The Journey to The Cup: A look back at how the Bruins got here

I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the major events of the past season that led the Bruins to their sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history.

For a short stroll down memory lane, continue reading after the jump.

May 2010

May 14th: Bruins blow 3-goal lead in Game 7 of Eastern Conference Semi-Finals to the Philadelphia Flyers.

June 2010

June 4th: Bruins re-sign Shawn Thornton to 2-year extension.

June 5th: Bruins ink Dennis Seidenberg to 4-year extension.

June 16th: Cam Neely is named President of the Boston Bruins.

June 22nd: Bruins trade Dennis Wideman and a pair of drafts to Florda Panthers in exchange for Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell.

June 24th: Bruins re-sign Johnny Boychuk to a 2-year deal.

June 25th: Bruins re-sign Mark Recchi to a 1-year contract.

June 25th: Bruins draft Tyler Seguin with the 2nd overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft.

June 26th: Bruins trade Vladimir Sobotka to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for the rights to defenseman David Warsofsky.

July 2010

July 1st: Bruins re-sign Daniel Paille to a 2-year deal on the first day of NHL free agency.

July 6th: Bruins open Development Camp.

July 9th: Bruins sign Mark Stuart to 1-year deal.

July 15: Bruins sign Gregory Campbell to a 2-year deal and extend Adam McQuaid, Andrew Bodnarchuk, and Jeff LoVecchio.

July 30th: Blake Wheeler is awarded $2.2 million in arbitration and signs 1-year deal

August 2010

August 3rd: Bruins sign Tyler Seguin to an entry-level deal.

August 4th: Bruins hire Doug Jarvis as assistant coach.

August 24th: Aaron Ward announces his retirement.

September 2010

September 10th: Bruins rookie camp opens

September 15th: Rookie game between the Bruins and Islanders draws 11,571 fans to TD Garden to see Tyler Seguin's "pro debut". Jordan Caron steals the show with a hat trick in a 5-2 Bruins Rookies win.

September 17th: Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli announces at a press conference that Marc Savard is still suffering from post-concussion symptoms and will not start the season with the team.

September 18th: Bruins open training camp.

September 21st: Bruins hold "State of The Bruins" town hall meeting.

September 22nd: Bruins beat Montreal Canadiens 4-2 in preseason opener.

October 2010

October 3rd: Bruins head across the pond to Europe for an exhibition game with the Belfast Giants.

October 5th: Bruins play Liberec White Tigers of the Czech Extraliga in an exhibition game in the Czech Republic.

October 8th: Bruins sign Patrice Bergeron to a 3-year extension worth $15 million.

October 9th: Bruins sign Zdeno Chara to 7-year $45.5 million contract extension.

October 9th: Bruins lose to the Phoenix Coyotes 5-2 in season opener in Praque, Czech Republic.

October 10th: Bruins shutout Coyotes 3-0 to split the two-game series in Prague.

October 20th: Bruins skate past Washington Capitals 4-1 in their home opener to start the season with a 4-1-0 record.

October 23rd: Johnny Boychuk breaks his wrist in a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers.

November 2010

November 1st: Tim Thomas is named NHL's First Star of The Week.

November 7th: David Krejci suffers a concussion in the Bruins' 2-1 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues

November 10th: Bruins score 5 goals in the third period to beat Pittsburgh Penguins 7-4 in a wild game in Pittsburgh.

November 24th: Mark Recchi records his 1,500th NHL point in a 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers

November 29th: Bruins trade Matt Hunwick to the Colorado Avalanche for Colby Cohen

December 2010

December 2nd: Bruins rout Tampa Bay Lightning 8-1 in Marc Savard's return to game action.

December 8th: Mark Stuart breaks his finger in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

December 11th: Bruins trade Marco Sturm to Los Angeles Kings.

December 23rd: A high hit from Atlanta defenseman Freddy Meyer on Milan Lucic sparks a 5-on-5 brawl in a 4-1 win over the Thrashers.

January 2011

January 1st: Tyler Seguin records his first multi-point game in a 7-6 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres on New Year's.

January 10th: Bruins score 4 goals in the last 3:23 of the game to down the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2.

January 11th: Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas are selected to participate in the NHL All-Star Game, while Tyler Seguin is invited to be one of the rookie to take part in the Skills Competition.

January 11th: Patrice Bergeron nets hat trick as Tim Thomas and the Bruins shut out Ottawa Senators 6-0.

January 17th: Zdeno Chara records his first career hat trick and Tim Thomas turns in his 7th shutout of the season in a 7-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

January 22nd: Marc Savard leaves game after taking a hard hit from former teammate Matt Hunwick in a 6-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche

January 24th: Marc Savard is diagnosed with a concussion.

January 29th: Zdeno Chara breaks the NHL All-Star Skills Competion's Hardest Shot record with a 105.9 MPH drive.

January 30th: Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas participate in NHL All-Star Game.

January 31st: Patrice Bergeron is named NHL's First Star of The Month.

