[kwflatbed]

1969-70 and 1971-72 Stanley Cup Champions

They came together in pieces, some of which were undeniably large, some that seemed much smaller. Grouped together, they became the most powerful, charismatic and entertaining team in Boston Bruins history, so unforgettable that 25 years later, people can still recite line combinations and recall specific moments as if they'd happened only hours ago. Even younger people who never saw them play know all about Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and the Big, Bad Bruins.

The building of the team actually began during the dark days of the early 1960s, when the B's started a stretch of eight straight seasons without a playoff berth under general managers Lynn Patrick and Hap Emms. Between them, they added players like future Hall of Famers John Bucyk and Gerry Cheevers, plus key cogs like fiery John McKenzie and steady Ed Westfall. The most important moments, however, involved the decisions to sponsor an Ontario youth hockey team Orr played for (that locked up the NHL rights to both Orr and Derek Sanderson) and hire a young coach named Harry Sinden.

Gerry Cheevers and Eddie Johnston split the goaltending duties.

Orr and Sinden both arrived in 1966-67, which turned out to be the last season they'd miss the playoffs until 1996-97. Orr more than lived up to his billing -- he was named the Calder Trophy winner (Rookie of the Year) and a second-team All-Star -- but even his offensive talents on the blue line weren't enough to make Boston a future contender.

Milt Schmidt, who replaced Emms as GM, solved that problem with a May, 1967 trade that made Bruins of Esposito, future linemate Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield, who'd play between McKenzie and ageless John Bucyk on the second line and man the point next to Orr during power plays.

That group, with Cheevers and Ed Johnston in goal and outspoken, colorful defensive whiz Derek Sanderson enjoying a Calder Trophy season, got into the 1968 playoffs. They were swept in the first round by the Canadiens, but with Orr winning the first of eight straight Norris Trophies (best defenseman), Esposito scoring 84 points with a league-leading 49 assists, and Bucyk's first 30-goal season, better times were definitely ahead.

Esposito stole the spotlight in 1968-69, becoming the first player in NHL history to score more than 100 points. He finished with 77 assists (also a league record at the time) and 126 points, which helped Boston move from third to second place in the Eastern Division. The B's swept Toronto in four first-round games, winning the first two by a combined 17-0, but three second-round losses at The Forum killed Boston's chance to get to the finals.

Everything fell into place a year later.

The Bruins had to get over the loss of hard-nosed defenseman Ted Green, whose skull was fractured in a pre-season, stick-swinging incident with St. Louis forward Wayne Maki, by filling that gap with stay-at-homers like Don Awrey, Rick Smith and Gary Doak while Dallas Smith teamed with Orr.

The Bruins hadn't won a Stanley Cup in almost 30 years when Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito came along.

Sanderson, meanwhile, centered a checking line and formed a tremendous penalty-killing duo with Westfall, scoring five of his 18 goals while Boston was shorthanded. For all their offensive stars, the B's could defend with the best of them.

Orr was nothing short of sensational in '69-70, winning the scoring title with an amazing 120 points (87 assists). He nailed down the first of three straight Hart Memorial Trophies (League MVP), but saved the most unforgettable moment for last.

After a tough, six-game first-round series against New York, the B's whipped Chicago in four games and cruised through three decisions over St. Louis before the Blues put up some competition in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals. In the first minute of overtime, Orr gambled to pick off a St. Louis clearing attempt, sent the puck to Sanderson on the endboards, then got to the front of the net in time to snap a shot through Glen Hall's legs and win Boston's first Cup in 29 years. The shot of Orr, flying through the air in celebration, still remains vivid not just in Boston, but throughout hockey.

It was voted the most memorable goal in NHL history in a mid-1990s poll commissioned by the league.

Much like their 1938-39 predecessors, the Bruins failed to repeat as Cup winners despite having what appeared to be a better team.

If nothing else, the B's were dominant in 1970-71 under coach Tom Johnson, who stepped in when Sinden took a private-sector job. The B's piled up an incredible 399 goals while winning 57 of 78 games and finishing 12 points ahead of the Rangers to top the NHL with 121 points. Esposito had a season no Bruin and few NHLers have ever touched (76 goals, 76 assists); Orr set a league record with 102 assists (no defenseman has matched it), and Bucyk (116) and Hodge (105) both topped the 100-point mark, but somehow, the B's didn't have enough to get by the Canadiens in the first round. Boston took a 3-2 lead with a convincing, 7-3 victory at Boston Garden, but the Habs smashed back in Game 6 with an 8-3 onslaught from which the B's didn't recover. They lost Game 7 at home, 4-2.

Their scoring totals weren't as eye-popping in 1970-71, but the Bruins of 1971-72 were more effective. Their third straight Eastern Division regular-season championship led to first-round playoff matchups with Toronto and St. Louis, which Boston won by 4-1 and 4-0 counts, respectively. The Rangers stopped Boston's playoff winning streak at nine games by winning Game 3 of the finals, but the B's never let New York all the way back in the series.

With Bobby Orr leading the way, the Bruins captured the franchise's fourth Stanley Cup in 1970.

The Bruins' second Cup in three years was clinched on May 11, when they earned a 3-0 decision at Madison Square Garden behind Orr's two goals. Orr became the first player ever to win the Conn Smythe Trophy twice.

The Bruins remained a force for several years after that, but things began to change. Key components like Cheevers, McKenzie and Sanderson jumped to the World Hockey Association; important role players like Westfall were lost in drafts to stock expansion teams; Orr's knees continued to break down and the team began to age. There was a classic Cup final in 1974, but the B's lost to the Philadelphia Flyers' Broad Street Bullies act in six games, with the finale a 1-0 heart-stopper.

Orr won the scoring championship and Norris Trophy in 1974-75, but the B's were ousted in a three-round, first-round series by Chicago. Sanderson didn't last the year -- he was traded to New York -- and Sinden, now back in the fold as general manager, sent Esposito and Hodge to the Rangers for Brad Park, Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi early in '75-76. It proved to be Orr's last season in Boston -- he joined Chicago as a free agent in the summer of 1976 -- and the end of an era. Plenty of fun and no shortage of victories were still in store under coach Don Cherry and his Lunchpail A.C., but even those teams would admit it was nothing like the Big, Bad Bruins.

There may never be again.

 

[kwflatbed]

My all time favorite player:

Name: McKENZIE, John "Pie"
Position: Right Wing
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 175
Birthday: December 12, 1937
Born: High River Alberta, (#19)
Jersey Number: 1965-66--1971-72

REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFSSeason(s) PlayedGPGAPTSPIM

GPGAPTSPIM45316922739670050

153045119

 

[KozmoKramer]

:fire: YOU ROCK HARRY!!!:fire:

 

[KozmoKramer]

The best years for the B's were certainly the 70's and 80's Har.
My favorite players from the 70's are Terry O'Reilly, Pie McKenzie, Stan Jonathan, John Wensink, Peter McNab, Wayne Cashman, and Mike Milbury. The 80's have my all-time favorite; Cam Neely.
Along with Lyndon Byers, and Jay Miller. Those were the days my friend, those were the days. And they are gone "fa-evah" as they say on Causeway Street.

Remember 2 for fighting? Remember when the benches cleared? Remember the Jonathan Bouchard dance in 79'? Remember 79' at MSG when O'Reilly, Milbury, McNab, and Al Secord went in the stands and started beating the shyt out the Rangers fans? (One with his own shoe.)

 

[kwflatbed]

koz the one thing I always remember from where I sat was Pie McKenzie coming by the visitor bench with his stick out slaping everyone sitting there then
the bench would empty chasing him.

Those were the good old days

 

[KozmoKramer]

Oh man, that brings back some good memories.
The old Garden, with my old man and my uncle. Eating at Polcaris before the game.
The Fleece Center (BankNorth now?) might be more comfortable, but it lacks charm and character.

 

[Clouseau]

koz the one thing I always remember from where I sat was Pie McKenzie coming by the visitor bench with his stick out slaping everyone sitting there then
the bench would empty chasing him.

I thought that was Paul Newman.

 

[pucknut]

That Jonathan/Bouchard fight was the greatest Hockey fight of all time!

 

[KozmoKramer]

No question Pucknut, no question.
I was lucky enough to get that incredible piece of footage on videotape.
Bouchards blood in the Linesmans mouth! Oh man..
I read an article written by Grapes about 10 \ 15 years ago, he concurred it was the greatest hockey fight of all time. (And “The Coach” should know…)

 

[KozmoKramer]

Here a Great Bruins Article I Came Across:

The night the Bruins beat up Rangers fans
By Joe Murphy
Eagle-Tribune Writer
It was called The ugliest hockey brawl,'' in then-new Madison Square Garden and the Boston Bruins were right in the middle of it.
The year was 1979 and the Bruins were engaging the New York Rangers in New York.
These were the Bruins of the post-Bobby Orr era. Included in the cast of players was goalie Gerry Cheevers, Terry O'Reilly, Stan Jonathan and Peter McNab.
Included in the Rangers' cast was old friend, center Phil Esposito, who had been traded away by the Bruins much to his dismay three years earlier.
The Bruins ended up a 4-3 winner but it wasn't your routine hockey game. There were fireworks galore.
The fireworks started after Cheevers foiled Esposito's testing third-period shot thus preserving the win for the Bruins.
Earlier in the period, Boston took a one-goal lead on goals by O'Reilly, Bobby Lalonde and Jonathan.
While the Bruins rushed to the ice to congratulate Cheevers, Ranger goalie John Davidson skated from his position and accused left winger Al Secord of sucker-punching Ranger Ulf Nilsson.
The argument escalated and grew more heated and as the cluster of players drifted toward the Boston exit corner, the Bruins realized Jonathan was struck and cut under the eye with a thrown object and O'Reilly was being menaced by a stick-wielding fan.
Several Boston players jumped into the stands and fought with spectators. O'Reilly, Mike Milbury, Secord and McNab were among the players.
After 10 minutes of scuffling during which Milbury removed a fan's shoe and beat him with it, Garden security finally separated the players and fans. The Bruins went to their lockerroom in a hail of garbage and Garden police struggled to keep the fans from reaching the ice.
''You never condone this sort of thing,'' said Bruins coach Fred Creighton. ''We're a close team and when they saw a teammate being hurt, they didn't like it one bit.''
Bruins General Manager Harry Sinden remarked, ''I just wanted to protect my players indicating he would not press charges.''
But police issued spectators Jack Guttenplan, John Kaptain, Emmanuel Kaptain and James Kaptain summonses for disorderly conduct and they had to appear in court at a later date.
Tony Avalone, vice president of operations of Madison Square Garden, spent nearly an hour trying to sort things out with the Garden security force and with Frank Torpey, director of security at the Garden.
His problems worsened when a group of angry Ranger fans waited outside forcing the Bruins to board their bus indoors.
Complicating the situation was the Rangers' anger with Gred Madill's referee work and the insults they swapped with the Bruins. Ranger captain Dave Maloney was in tears as he left the ice. Esposito was enraged because a thrown tennis ball distracted him on his last-minute breakaway.
O'Reilly was suspended for eight games and Milbury for two.
It was the most harrowing New York hockey brawl since then-Ranger General Manager Emile Francis tried to fight with a goal judge in the old Madison Square in the 1960's, according to observers.

 

[kwflatbed]

Indian Joe Nolan,

"Indian" Joe Nolan was a minor-league hockey player in the Eastern Hockey League with the Clinton Comets and later with the Johnstown Jets. The Jets were the inspiration for the 1977 movie "Slap Shot" starring Paul Newman where Joe appears as "Clarence 'Screaming Buffalo' Swamptown," the head-dress wearing oldtimer brought in to try and help the Bulldogs defeat the Chiefs in the final game. Indian Joe retired from the EHL and returned to Clinton, New York where he died in the early 1990s.

