Hockey fans in the house???

[Fred Henderson]

There's so many from that era, Fred. The Big Bad Bruins under Wayne Cashman's leadership! ... I'd have to say ... Terry O’Reilly !!!

Nobody wanted to fight Stan Jonathan. But yeah, O'Reilly was tough, so was Keith Magnussen

[Fred Henderson]

If you mean play against, it must be Bobby Orr, but if you mean fight, it would be Mike Milbury.

No, I meant the one guy I would not get into a fight with. This guy was tough, scary, and mean, I think the rest of the league were scared of him

edit: Mike Milbury a tough guy? That would never have occurred to me. The guy they were all scared of was Stan Jonathan

[Neil Frarey]

20th century, probably the '80s, maybe even late '70s

There's so many from that era, Fred. The Big Bad Bruins under Wayne Cashman's leadership! ... I'd have to say ... Terry O’Reilly !!!

[Brad Thomson]

It was indeed sad that Orr could not play, and do not forget that the best left-winger in history was not allowed to play because he "defected" to the new rival hockey league, the WHA. This was actually not a Canada-Russia series, it was a Canadians in the NHL-Russia series. Add Bobby Hull to the mix, along with Orr, and yes, I do not think that the Russians could have made it so close. As I have said before, on the wall right in front of my desk as I type is a copy of that most famous photograph of that most famous goal in hockey history, autographed personally to me by Paul Henderson himself. This photo is not mine, and the autograph on mine is between Henderson's foot and the foot of the Russian.

[Pargat Perrer]

Originally posted by Fred Henderson View Post
That must have been rough. Almost as rough as being a life - long Leafs fan. But my hockey watching days ended bavk in the 20th. But I will say that if I had to pick one NHL player in my lifetime that I watched play that I would not want to tangle with, That would be a Boston Bruins player from well back in the 20th, care to take a guess, Neil?

If you mean play against, it must be Bobby Orr, but if you mean fight, it would be Mike Milbury.

Agree, the phrase "tangle with" is ambiguous.

But if it means "play against", I have to think it might be Phil Esposito. If I were a non-Bruins defenseman, I would want to play against Orr, because a true athlete always wants to play against the best. But to play against Esposito had a different aspect: it just didn't matter at all what you did, you couldn't move him out of his spot in front of the net and he would get his goals from 10 feet or less away from the net no matter what you did. Phil Esposito was the most "immovable object" in the history of the NHL.

In the famous 1972 Canada-Soviet series, the Russians said in so many words that Esposito was the greatest player they had ever played against. Ok, so they didn't get to experience Orr in his prime .... one of the great tragedies of hockey history. Orr uninjured on the 1972 Team Canada would have had that team winning 6 of the 8 games, imo.

[Brad Thomson]

...that I would not want to tangle with...

If you mean play against, it must be Bobby Orr, but if you mean fight, it would be Mike Milbury.

[Fred Henderson]

Ya totally! So naturally ... I have the official 2010-2011 Boston Bruins Stanley Cup patch tacked up by my desk when they last won the cup, ha!

What do you mean by the 20th?

20th century, probably the '80s, maybe even late '70s

[Neil Frarey]

That must have been rough. Almost as rough as being a life - long Leafs fan. But my hockey watching days ended bavk in the 20th. But I will say that if I had to pick one NHL player in my lifetime that I watched play that I would not want to tangle with, That would be a Boston Bruins player from well back in the 20th, care to take a guess, Neil?

Ya totally! So naturally ... I have the official 2010-2011 Boston Bruins Stanley Cup patch tacked up by my desk when they last won the cup, ha!

What do you mean by the 20th?

[Fred Henderson]

Um, so ya ... as a life long Boston Bruins fan ...

That must have been rough. Almost as rough as being a life - long Leafs fan. But my hockey watching days ended bavk in the 20th. But I will say that if I had to pick one NHL player in my lifetime that I watched play that I would not want to tangle with, That would be a Boston Bruins player from well back in the 20th, care to take a guess, Neil?

[Neil Frarey]

Neil ... Boston vs Vegas ... Bruins in 5

Pargat ... Toronto vs Edmonton ... ???

Brad ... Boston vs Dallas ... Stars in 7

Predictions still open ... what's yours?

[Brad Thomson]

I think the greatest team I ever saw was the Montreal Canadiens of 1976-1977 that went 60 wins, 8 loses and 12 ties. They won the Stanley Cup after that by winning 12 of 14 playoff games.

Prediction: Dallas wins the Cup in 7 games against Boston.

[Neil Frarey]

Wow, I didn't know Marchand had double hip surgery on the off-season ... so yeah, he must be inspired for a Cup run! And I"m sure he was cruising in the last weeks of the season, taking it easy to prepare for the playoffs.

I spent several years in Boston, so I know all about the Bruins frenzy, and the Red Sox and Celtics too (different sports, different stories, Boston is certainly a sports town and everyone in Boston is into it.... maybe you've been there too Neil).

I remember seeing the videos of the Bruins early-70s dynasty and the incredible feats of Orr and Esposito and Cashman and Bucyk ... and then the '74 final against the Flyers, truly a pivotal moment in NHL history .... the Flyers rising to the occasion ....

I would say maybe in the last 15 years, Chicago and Los Angeles have matched or nearly matched the Bruins' success. We just had Jonathan Toews saying farewell to 3 Cup wins with Chicago. Great player and Captain!