February 2011

February 3rd: Bruins down Dallas Stars 6-3 in a fight-filled game at The Garden. Daniel Paille is given a game misconduct for a blindside head shot on Raymond Sawada. Paille is suspended 4 games for the hit.

February 7th: Marc Savard is placed on the long-term injured reserve list. A press conference is held by Marc Savrd, Peter Chiarelli, and Dr. Peter Asnis to announce that Savard will miss the remainder of the season.

February 9th: Bruins outlast Montreal Canadiens 8-6 in a wild game that featured 14 goals and 14 fighting majors.

February 13th: Bruins get swept by the Detroit Red Wings in a home-and-home series.

February 16th: Bruins acquire Chris Kelly from the Ottawa Senators for a 2011 2nd round pick.

February 18th: Bruins trade Joe Colborne, a 2011 1st round pick, and conditional pick in 2012 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Tomas Kaberle

February 18th: Bruins send Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart to the Atlanta Thrashers in a trade for Rich Peverley and Boris Valabik

February 18th: Bruins score 3 goals in the third period to record 4-2 win over Ottawa Senators.

February 27th: Bruins beat Vancouver Canucks 3-1 in their only regular season meeting.

February 28th: Bruins send minor leaguers Mikko Lehtonen and Jeff Penner to Minnesota in a trade for Anton Khudobin.

March 2011

March 3rd: Bruins win 7th straight game by edging the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1.

March 8th: Bruins lose to Montreal Canadiens 4-1. Zdeno Chara's ride-off of Max Pacioretty sent Pacioretty flying head-first into the stanchion between the benches. The hit left Pacioretty with a fractured vertebra and a concussion. Montreal fans flooded Montreal's 911 emergency line with calls for legal action to be taken against Chara. As ridiculous as that sounds, a legal investigation of Zdeno Chara is still on-going.

March 11th: Bruins fall to the New York Islanders 4-2 to lose 4th straight game.

March 15th: Bruins snap 4-game skid with 3-2 shootout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Brad Marchand's high hit on R.J. Umberger earns him a 2-game suspension. Mark Recchi moved in 5th place on the all-time games played list by playing in his 1,640th NHL game.

March 22nd: Milan Lucic scores his 30th goal of the season and Zdeno Chara records his 400th NHL point in a 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils.

March 24th: Bruins rout rival Montreal Canadiens 7-0.

March 29th: Mark Recchi tells reporters that he will retire at the end of the season if the Bruins win The Stanley Cup.

April 2011

April 2nd: Bruins clinch Northeast Division championship with 3-2 win over Atlanta Thrashers.

April 9th: Tim Thomas breaks NHL's single season save percentage record after 3-1 win over Ottawa Senators.

April 10th: Bruins warp up regular season with 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

April 16th: Bruins go down 2-0 in their first round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens after a 3-1 loss in Game 2. Zdeno Chara missed the game after being hospitalized the night before for dehydration.

April 24th: Bruins take a 3-2 series lead over the Canadiens after Nathan Horton nets a game-winner in double overtime.

April 27th: Nathan Horton scores in overtime to give Bruins a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 to advance to take on the Philadelphia Flyers in round 2.

May 2011

May 6th: Bruins finish off 4-game sweep of Philadelphia Flyers with 5-1 win and advance to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals.

May 7th: Patrice Bergeron is diagnosed with a concussion resulting from an open-ice hit by Claude Giroux in Game 4.

May 14th: Bruins lose to Tampa Bay 5-2 in Game 1.

May 17th: Tyler Seguin records 4 points in a 6-5 Bruins' win in Game 2 to even their series with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

May 19th: Tim Thomas stops 31 shots to shutout Lightning 2-0 in Game 3. Patrice Bergeron returns to the lineup.

May 21st: Bruins give up 5 unanswered goals and fall 5-3 to the Lightning in Game 4.

May 26th: Bruins lose 5-4 in Game 6.

May 27th: Nathan Horton's goal late in the third period lifts the Bruins to a 1-0 win over the Lightning in Game 7. Bruins advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1990.

June 2011

June 1st: Bruins drop Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals to the Vancouver Canucks 1-0.

June 4th: Canucks down Bruins 3-2 in overtime to take a 2-0 series lead.

June 6th: Bruins blow out Canucks 8-1 in Game 3. Nathan Horton suffers a concussion after a head shot from Aaron Rome. Horton misses the rest of the playoffs and Rome is suspended for the remainder of the series.

June 8th: Tim Thomas makes 38 saves to shutout Canucks 4-0 to even the series at 2-2.

June 10th: Canucks take Game 5 with 1-0 win.

June 13th: Bruins force Game 7 with 5-2 win in Game 6.

June 15th: Bruins clinch their first Stanley Cup championship since 1972 with a 4-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Tim Thomas wins the Conn Smythe as the NHL playoff MVP. Mark Recchi announces his retirement after the game.

June 16th: The Stanley Cup arrives in Boston with the team.

June 18th: Bruins parade through the streets of Boston with Lord Stanley's Cup.