What's in a name? The origin of the Boston Bruins name

One of his first orders of business was to ask his newly appointed General Manager, Art Ross to come up with an animal themed club name. Stating in particular he preferred it be derived from an untamed cunning animal.

After considerable thought, Ross would later chose the term BRUIN, an Olde English term for BROWN BEAR used in folk tales. Adams liked the choice noting that brown and yellow were the store front colors of his grocery chain (First National Stores) and quickly chose said colors for his new clubs uniform.

Through the years and uniform evolution of the Boston Bruins sweater, the brown eventually gave way to the recognizable black and yellow design still worn today. Only seldomly do the Bruins revert back to a sweater carrying a brownish hue.