Indian Joe Nolan, a full-blood Ojibwa from Sault Ste. Marie
He never met a forward he didn't like - to break in half.
The first man to surpass 300 PIMs in an EHL season (he had 352 in 1955-56),
Nolan later became a respected linesman.

 

[KozmoKramer]

Old-time hockey indeed
By Jeff Merron
Special to Page 2
"Slap Shot," which turned 25 on March 25, might seem like the silliest, most outrageous piece of sports fiction that Hollywood has come up with. Turns out, it came pretty close to the real world of minor-league hockey, circa mid-1970s.

Not all of the Hanson brothers were brothers.In reel life: The Charlestown Chiefs play minor-league hockey in the Federal League.

In real life: The Chiefs are modeled after the Johnstown Jets, who played in the Eastern Hockey League and North American Hockey League from 1950-51 to 1976-77. Screenwriter Nancy Dowd's brother, Ned, played for the Jets, and she spent a month traveling with the team, and at other times had Ned set up a tape recorder in the locker room and on the bus to capture what life looked, felt and sounded like for the Jets.

In reel life: It's hockey season, but there's no snow on the ground, the grass is green, the trees are green ...

In real life: During hockey season in Johnstown, there would normally be a lot of snow on the ground, the grass would be brown, the trees leafless. But the film was shot between April and June 1976, which accounts for the spring/summer-like atmosphere.

In reel life: The Chiefs hometown of Charlestown is dependent on factory jobs that are being eliminated.

In real life: The Jets hometown, Johnstown, Pa., was a steel and coal mining town dependent on mills. Its factories were also closing in the 1970s and 1980s.

In reel life: They're the Hanson brothers -- Jeff, Steve, and Jack.

In real life: Jeff, Steve, and Jack Carlson played together on the Jets -- on the same line. Dave Hanson also played on the Jets, and the four shared a house together for a time. When it came time to cast the movie, Jack was off playing in the World Hockey Association, so Hanson got the part playing Jack. And all three movie "brothers" took the name of Hanson. Jeff Carlson plays Jeff Hanson, Steve Carlson plays Steve Hanson, and Dave Hanson plays Jack Hanson. If this isn't confusing enough, Ned Dowd, Nancy's brother, appears in the movie as Ogie Oglethorpe, a dreaded opponent.

In reel life: At the start of the film, Chiefs goalie Denis Lemieux is on a TV show demonstrating illegal moves.

In real life: As the Carlson brothers and Hanson point out in their DVD commentary, when Lemieux demonstrates high-sticking, what he's really showing is a cross-check. When he shows slashing, it's really hooking. And when he demonstrates spearing, it's actually butt-ending.

In reel life: The Jets general manager, McGrath (played by Strother Martin), says, early in the film, "This is the last season. It'll be announced tomorrow."

In real life: The Johnstown Jets played their last season in 1976-77, then missed the 1977-78 season because the Johnstown flood of 1977 damaged their ice-making equipment. They returned for two more seasons in 1978-79 and 1979-80 (as the Wings and Red Wings, respectively), but the team went out of business from 1980-81 to 1987 as the town struggled through a severe economic downturn.

In 1988, hockey returned to Johnstown with the Chiefs (named after the team in the movie), who compete in the East Coast Hockey League.

In reel life: The Chiefs are a hapless team who turn into winners when faced with the possibility of extinction.

In real life: The Jets weren't hapless, but had finished fifth the season before their 1974-75 championship season. On Jan. 19, 1975, the Jets were still in seventh place, but won 23 of their last 31 games to make the playoffs. They went on to win the Lockhart Cup, first beating the Cape Cod Codders, three games to one in the first round of the playoffs. (After the series, Steve Carlson, who had been suspended for the season after a brawl in Johnstown in late March, was reinstated.)

The Jets then beat the Syracuse Blazers in seven games in the semifinals, and finished their title run with a four-game sweep of the Binghamton, N.Y., Broome Dusters in the finals. According to the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat's account of the Game 7 victory over Syracuse, "After the game, Syracuse fans went after the three officials ... (who) were escorted to their cars in their officiating clothes by police, as fans gathered near the dressing room." The fans were upset about a penalty call against one of their players late in the game.

In reel life: In a fashion show near the beginning of the movie, one outfit is called the "Omar Sharif" look.

In real life: Omar Sharif, who became a Hollywood icon in the 1960s with star turns in "Lawrence of Arabia," "Dr. Zhivago" and "Funny Girl," is blessed with one of the greatest names in showbiz, so it's a pleasure to hear it come up. Sharif was born in Egypt as Michel Shahoub, and changed his name when he converted to Islam. In the 1960s, he gained a reputation as an exotic-looking, jet-setting playboy, so, in the mid-1970s, evoking the name of Sharif in a fashion context would make sense. Hockey players strutting the runways isn't unheard of, either. In his DVD commentary, Jack Carlson says he did a fashion show in Hartford, when he was playing for the New England Whalers of the WHA. Sharif's film career waned in the 1980s and 1990s, but his bridge career took off. He's a world-class player.

The Hansons knew how to goon it up in the pros as well.In reel life: The Hanson brothers are 18, 19 and 20 in the film.

In real life: Indeed, Mrs. Carlson popped out her boys almost like a metronome in the 1950s. Jeff Carlson was born on July 20, 1953; he was followed 13 months later by Jack, on Aug. 23, 1954. One year and three days later, on Aug. 26, 1955, along came Steve. So, at the start of the 1974 season, the Carlson brothers were 19, 20 and 21.

In reel life: The Chiefs are "goons" who play dirty and fight at just about every opportunity.

In real life: The Jets (and the North American Hockey League in general) piled up the fights and penalty minutes. John Gofton, a Jet who plays Nick Brophy (the sloshed center of the Hyannisport Presidents) in the film, told ESPN radio's Todd Wright that the movie "was a little exaggerated, but we used to have fights galore."

