Archive for February, 2010

Bruins Friday! Today’s Boston player is defenseman Dallas Smith.

Smith’s road to the NHL was sort of an odd one. He came to the Bruins during the 59-60 season at the age of 18, but only lasted five games. He came up the next season and played in all 70 games. However, he was sent back down for most of 61-62 season and all of the next three seasons. He made two more brief trips to the Bruins during the next two seasons before FINALLY sticking with the club in 67-68. He would play for the Bruins for the next ten seasons.

During his time with the B’s, he was partnered up with some dude named Orr on the blueline. With guys like Buyck, Esposito, Sanderson, Cheevers, et al, the Bruins became one of the powerhouses of the NHL and would go on to win two Stanley Cups.

Over his career, Smith was thought of as one of the toughest defensemen in the league, both physically and ability wise. He was the perfect compliment to Orr; he’d handle the offensive end of things while Smith focused on the defensive aspects. That’s not to say that Smith didn’t have any puck moving skills. He could usually be counted on for around 30 points a year.

Here is some Smith trivia. In the first year that the NHL kept track of plus/minus, Smith led the league with a +33. A few years later he put up a +94 which was good for 2nd in the league behind Orr’s OBSCENE +124 (a record). The +94 remains the 4th highest ever behind Orr, Larry Robinson, and Gretzky. Dallas Smith FTW! He ended up with a career +335, putting him 18th all-time. He also played in four straight All-Star games from 70-71 to 73-74.

His teammates called him ‘Half Ton’ not because of his size, but because whenever they were in a different city playing, he’d look for half-ton trucks to buy. Why? Because in the off-season, Smith was a farmer up in Manitoba. Yeah, he was a pretty tough dude.

He retired at the end of the 76-77 season after Boston lost to Montreal. However, he was convinced by former-Bruin teammate Phil Esposito to sign with the Rangers, but only played one disappointing (by his own admission) season before hanging up the skates for good.

This card comes from the 62-63 Topps set. I really like the simplicity of the design. The blue borders really pop and I think most ofthe player photos are head shots, so it’s nice to see a sort of straight on action shot here. A couple of things about this particular card:

1. It lists Smith as a forward, but I’m fairly certain he was a defenseman throughout his career.

2. He is shown wearing the #7. According to hockey-reference.com, he wore #8, #11, and #20, the number he wore for the majority of his career.

3. The back of this card KILLS me. First, it reads like an English translation of the French text (and it may be) but the part I really enjoy the most is this bit, “For a time Dallas looked like man to fill roomy shoes of Fern Flaman. But inexperience showed up again.” !!!! I feel there is a story here. What did he do?!?

4. He wouldn’t appear on a card again until the 66-67 Topps set.

I think I might try to find some other players from this set; I already have a Jean Ratelle that I’ll post one day.

Time to toughen things up a bit around here and who better than Marty McSorley.

McSorley is well known for two reasons: Gretzky and Brashear. But before I get into those things, let’s discuss his career a little. McSorley came into the league with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 83-84 season and would play for 17 years for six different teams. He was known as a tough guy, taking on all comers. McSorley fought the best of the best from the 80′s and 90′s including Grimson, Probert, Nilan, Ray, etc. He routinely racked up over 200 PIMs and broke the 300 PIM mark twice, leading the league with 399 during the 93-94 season which ranks 5th all-time for a single season. He ended his career with over 3000 PIMs which ranks him 4th all-time for a career.

McSorley was also a versatile, talented player. He could play either the right wing or defense and cwould score around 10 goals a season, while chipping in between 25-30 assists. A little trivia: McSorley assisted on Gretzky’s 802nd goal, the one that broke Gordie Howe’s all-time record. He even led the league in plus/minus during the 90-91 season. Not too shabby for an enforcer, eh? He also won two Stanley Cup’s with Edmonton. He could have won one more with Los Angeles during the 92-93 season, but McSorley was caught with an illegal stick, which led to Montreal’s game-tying goal. The Canadiens would ultimately win the Stanley Cup.

McSorley’s time with the Oilers would be where he made his name as ‘Gretzky’s Bodyguard’. For eleven seasons, he policed the ice for Gretzky in Edmonton and Los Angeles. In fact, when Gretzky was traded to the Kings, McSorley had to be included in the deal and was. Long after their playing days, Gretzky and McSorley have remained friends; when Gretzky took over as President of the Phoenix Coyotes, he named McSorley the head coach of their AHL affiliate. the Springfield Falcons.

Near the end of his playing career, McSorley bounced around the league, making stops with the New York Rangers, San JoseSharks, back to Edmonton, and finally with the Boston Bruins. It was with Boston that McSorley becamse a household name for all the wrong reasons. During a game against the Vancouver Canucks, McSorley hit Brashear in the back of the head with his stick.

Brashear fell backwards and slammed his head on the ice. The footage was played on every major news channel at the time. *begin rant* Talking heads condemned McSorley and the league for even allowing fighting. All of a sudden, everyone was a hockey expert. Whatevs. I’m not condoning what McSorley did (although for the cheap stuff Brashear has done during his career, I have no sympathy for him), but I get a big agitated when non-hockey fans weigh in whenever something like this happens. All of a sudden they are the moral authority on everything. *end rant* Anyways, McSorley was suspended for a year and would never play again. He ended up being charged with assualt and found guilty (give me a break!).

Onto the card! The 87-88 OPC is McSorley’s rookie and was only available as an OPC card. This was a good year for cards, design wise. I dig the wooden stick on front. He is listed as a right winger for this card, although I’m sure he played a bit of defense during this time. The picture is alright. Not an action shot, but one that does give us a glimpse of his flowing, blonde hockey haircut. I wish card companies used fighting shots for guys like this but c’est la vie. The card books for $5 and is a steal. If there was an Enforcer Hall of Fame, he’d be a first ballot inductee. Wait, is there an Enforcer Hall of Fame? Should the regular HOF start recognizing these players? I think so. It’s part of the game and guys who do it well are invaluable to their team, so why not include them?

I leave you with a clip of McSorley taking Messier out behind the woodshed: