HC České Budějovice. Ference returned to the Flames when the NHL restarted the next season. He played all 82 games of the season for the first time in his career, scoring 4 goals, and 27 assists for a career high 31 points. Boston Bruins The following season, on February 10, 2007, he was traded, along with teammate Chuck Kobasew, to the Boston Bruins for defenceman Brad Stuart and centre Wayne Primeau. Ference scored 1 goal, along with 15 assists, during the 2008–09 NHL season. On March 23, 2010, he agreed on a three-year contract extension with the Bruins worth an annual average salary of $2.25 million. On April 22, 2011, Ference was fined $2,500 for an obscene gesture to the crowd at the Bell Centre in Game 4 of the playoffs first round series against the Montreal Canadiens. Ference's initial comments after the incident indicated it was an "equipment malfunction," though he later confessed it had been an intentional gesture following an emotional playoff goal. Some teammates credited this incident as a turning point in their eventual Stanley Cup Victory. In the Bruins 4–3 game 7 victory over the Montreal of the same series, Ference drew much ire for a questionable collision to the head of Canadiens' Jeff Halpern, but upon a disciplinary hearing it was ruled that the hit did not warrant any sort of disciplinary action. On June 15, 2011, Ference and the Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4–0 in Game 7 of the Final to win the Stanley Cup. The next season Ference scored 6 goals, a career high, and was named alternate captain during home games for the first half of the season, and during away games for the second half of the season. Edmonton Oilers On July 5, 2013, he signed a four-year deal as a free agent with his hometown team, the Edmonton Oilers. On September 29, Ference was named the 14th captain in Oilers NHL franchise history, succeeding Shawn Horcoff, who had been traded to the Dallas Stars. On October 7, 2015, after serving as the Oilers captain for the past two seasons, it was announced that Ference had relinquished his role as captain and was named as an alternate captain, along with Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. After playing in just six games of the 2015–16 NHL season, Ference was placed on IR to undergo season-ending hip surgery. On