The Carlson brothers and Hanson were cast to type. During the 1974-75 championship season, Jeff Carlson led the team in penalty minutes with 264 in 64 games, Jack Carlson was second with 248, and Hanson third with 242. On Jan. 15, 1976, Hanson added to his legacy by setting a team record for most penalty minutes in a period -- 38 -- with four minor penalties, two majors, a misconduct and a game misconduct.

In reel life: Paul Newman plays Reggie Dunlop, an aging player-coach, who's lived in Charlestown and played minor-league hockey forever, it seems.

In real life: The Johnstown Jets were coached to their 1975 title by Dick Roberge, who played 17 seasons in Johnstown (and appears in one scene as a ref who throws Dunlop out of a game), but Dunlop's character was probably inspired by Long Island Ducks player-coach John Brophy. The Ducks, who folded in 1973, played against Johnstown in the Eastern Hockey League, and Brophy did a lot of coaching from the penalty box. He also had a reputation for brawling -- he was once suspended for hitting a referee. The film gives a nod to Brophy by giving the Presidents center his last name.

Paul Newman once said his language was right out of the locker room after "Slap Shot."In reel life: Dunlop can barely utter two words without tossing an epithet in there.

In real life: Newman probably swore as much (or little) as any other guy ... until "Slap Shot." Then life began to imitate art. "There's a hangover from characters sometimes," he told Time magazine in 1984. "There are things that stick. Since 'Slap Shot,' my language is right out of the locker room."

In reel life: On the team bus, Dunlop drinks Schmidt's beer.

In real life: Ah, Schmidt's. A Philadelphia-brewed beer from back in the days when local breweries still meant something, Schmidt's, which was cheap and "tasty," was affectionately known as "Schuylkill swill," after the river that runs through Philly. The Schmidt's brewery closed in 1987, after the label was sold. G. Heileman Brewing/Pabst now makes Schmidt's, Schmidt's Ice, Schmidt's Red Lager and Schmidt's Light. The Hanson brothers and Carlson say in their DVD commentary that the Jets really drank Stroh's and Schmidt's and Iron City beer. But during the filming all they had was Stroh's and Schmidt's.

In reel life: The Hanson brothers wear black-rimmed, Coke-bottle eyeglasses, and in one game, get into a fight immediately after the opening faceoff.

In real life: Jeff and Steve Carlson wore those glasses, and did get into a long fight right after an opening faceoff. Roberge told the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, "We got into Binghamton about two or three weeks before the playoffs. In the team warmup, we're out there and all the Binghamton players came out with the plastic glasses and big noses, every one of them, poking fun at the Carlson brothers. We went back in the dressing room and the boys said, 'Coach, as soon as that puck is dropped, we're pairing up.' We had one heckuva fight. They went about 30 minutes until everyone got tired. We met them again in the finals and beat them four straight."

Michael Ontkean, left, played three seasons at the University of New Hampshire.In reel life: Michael Ontkean plays Ned Braden, the Ivy League graduate who refuses to play dirty.

In real life: Nick Nolte "was trying like crazy to get the part," Allan Nicholls (who played Chiefs captain Johnny Upton) told ESPN Radio's Todd Wright recently. But, said Nicholls, director George Roy Hill was looking for actors who could skate (and apparently Nolte couldn't while Ontkean had played three years of college hockey at New Hampshire). Rumor has it that Donnie Most, who played Ralph Malph on "Happy Days," also tried out for the part.

In reel life: Before a game, Braden is wearing new blue gloves before he's introduced to the crowd. Then he skates out wearing old brown gloves. A few seconds later, he's wearing the blue gloves again.

In real life: Even a striptease artist like Braden (we'll get to that later) couldn't make such a quick switch without some help from the film editors.

In reel life: Braden's girlfriend looks at a statue of a brown dog in a park in downtown Charlestown, and asks Dunlop, "What's the story on that dog?" He replies, "That's the dog that saved Charlestown in the 1938 flood."

In real life: "Morley's Dog" is a real statue in Johnstown, but Reggie's got his facts backward and his century wrong. The cast iron statue, made in the 1860s, was a fixture in the Morley family yard until 1889, when it was swept away in a flood that killed 2,209 people. It was recovered, and has been on display in downtown Johnstown for a long time, although it had to be put behind a chain-link fence to protect it from vandals. There is talk of a "hero dog" of the 1889 flood, who went by the name of "Romey" and may have saved some lives, but the statue is not of him.

In reel life: Chiefs radio broadcaster Jim Carr wears a terrible, obvious toupee. Near the end of the movie, Ned Braden says to Carr, "Why do you wear that rug? It's just sensationally ugly!"

In real life: Andrew Duncan, who played Carr, did not wear a toupee in real life. But Carr, said the Carlsons and Hanson in their DVD commentary, was modeled after Johnstown sportscaster Bill Wilson, who, they say, wore a wig.

In reel life: The Chiefs fight all the time.

In real life: "When I played for the Jets I didn't play in one game when there wasn't at least one fight," Dave Hanson told the Vancouver Sun last year.

In reel life: The Chiefs intimidated opponents with their rough play and brawling, and started winning games and drawing huge crowds.

In real life: The Johnstown Jets promotional slogan for the 1975-76 season was "Aggressive Hockey is Back in Johnstown."

As in the movie's Charlestown, brawling and attendance increased almost simultaneously in Johnstown.In reel life: The Chiefs play in the War Memorial, and as they start brawling and winning, the half-empty arena fills to overflowing for home games.

In real life: The Jets played in the Cambria County War Memorial, a 4,000-seat arena built in 1950, In the fourth and final contest against Binghamton, said Jets captain Galen Head, "people were hanging off the rafters watching us play that game."

In reel life: Police patrol outside the arena with vicious dogs.

In real life: "Every visiting team had to be escorted out of town with dogs, in Johnstown. That's a fact," say the Carlson brothers and Hanson in their DVD commentary.

In reel life: The head referees wear red-striped jerseys.

In real life: In the short-lived WHA, the refs wore red-striped jerseys.

In reel life: Fights before and during the games are bloody and violent -- players really seem to get hurt.

In real life: The fights were often not as "staged" as the actors would have liked them to be. "I was injured during a fight," Yvon Barrette, who played goalie Denis Lemieux, said recently. "The danger was not from the guy you were fighting with, but other people dancing around with their skates. Skates were in the air, and that was quite dangerous." The Carlson brothers and Hanson say in their DVD commentary that when they went into the stands for one fight, the "actors" in the stands took things a bit too seriously, and really tried to take them down.

In reel life: The Hansons mix in tin foil with the tape they wear under their gloves.

In real life: The Carlsons did wrap foil around their hands, so they could cut opponents when they brawled. "They used to come into the dressing room and wrap their hands with aluminum foil under the gloves," Roberge told Myrtle Beach Golf Magazine recently. "They came up with a ruling (a month into the season) that you could not wear anything under your hockey gloves except a golf glove." In their DVD commentary, the Carlsons and Hanson deny they used foil, saying it was Nancy Dowd's idea. They do admit to wearing leather golf gloves under their hockey gloves -- after the golf gloves were "treated" by immersing them in water, getting them soaking wet, then drying them on radiators so they'd be "hard as rocks," and do the most damage in fights.

In reel life: The boys lead the team into the stands for a fight. Carr leans over to watch the fight, and, gripping his microphone, says, "Ladies and gentlemen, look at that. You can't see that. I'm on radio."

In real life: The Carlsons did go into the stands to fight against fans of the Mohawk Valley Comets in Utica, N.Y., because a fan had thrown a glass of ice at them. The Carlsons and Hanson, in their DVD commentary, say they were arrested after that fight. Technically, some fans in the arena could have been listening to the radio, and could have witnessed the fight while listening. But I just tossed that line in because it's one of my favorites, and reminded me of Ralph Kiner.

In reel life: While a brawl is going on during the final game, Ned does a striptease.

In real life: This seems to be one of the clearly fictional on-ice events in the film.

In reel life: The Chiefs start a fight with an opponent during pregame warmups, and in the championship game the Syracuse Chiefs forfeit after a fight and Ned's striptease, giving the Chiefs the victory and the championship.

In real life: According to Dave Hanson, the Jets brawled against the Buffalo Norsemen before a playoff game started, when no refs were on the ice. "They (the Norsemen) skated off the ice and went into the locker room and refused to come out to play the game, and we won the playoff series by forfeit," said Hanson.

In reel life: At the movie theater downtown, "Deep Throat" is playing, along with "Meatball."

In real life: Hmmm. This is a toughie, but sometimes hard-core research pays off. "Deep Throat," starring the recently deceased Linda Lovelace, was the first hard-core porn flick to be shown in mainstream theaters. The film was released in 1972 and became a cultural phenomenon; it could have been playing in downtown Johnstown in the mid-1970s.

"Meatball," starring Harry Reems (who appeared in "Deep Throat"), also came out in 1972, and was the second film. In case you're wondering about the plot of "Meatball," this is a description from a website you're not allowed to visit: "Harry Reems plays Dr. Schmock, a zany mad scientist who discovers Preparation X -- a formula that makes ordinary hamburger double in size and come alive! The only problem is that Preparation X has one serious side effect -- it's also a powerful male aphrodisiac! Join us in the laboratory where the good doctor is wearing out every female technician in reach!"

In reel life: While their teammates drink and play cards to relax in the hotel during a road trip, the Hansons play with toy race cars in their room.

The Hanson brothers liked their toy cars in real life as well.In real life: When the Carlsons and Hanson shared a house, they played with toy race cars.

In reel life: There's a "Pet Brick" in a locker behind Jeff Hanson.

In real life: In the spring of 1975, California advertising man Gary Dahl had an idea: Stick a rock in a box, include a booklet of "training instructions" and call it a "pet." Thus began the "Pet Rock" fad. The "Pet Rock" was introduced in August 1975, and by the time its run was over around Christmas, more than a million rocks in a box had been sold at $3.95 a pop. Hanson's "Pet Brick," apparently a substitute for the pet owner on a strict budget, was ailing last we heard of it. Jack Hanson, in a February 2001 chat at the Ottawa Senators site, was asked if he had a pet. "Yup, I have a white German shepherd," he replied. "Steve has a turtle and Jeff has a brick, which is sick."

In reel life: "Killer" Carlson says he owes part of his success to "Swami Baha" and that you can get his records anywhere.

In real life: There were lots of so-called Swamis roaming around in the 1970s, but we've never heard of Mr. Baha.

In reel life: Dunlop offers a "bounty" of $100 for the first Chief who slugs Tim "Dr. Hook" McCracken.

In real life: Marquette Iron Rangers coach "Okie" Brumm put a bounty on Ernie DuPont of the Green Bay Bobcats -- $50 to any player who knocked him down or fought him, say the Hanson brothers and Carlson in their DVD commentary. Added Jeff or Dave, "My brother Jack went after him. That's where they (the filmmakers) got it from." The Iron Rangers and the Bobcats played in the USHL during the mid-1970s.

In reel life: The Syracuse Bulldogs bring back a bunch of old-time goons in the final game.

In real life: Many of the "opponents" in the film were either active minor-league hockey players or, in that last game, real old-timers. For example, Clarence "Screaming Buffalo" Swamptown, the Bulldogs player who comes out onto the ice wearing war paint, was played by Indian Joe Nolan, who played in the Eastern Hockey League in the mid-1950s (and was banned for life, say the Hanson brothers and Carlson in their DVD commentary, although they don't explain why). Another real-life minor-leaguer who played a Bulldog was Connie Madigan (the second Bulldog introduced before the final game), who played in the minors for 17 years and had a 20-game NHL career with the St. Louis Blues in 1972-73. Mark Busque, who played for the NAHL Philadelphia Firebirds in the mid-70s, also plays a Bulldog.

