- Published in Top 50 Boston Bruins
1. Bobby Orr
But there is only one Bobby Orr.
As most of the regular visitors to Notinhalloffame.com are aware we are (very) slowly putting together our top 50 players of every franchise in the “Big 4” of North American sports. After that is completed we will take a look at how each organization honors their past players and executives.
As such, it is important to us that the Boston Bruins have announced that they will retire the number 16 of Rick Middleton on November 29 during their home game against the New York Islanders.
Middleton is the 11th player in the history of the Boston Bruins to have his jersey retired. He joins Lionel Hitchman, Aubrey Clapper, Eddie Shore, Milt Schmidt, Bobby Orr, John Bucyk, Phil Esposito, Ray Bourque, Terry O’Reilly and Cam Neely.
After playing his first two seasons with the New York Rangers, “Nifty” was traded to Boston where he instantly became a fan favorite. He would play twelve seasons in Boston where he was Point per Game player scoring 898 Points in 881 Games Played. Five times he was a forty Goal scorer, including the 1981-82 season where he put the puck in the net 51 times. That season he was a Second Team All Star and was named a Lady Byng Trophy winner. He was also a three time All Star.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Rick Middleton for earning this prestigious honor.
As most of the regular visitors to Notinhalloffame.com are aware we are (very) slowly putting together our top 50 players of every franchise in the “Big 4” of North American sports. After that is completed we will take a look at how each organization honors their past players and executives.
As such, it is important to note that last night the Boston Bruins retired the #16 of former forward, Rick Middleton.
After playing his first two seasons in the NHL for the New York Rangers, “Nifty” was traded to Boston prior to the 1976-77 season and it proved fruitful for the Bruins. In the 1979-80 season, Middleton would begin a five season streak of 40 Goals, which included a career high of 51 n the 1981-82 campaign. That season he would be named a Second Team All Star as well as winning the Lady Byng Trophy. Middleton would represent the Bruins in three All Star Games and also had a pair of 100 Point seasons. His overall statistical contribution to Boston would see the Right Wing score 402 Goals, 496 Assists and 898 Points.
Middleton becomes the 11th player to have his number retired. He joins Eddie Shore #2, Lionel Hitchman #3, Bobby Orr #4, Dit Clapper #5, Phil Esposito #7, Can Neely #8, John Bucyk #9, Milt Schmidt #15, Terry O’Reilly #24 and Ray Bourque #77.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Rick Middleton for earning this very prestigious honor.
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present the third revision of our top 50 Boston Bruins of all-time.
As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
This is the second revision, and our first in two years.
The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in this article. They are:
1. Bobby Orr
2. Eddie Shore
3. Ray Bourque
5. Milt Schmidt
The top five remains unaltered from our initial rank but there are some significant jumps and three new entries.
Zdeno Chara cracks the top ten, moving from #11 to #9. Goalie, Tuukka Rask moves from #36 to #30.
The three new ranked players are Brad Marchand (#32), David Pastrnak (#38) and Torey Krug (#42).
We admit to erring that Marchand should have been ranked three years ago.
We welcome your input and commentsand as always, we thank you for your support.
The Boston Bruins announced today that they will be inducting the number 22 of Willie O’Ree, who made history over six decades ago as the first black player in the NHL. O’Ree, 85, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builder’s Category in 2018.
The event will take place on February 18, during their home game against the New Jersey Devils.
O’Ree made history when he was called up for two Games in 1958 for the Bruins, and he came back for 43 Games in the 1960-61 campaign. He scored 15 Points over his NHL career, but played pro hockey for 21 years.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Willie O’Ree for earning this honor.