	D	60	0	8	8	−11	22
26	Mike Knuble†	RW	14	3	3	6	−2	8
53	Brandon Smith	D	22	2	4	6	−4	10
29	Marty McSorley†	D	27	2	3	5	2	62
16	Ken Belanger	LW	37	2	2	4	−4	44
48	Joe Hulbig	LW	24	2	2	4	−8	8
51	Jay Henderson	LW	16	1	3	4	1	9
27	Landon Wilson	RW	40	1	3	4	−6	18
55	Jonathan Girard	D	23	1	2	3	−1	2
39	Joel Prpic	C	14	0	3	3	−6	0
61	Marquis Mathieu	C	6	0	2	2	−2	4
42	Peter Ferraro	LW	5	0	1	1	−1	0
47	John Grahame	G	24	0	1	1		8
46	Sean Pronger	C	11	0	1	1	−4	13
49	Johnathan Aitken	D	3	0	0	0	−3	0
44	Nick Boynton	D	5	0	0	0	−5	0
34	Byron Dafoe	G	41	0	0	0		0
45	Aaron Downey	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0
35	Robbie Tallas	G	27	0	0	0		6
54	Jeff Zehr	LW	4	0	0	0	−1	2

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
34	Byron Dafoe	41	13	16	10	1030	114	2.96	.889	3	2307
47	John Grahame	24	7	10	5	609	55	2.46	.910	2	1344
35	Robbie Tallas	27	4	13	4	628	72	3.17	.885	0	1363

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Ray Bourque	[14]
Team	Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy	Joe Thornton	[15]
	John P. Bucyk Award	Steve Heinze	[15]
	Seventh Player Award	Joe Thornton	[15]
	Three Stars Awards	Joe Thornton (1st)	[16]
		Kyle McLaren (2nd)
		Sergei Samsonov (3rd)

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Mikko Eloranta	October 2, 1999	[17]
	John Grahame	October 4, 1999
	Jeff Zehr	November 20, 1999
	Aaron Downey	March 30, 2000
	Nick Boynton	April 1, 2000
	Johnathan Aitken	April 5, 2000

Transactions

Trades

Date	Details
June 25, 1999 (1999-06-25)	To Atlanta Thrashers Randy Robitaille	To Boston Bruins Peter Ferraro
October 20, 1999 (1999-10-20)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Right to match arbitration award of Dmitri Khristich	To Boston Bruins 2000 2nd-round pick (#59 overall)
December 28, 1999 (1999-12-28)	To Edmonton Oilers Kay Whitmore	To Boston Bruins Mike Matteucci
March 6, 2000 (2000-03-06)	To Colorado Avalanche Ray Bourque Dave Andreychuk	To Boston Bruins Brian Rolston Martin Grenier Samuel Pahlsson 2000 1st-round pick (#27 overall)
March 10, 2000 (2000-03-10)	To New York Rangers Rob DiMaio	To Boston Bruins Mike Knuble

Free agents Date Player Team Contract term June 21, 1999 (1999-06-21) Jeff Zehr July 15, 1999 (1999-07-15) Tim Taylor to New York Rangers July 19, 1999 (1999-07-19) Joe Hulbig from Edmonton Oilers 1-year July 19, 1999 (1999-07-19) Vratislav Cech from Florida Panthers 3-year July 28, 1999 (1999-07-28) Terry Virtue to New York Rangers July 28, 1999 (1999-07-28) Dave Andreychuk from New Jersey Devils 1-year August 13, 1999 (1999-08-13) Chris Taylor to Buffalo Sabres August 25, 1999 (1999-08-25) Sean Pronger from Los Angeles Kings 2-year August 25, 1999 (1999-08-25) Kay Whitmore from New York Rangers 2-year October 20, 1999 (1999-10-20) Dave Ellett to St. Louis Blues November 12, 1999 (1999-11-12) Joe Murphy from San Jose Sharks 1-year November 16, 1999 (1999-11-16) Grant Ledyard to Ottawa Senators multi-year December 7, 1999 (1999-12-07) Marty McSorley from Edmonton Oilers 1-year

Signings Date Player Contract term July 6, 1999 (1999-07-06) Mikko Eloranta 1-year July 12, 1999 (1999-07-12) Robbie Tallas 1-year July 19, 1999 (1999-07-19) Landon Wilson 2-year August 25, 1999 (1999-08-25) Ken Belanger 2-year August 25, 1999 (1999-08-25) Shawn Bates 1-year September 2, 1999 (1999-09-02) Antti Laaksonen 1-year September 2, 1999 (1999-09-02) John Grahame 1-year September 2, 1999 (1999-09-02) Mattias Timander 2-year September 12, 1999 (1999-09-12) Hal Gill 2-year September 22, 1999 (1999-09-22) P. J. Axelsson 2-year September 30, 1999 (1999-09-30) Nick Boynton 3-year October 29, 1999 (1999-10-29) Byron Dafoe 3-year January 6, 2000 (2000-01-06) Jason Allison 1-year extension through 2000-01 June 1, 2000 (2000-06-01) Andrew Raycroft 3-year

Waivers Date Player Team February 10, 2000 (2000-02-10) Joe Murphy to Washington Capitals

Retirement Date Player July 15, 1999 (1999-07-15) Scott Arniel

Draft picks

Boston's draft picks at the 1999 NHL entry draft held at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts.^[18]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	21	Nick Boynton	D	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
2	56	Matt Zultek	LW	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
3	89	Kyle Wanvig	RW	Canada	Kootenay Ice (WHL)
4	118	Jaakko Harikkala	D	Finland	Lukko (Finland)
5	147	Seamus Kotyk	G	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
6	179	Don Choukalos	G	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
7	207	Greg Barber	RW	Canada	Victoria Salsa (BCJHL)
8	236	John Cronin	D	United States	Boston University (Hockey East)
91	247	Mikko Eloranta	LW	Finland	TPS (Finland)
9	264	Georgijs Pujacs	D	Latvia	Dynamo-81 Riga (Latvia)

Notes

1. The Bruins acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 27, 1998 that sent a ninth-round pick in 1998 to the New York Islanders in exchange for this pick.