In reel life: The Bulldogs wear uniforms that look awfully familiar to NHL fans of the 1970s.

In real life: The Chiefs are wearing Philadelphia Flyers unis of the period, with a different logo. In the mid-1970s, the Flyers were notorious intimidators known as the "Broad Street Bullies." Coincidence?

Paul Newman pummels a Syracuse Bulldog.In reel life: "Gilmore Tuttle" plays for the Syracuse Bulldogs in the final game, and is said to be the all-time penalty minutes leader for the Federal League -- records compiled between 1960 and 1968.

In real life: There is no Gilmore Tuttle, but Blake Ball, who plays the part, was known as a brawler during his 14 minor-league seasons, during which he played for, among many other teams, the Syracuse Blazers, the Jets and, for part of the 1973-74 season, the Macon Whoopees.

In reel life: Ogie Oglethorpe is a feared player among the Chiefs, known for his ruthless dirty playing, fighting and arrests. The Chiefs don't face Oglethorpe, "the worst goon in hockey," until the final game of the season because he's been suspended and in prison. Before the final game, Carr introduces Oglethorpe, saying, "This young man has had a very trying rookie season, with the litigation, the notoriety, his subsequent deportation to Canada and that country's refusal to accept him."

In real life: The model for Ogie was Bill "Goldie" Goldthorpe, who rolled up 25 majors for fighting by Christmas of his rookie year with the Syracuse Blazers in 1973. "I couldn't even shake people's hands my hands were so sore," Goldthorpe told the Vancouver Sun last year. "We started fighting a lot and having brawls. Over the course of the year, all the capers I'd been in, on and off the ice, built a character."

Goldthorpe was indeed arrested and jailed. His team had been fighting (among themselves) on the tarmac at the Green Bay airport, and when the police arrived, Goldthorpe didn't stop. So he was put in the slammer, while the rest of the team flew on to Canada. Goldthrope was released the next day and escorted across the border by Canadian immigration officials.

And Goldthorpe was feared. "He had a big blond afro and didn't crack a smile," said Dave Hanson. "He had that leather-face, stone-cold look. Goldie was one of those guys you just never knew what he was going to do. And whatever he did, you just didn't believe that he did it."

Page 2 editor Jay Lovinger wrote about Goldthorpe in the Binghamton Sun-Bulletin in 1975: "With an official trying to keep Goldthorpe out of further trouble, the pair skated around the rink, Goldthorpe gesticulating angrily at the Comet bench, and finally returning to the penalty box for another go at Bob O'Reilly. O'Reilly tried to use a chair (unsuccessfully) to keep Goldthorpe at bay. Goldthorpe, for whom this kind of thing is not a new experience, will be fined and suspended three games."

Goldthorpe played for 16 pro teams in his 10-year career, including some exhibition games with the Maple Leafs and Penguins in 1977.

In reel life: In one of the final scenes, Ned does a striptease on the ice -- and strips down all the way to his jock, revealing his buttocks, in full.

In real life: Oops. There must have been a coffee break in there somewhere. At the start of the striptease Ned is wearing long underwear and boxer shorts beneath his jockstrap -- did Ned really take off all of his underwear and put his jockstrap back on?

In reel life: Before the last game, Reggie says he wants to go out "clean" and play "old-time hockey." The names Toe Blake, Dit Clapper and Eddie Shore are mentioned in service of this cause.

In real life: Toe Blake, Dit Clapper and Eddie Shore are all hockey greats. Hector "Toe" Blake played for the Canadiens from 1935 to 1948 and was a three-time all-star and one-time MVP. Later he became one of the greatest coaches in the game. Aubrey "Dit" Clapper played forward and defense during his 20-year career (1927 to 1947) with the Bruins, and picked up three Stanley Cups on his way to the Hall of Fame. Eddie Shore was a hard-nosed defenseman and four-time MVP who played for the Bruins from 1926 to 1940.
In reel life: There's a parade in downtown Charlestown, complete with marching bands, to celebrate the Chiefs' championship.

In real life: Three high-school bands and thousands of Johnstowners turned out to cheer the Jets after they won the title, and Mayor Herb Pfuhl made team members honorary citizens.

 

[KozmoKramer]

One of Don Cherry's Best Op Ed Pieces:

JANUARY 1, 2000
Don Cherry's Weekly Column

I'm often amused at the media when a fight breaks out and they put on the air or in the paper the next day that an ugly incident took place and it wasn't hockey.
Well, I have papers with writeups going back to the 1920s with the Boston Bruins and you should have seen the "donnybrooks" (as they called them back then) at that time.
Fights have been in the game forever.
Isn't it funny that the players don't mind fights, certainly the coaches don't mind fights, and the fans love fights -- have you ever seen anybody go for a beer when a fight is on?
Fights have always been around, and always will be. And I would like to tell you about a few beauties I have seen, and a couple I was involved in.
So, if you don't like fights, stop reading right now and turn to the arts and entertainment or gardening or knitting page, because it ain't pretty from here on in.