Neil, do you give any chances to a Toronto - Edmonton final? I think that would truly excite Canada!

Ya, '74 Flyers ... Bernie Parent !!! ... sigh.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Edmonton Oilers final would simply ROCK !!! And Canada needs this to happen !!!

That match-up would be defined by special teams IMHO ... Leafs are deadly on the power play ... Oilers are bottom third in the league on the penalty kill.

I believe in Shanahan, but the front office in Edmonton also has grit. If the Leafs put their trust in Samsonov, Toronto should survive, ha!

Leafs in 7 ... LOOL!!!

.

Go Bruins Go !!!

.

Oh sorry ... no I have yet to visit my family's ancestral home, which still stands just outside of Boston.


.

[Pargat Perrer]

Look back over the last decade or so ... Boston Bruins rule. No other team in NHL history ... perhaps in all of professional sports ... have been able to set and then re-set the highest standard.

And that's taking into account ... goalie changes ... coaching changes. Bruins President, Cam Neely, is solely responsible for such an impressive run !!!

But ya Pargat ... any winning playoff team leans hard on their goalies. A hot goalie on any playoff team that the bad ass Bruins face this playoffs could put them on the golf course in a hurry, ha!

But speaking of goalies ... Bruins set yet another NHL record by having the only 40 game winner and a 20 game winner on the same team in the same year, ha !!! Ullmark and Swayman just picked up the M. Jennings Trophy ... GRATS!

I never seen a team ... besides one of the baseball teams I played with ... has had a sense of their own destiny. Even our coach Montgomery is coming back from being fired by Dallas for drug and alcohol abuse. Marchand had double hip surgery in last year's off-season ... Bergeron didn't think he had another season left in him.

On and on and on ... INSANE! ... even one of our goalies Ullmark score a goal, ha! A Bruins first, ha!

Even if you're not a Boston Bruins fan (hard to believe there are some of you still out there) ... you have to stand back look at this season and say 'what f'k just happened'???

12 losses in regulation? Set the record for most wins? Set the record for most points? Set the record for team goalies? WOW !!!

INSANE.

Wow, I didn't know Marchand had double hip surgery on the off-season ... so yeah, he must be inspired for a Cup run! And I"m sure he was cruising in the last weeks of the season, taking it easy to prepare for the playoffs.

I spent several years in Boston, so I know all about the Bruins frenzy, and the Red Sox and Celtics too (different sports, different stories, Boston is certainly a sports town and everyone in Boston is into it.... maybe you've been there too Neil).

I remember seeing the videos of the Bruins early-70s dynasty and the incredible feats of Orr and Esposito and Cashman and Bucyk ... and then the '74 final against the Flyers, truly a pivotal moment in NHL history .... the Flyers rising to the occasion ....

I would say maybe in the last 15 years, Chicago and Los Angeles have matched or nearly matched the Bruins' success. We just had Jonathan Toews saying farewell to 3 Cup wins with Chicago. Great player and Captain!

Neil, do you give any chances to a Toronto - Edmonton final? I think that would truly excite Canada!

[Neil Frarey]

Boston Bruins vs Vegas Golden Knights ... playoff final.

Bruins win in 5 ... read me now, believe me later.

Anyone else got a prediction ???

[Neil Frarey]

The one team I would NOT want to be on for these playoffs is the Bruins. The pressure on them must be enormous. What they did in the season ... do they really rank among the greatest teams of all time?

I think very much NOT. The greatest teams of all time both appeared in the 1980's, the Islanders dynasty and then the Oilers dynasty. No other teams come close to either of these, in my opinion, and I admit to not having seen either team in person at the time, so my opinion may not be worth much.

As I saw one sportswriter put it, the Florida Panthers are playing with house money. By coincidence, they were LAST season's overall 1st place finisher, and everyone had them picked for the finals. They got swept out by Tampa Bay. During the off-season, they got rid of Huberdeau (sp?) and he had a miserable season with Calgary, so maybe he was the culprit for their playoff failure. And now they have one of the Tzachucks (sp?), I forget with one, there are so many! LOL

Look back over the last decade or so ... Boston Bruins rule. No other team in NHL history ... perhaps in all of professional sports ... have been able to set and then re-set the highest standard.

And that's taking into account ... goalie changes ... coaching changes. Bruins President, Cam Neely, is solely responsible for such an impressive run !!!

But ya Pargat ... any winning playoff team leans hard on their goalies. A hot goalie on any playoff team that the bad ass Bruins face this playoffs could put them on the golf course in a hurry, ha!

But speaking of goalies ... Bruins set yet another NHL record by having the only 40 game winner and a 20 game winner on the same team in the same year, ha !!! Ullmark and Swayman just picked up the M. Jennings Trophy ... GRATS!

I never seen a team ... besides one of the baseball teams I played with ... has had a sense of their own destiny. Even our coach Montgomery is coming back from being fired by Dallas for drug and alcohol abuse. Marchand had double hip surgery in last year's off-season ... Bergeron didn't think he had another season left in him.

On and on and on ... INSANE! ... even one of our goalies Ullmark score a goal, ha! A Bruins first, ha!

Even if you're not a Boston Bruins fan (hard to believe there are some of you still out there) ... you have to stand back look at this season and say 'what f'k just happened'???

12 losses in regulation? Set the record for most wins? Set the record for most points? Set the record for team goalies? WOW !!!

INSANE.