Perhaps one of the most entertaining portions of last week’s Winter Classic announcement at Gillette Stadium was New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft recounting his early days as a fan of the Boston Bruins.
Kraft and his family were famously avid Boston sports fans well before they rescued the Patriots from possible relocation in purchasing the team. So it’s perhaps no surprise one of the family’s fondest memories centered on an old time hockey rivalry game between the Bruins and the Canadiens, and Kraft himself was first introduced to Boston rivalries with Bruins/Habs as the conduit.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited and thrilled than when I learned from our friends with the Bruins, and the NHL, wanted to bring this classic to our stadium,” said Kraft, who was a bit sheepish when counting the four championships the Patriots have contributed to an astounding 34 championships between the Pats, Bruins and Canadiens franchises over their combined histories. “Growing up in Boston you develop an appreciation for the power of sport, and the passion that the fans have here for all of their teams … but especially for the rivalries.
“The Bruins/Canadiens rivalry is as special and as intense as any other rivalry that exists in this region. On a personal note, it’s one that first stoked my interest in sports -- even though I’m dating myself -- in the early 1950s. It really was a big part of turning me into a passionate sports fan in the region. I remember as a young boy being under the covers in my bed late at night with my transistor radio listening to the likes of Milt Schmidt and Sugar Jim Henry against [Bernie] “Boom Boom” Geoffrion and Rocket Richard. For a little kid from Fuller Street in Brookline, listening to those games and then having those two teams come here [to Foxboro] is a great thrill.”
The mention of Sugar Jim Henry and Maurice Richard conjures up one of the most iconic pictures in NHL history with the bloody combatants shaking hands like gentlemen after a particularly nasty playoff Game 7 in the 1952 Stanley Cup playoffs. Some consider that the greatest photograph taken in the history of the NHL right alongside Bobby Orr’s flying leap for the clinching goal in the 1970 Stanley Cup Final.
It was another nasty confrontation that stuck out in Kraft’s mind, however, when discussing the deep impact the Original Six franchise, and the rivalry with Montreal, had on his family while raising a quartet of sports-loving sons.
“I was thinking back to when Jonathan Kraft had his 16th birthday, and he had only one wish: he wanted to see the Bruins play the Canadiens at the old Forum,” said Kraft. “We drove from our home up to Montreal, and we bought two scalped tickets. I’m a little embarrassed to say that back in 1980 I paid over $100 for each of those scalped tickets.
Boston Bruins
“While the Bruins lost that game 6-1, Jonathan and I have a great memory of Stan Jonathan’s huge take-down in a fight of local boy Chris Nilan in the third period of the game. It always sticks with us some 35 years later.”
True to their hockey roots, Robert and Jonathan Kraft are still normal TD Garden attendees at big Bruins games throughout the regular season and playoffs. But they’ll be much more than that on Jan. 1 when the Bruins and Canadiens drop the puck on New Year’s Day at Gillette Stadium, and officially bring a whole new event to 70,000 people at their football stadium ready for an outdoor hockey game.
The Krafts, of course, will be hoping for a much better outcome than the one-sided affair they witnessed at the legendary Forum more than three decades ago…even if the memory of that blowout defeat still stands strong in the minds of father and son all these years later.
STILL LOOKING FOR A DEFENSEMEN
While Don Sweeney and the Bruins are still actively speaking with the agents for free agent D-men like Cody Franson, Christian Ehrhoff and Marek Zidlicky, there’s a reason none of those players have signed in Boston. The B’s aren’t rushing to the altar with any free agent defenseman because none of them really, truly fill the void left behind by Dougie Hamilton. Ehrhoff is a left shot defenseman with a history of concussion problems, Zidlicky has old legs at 38 years old and that’s why he’s willing to take a one year deal and Franson is a bit of a plodding defenseman on a team full of big-bodied Clydesdale blueliners aside from Torey Krug.
So none of them are perfect fits, and Franson would only be good for the Bruins if it’s under their terms and that would short term for less money than he probably feels he deserves. Unfortunately for Franson the market never developed for him, and sooner or later he’s going to have to settle for what a team is willing to give him rather than the Jeff Petry deal-type he probably thought he would get at bare minimum before July 1 came and went.
With all this in mind, I’ll continue to say what I’ve said ever since the Bruins took a pass on a defenseman on July 1: I think a trade during training camp makes a lot more sense. The Bruins want to get a look at young guys like Joe Morrow, Zach Trotman and Colin Miller, and see if they can hold down an NHL job next season while perhaps turning into the next Cody Franson on a much more team-friendly entry level contract. If those players don’t grab hold of a job during training camp, then the Bruins can get serious about swinging a deal for Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Seabrook or whatever player becomes available through salary cap hardship.
But all of these reports that the Bruins are about to pull off a move for a defenseman don’t sound all that believable to me. If they were going to sign a free agent prior to camp they likely already would have done so, and pulling the trigger on a trade for a defenseman is something that happens much more commonly in September than August.
Anything can happen, of course, if the Bruins manage to make a move that clears some salary cap space prior to camp, but it’s very possible the Bruins wait and take a long look at the kids before making any “imminent” moves.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
This beauty came from NHL development camp two weeks ago when I asked Max Iafrate, son of legendary defenseman Al Iafrate, to describe himself as a hockey player: “It's pretty simple. I hit hard, fight and rip some slappers. That's about what you can expect.” Yup, that sounds like a chip off the old Iafrate block.
ONE TIMERS
* Happy 69th birthday this weekend to legendary NBC Sports hockey play-by-play guy Doc Emrick, the only man to use "Shillelagh" as a verb & totally make it work. Emrick is a Hall of Fame-level announcer and an even better person.
* Congrats to former Bruins forward Tom Fitzgerald, who left his assistant GM position with the Pittsburgh Penguins to take the same job with Ray Shero in New Jersey. There’s no doubt it will be a big job in Jersey for Shero, Fitzgerald and Co. to take an aging team, and turn it into something that can thrive in today’s hyper speed NHL. It’s also clear that Shero and Fitzgerald have a good relationship from their Penguins days, but it’s just as apparent that things are really starting to change with the Penguins. I’m not sure this is such a good thing given some of the questionable decisions made by general manager Jim Rutherford over the last couple of years, and how dominant of a personality Sidney Crosby has become within all parts of the organization. The Penguins are losing good hockey people, and putting together a roster that looks like trouble once one moves beyond a fantasy hockey perspective.
* My Mount Rushmore of Bruins: Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Johnny Bucyk and Cam Neely with full apologies to Phil Esposito, Milt Schmidt and Tiny Thompson. I’m putting Neely on the list because of his Hall of Fame career, obviously, but also because I saw with my own eyes what a dominant force he was during his days with the Bruins. Unfortunately I never really saw Esposito, Schmidt or Thompson play and that’s a factor for my own personal list. I understand how many would replace Neely with Esposito given his Stanley Cup rings and gaudy statistics, however, but that was also a totally different era of the Black and Gold.
Remember, keep shooting the puck at the net and good things are bound to happen.