1. Pierre Bouchard (Montreal) vs. Stan Jonathan (Boston), 1979
This was the best fight I ever saw. We were playing against the Canadiens in the playoffs, and as usual it was hot and heavy. For some reason Habs coach Scotty Bowman puts on all his "heavies" for a faceoff.
Rick Chartraw (6-foot-2, 200-pounds), Gilles Lupien (6-foot-5, 220-pounds), Larry Robinson (6-foot-3, 220-pounds) and Bouchard (6-foot-2, 230-pounds). I forget who the fifth guy was, but with the other four, it didn't matter.
I had on two of my heavies, John Wensink (6-foot-2, 200-pounds) and Terry O'Reilly (6-foot-2, 205-pounds). I also had Peter McNab out there, and he was a giant (6-foot-4, 200-pounds), but he was a scorer and playmaker, not a fighter. So when I saw who Scotty had sent out to dance, I sent out my pitbull, Stanley Jonathan (5-toot-9, 175-pounds), because I knew a war was about to start.
We won the draw, but the puck went out of their end and came back in quickly for an offside. So Stan skates up alongside of Pierre and sort of tugs at him. It looked like David and Goliath. Pierre accepted the challenge and away they go.
Boy, does Pierre start off great. He is lifting Stan off the ice and throwing him around. I'm on the bench and I say, "Uh-oh, Stan looks like he's bitten off more than he can chew. Get ready, boys."
I can't let Stan take this rap.
All of a sudden, Stan switches hands, from a righty to a lefty. This is tough for Pierre and it catches him off balance. It was doubly tough with Stan. He could KO you with either hand.
Stan landed a heavy left and Pierre started to go down, but as he's falling Stan pours about three more on him, then the "coup de grace," as they say, was just as Pierre hit the ice.
The blood was everywhere, even on linesman John D'Amico.
I felt kind of sorry for Pierre. He was a good guy, but if you play with the bull, you're going to get the horns.
I remember after the fight McNab said, "When I saw Scotty put on all those tough guys looking for trouble, I said to myself, 'Why am I out here?' And when Grapes put on Stan to take my place, it was the happiest moment of my life."
When they talked to Pierre after, he said, "Serge Savard is my hero, but I really didn't want a nose like him."
When Pierre was asked if he thought he'd ever play again in the NHL, he replied, "Yeah, if I take up the organ."

2. Bob Probert (Detroit) vs. Tie Domi (New York Rangers), 1991: Round 1
It's in Detroit. Probert is the acknowledged champion of the NHL and Tie is just dying for a chance at Bob. Sure enough, they line up for the faceoff and away they go.
It must have lasted two minutes. The linesmen just let them go. It was pretty even, but when it broke up Tie embarrassed Bob by acting like he was strapping on a belt as the new heavyweight champion and laughing.
You just knew there had to be a rematch, and it was coming a few weeks later.

3. Bob Probert (Detroit) vs. Tie Domi (New York Rangers), 1991: Round 2
The rematch was back in New York and you couldn't get a ticket.
Everybody had been talking about it for a week.
Probert was boiling mad and they both dropped the gloves their first time on the ice together. It was a dandy. Another two-minute job, and they both got called on the carpet for a premeditated fight. Imagine that.

4. Marty McSorley (Pittsburgh) vs. Probert (Detroit), 1994
This one was in Detroit and it was the longest fight I ever saw, two minutes and 21 seconds of pure toe-to-toe. Again, the linesmen said let 'em go.
No quarter was given and not asked. They both patted each other on the head afterwards as if to say, "Good fight."
Both guys took some real shots in this fight. How they remained standing is beyond me.

5. Probert (Detroit) vs. Troy Crowder (New Jersey), 1990
This was almost the same as the Domi affair where Troy and Bob had a beauty in Jersey earlier with Troy making a statement that he had won the fight when it was pretty even.
Bob never says anything after a fight, so again, he's not a happy camper. So it's back to Detroit for the rematch and tickets are like hen's teeth.
Ron MacLean and I drove over to Detroit so we wouldn't miss it because it wasn't on TV. We were sitting in the peanut gallery and it was like the feeling before a heavyweight championship fight. You can feel the electricity in the air.
The first couple of shifts they feel each other out and all eyes are on them. Finally they go to it, and it's a beauty. Troy gave as good as he got, but Probert caught him with a wicked right and he went down. As I said, what a beauty.

6. Jim Schoenfeld (Buffalo) vs. Wayne Cashman (Boston), 1975
Both guys hated each other and both played tough. So when the Bruins played Buffalo in the old Buffalo Auditorium, fireworks usually happened.
I remember one night Cash went into the corner and Jim came steamrolling after him and smacked Cash into the boards. In the process the doors flew open where the Zamboni was, and they flew out into the corridor. The gloves went flying and the fists pumping. I don't know who won the fight because both were throwing them when they disappeared down the hall with the linesmen following them.

7. Bob Kelly vs. Kevin Morrison, 1972 (AHL)
When I coached in the American Hockey League I had one of the toughest guys ever to play, (Battleship) Bob Kelly.
When we would play at home he would take his gloves off and show his right hand, all taped up to show the other teams he was ready.
He was so tough that one time in the warmup we ran out of pucks. He went down to the other end, pushed the other goalie out of the way, took the pucks out of their net and nobody said a word. Now that's tough.
One night we were in New Haven and they had a tough guy called Kevin Morrison. You knew they were going to meet. They came together at centre ice and down went the gloves.
They both stood and stared at one another, it was like a gun duel at the OK Corral. The fight was pretty even for a while, but finally Battleship started to connect. It got so bad that Kevin's wife had to come down and scream at Battleship to stop.
When the fight was over, Battleship came over to our bench and I grabbed his arm and raised it like he was the heavyweight champion of the world.
The fans pulled off the arms of their seats and threw thousands of them at us. We were all on the ice throwing them back at the fans and had to go to the referees' room because we couldn't get to our dressing room.
While we were in there we ate the officials' sandwiches. I remember I ate one of their apples before we finally came back out and beat New Haven 5-2. We had a great party on the bus going back to Rochester. Ah, life was good in those days.

8. Don Cherry vs. Ivan (The Terrible) Irwin, 1957 (AHL)
I'll end with a couple of my own disagreements. Now you must realize I could throw them pretty good, but I had short arms and used to catch quite a few until I got going.
For instance I fought a guy named Ivan (The Terrible) Irwin.
Ivan was a bald-headed guy who had a skull like something out of Halloween. He was tall and rangy and had extraordinarily long arms. You can see where this is going.
One night in Providence he and I tangled. Somehow a guy named Harry Pidherny got between us and Harry couldn't get out. I couldn't reach over to Ivan with my short arms, but Ivan, with his gorilla arms, reached in and busted me up between the eyes for about 10 stitches. Harry, who could score goals and was a super player, wasn't used to this violence and blood and almost fainted.

9. Cherry vs. Dennis Hextall, 1964-1976
I hate linesmen breaking up fights where they tie up one guy and let the other guy go. It happened this year and cost Chris Simon of the Capitals a broken nose when Kevin Collins tied him up. The same thing happened to me against Dennis Hextall. I was tied up tight, and the other linesman never had Hextall's right hand.
Boy, did he cork me a beauty for 17 stitches on my left eye. Just before he hit me, he saw I was helpless and smiled. Hey I don't blame him, I would have done the same thing. What a cut I had. The white of my eye was black for months. The cut was so big it looked like I had three eyes.
Now I know you want to know if I got him back. Nope. He went to the Big Top and I stayed in the AHL. But ah, the tale does not end there!
Six years later I'm coaching the Bruins and Hextall is playing for Detroit. He runs one of our defencemen, Gary Doak, and crushes him into the boards.
I told the players don't say a word, don't try to get him now, wait in the weeds. After the game the reporters asked me about the hit. I say, "Hey, it's just part of the game." But we made a vow, Hextall was going to pay. And pay he did.
A different guy every game.
I never missed a chance to tell the press, "It's sad to see a guy like Dennis Hextall playing out the string, he can't skate any more."
Our final number we did on Dennis was in Washington. Stan Jonathan, the best fighter I ever saw, gets Hextall and does a number on his head. How big a number, you say?
They put the fight on the big screen scoreboard and we all stood on the bench and counted the blows, yelling, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20."
That's right, 20 right hands in a row with not one return.
Revenge is sweet.

10. Cherry vs. Mike McMahon, 1968 (AHL)
I fought until I was 34, which is unusual because as you get older, you get a conscience and that's bad for a fighter.
My turn came in the American League against a kid named Mike McMahon, a good kid who made the mistake of cross-checking me from behind, head first into the boards.
Now I don't know whether he meant to do it, but he did it. As he hit me he kind of went over me and I came up behind him, grabbed him and laid a couple of beauts on him. And as he laid there, blood was coming out of his mouth.
The doctor told me I had broke five of his teeth off at the gums and he had to stay in the hospital.
Anyhow, as he lay there I thought, "Gee, he's just a kid," and my conscience came. That was the end of my fighting days.
You just can't have a conscience and be a good fighter.
A funny footnote to this episode happened about eight years later.
Mike was playing for me in Rochester and we were having a few pops at a party back at my place. And as usual, all the guys are in the kitchen and I'm saying, "Look, if you want to be a good fighter, you've got to get the first one in."
Mike took out his teeth and says, "I know what you mean Grapes."

Bonus Cherry vs. Larry McNab, 1963 (WHL)
We were going into San Francisco to play, and when I walked into the Cow Palace I saw a banner about 60 feet long that said, "Larry McNab: Heavyweight Champion of the Western League."
I just knew I was going to tangle with that guy. Sure enough, in the second period we go and it's pretty good. I'm holding my own, but we are on our knees and still throwing them.
All of a sudden the linesmen come in and tie me up. Oh no, not again.
I can't get loose. (Why me? Just once I wish I could get a guy who was tied up.) McNab is throwing them and is he ever strong. My head is down and he's bouncing them off the top of my skull (no helmet).
He's doing a number on my noggin, and the fight finally breaks up. I let on I'm not hurt, but I'm really dizzy. No one knew (never let them see that you're hurt), but I have to admit, McNab was the clear winner.
What really burns me is I had a chance to sucker him after they broke it up, but I hadn't got my senses back (some say I never have). Damn the luck!
But I fixed him anyway. I put him out for four weeks. He broke his hand on my head!
Read Don Cherry again tomorrow in our special New Year's Day edition AND INSIDE TODAY: The best (and worst) of a century of sports.

 

[kwflatbed]

Good ones Koz

 

[kwflatbed]

John McKenzie #19
Born 12/12/1937
High River, Alberta

Forward
22 Goals
47 Assists
69 Points

Last January a shoulder separation proved quite costly to John McKenzie Coming two days before the annual All-Star game at Boston Garden, he was forced to watch that contest from a hospital bed instead of participating after having been selected . It also cost him the chance to score 100 or more points and an All-Star selection. Still, Mckenzie had what many other players would consider an excellent season ... He came up with 31 goals, and 77 points, a career high. John is one of the most popular players ever to wear a Bruins uniform . .. His teammates call him "Pie" and a local bakery took the cue, delivering pies to him before each game. He makes his year-round home in Lynnfield, Mass., with his wife and three daughters, Bette Ann 10, Jackie 9 and Lori Lee.

From the Bruins 71-72 Yearbook

http://www.jwen.com/hock/bruins/main.html

 

[kwflatbed]

Another Good One To Big To put In Here.

Thanks for the Memories
by Bobby Bryde

http://www.insidehockey.com/bryde/2005_02_07.php

 

[kwflatbed]

And some of them are still around.

Wednesday, Oct 5, 2005 10:53 pm EDT

Former Bruins great Milt Schmidt, whose No. 15 is retired, and who was a player, coach and general manager of the team, dropped the ceremonial first puck. ... Former Bruins Derek Sanderson and John ``Pie'' McKenzie and former Canadiens Henri Richard and Yvon Cournoyer also participated in pregame ceremonies. ... The Bruins and Canadiens have played more than any two teams in NHL history. Wednesday's game was the 670th between the clubs. ... Bruins forwards Dave Scatchard (groin strain) and Alex Zhamnov (bruised shoulder) didn't play.

​

 

[KozmoKramer]

Harry - reading the InsideHockey article by Bobby Bryde reminded me of of a trivia question my father asked me about 25 years ago;
Who is the Only Person to play for the Bruins, Celtics, and Red Sox?

 

[kwflatbed]

And always sat on a bench. Correct ???


One for you:
Who is the only person to win a world championship in both the NBA and Major League Baseball.

Hint he played for the Celtics.

 

[KozmoKramer]

Yes, he did ride the bench each and every game...

Your Answer: Gene Conley!