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Post by nfld77 on Jun 24, 2020 21:22:30 GMT -5
Dont know if anyone else heard this: My youngest son Lucas, is working as a journeyman electrician in Alberta and he told me that Don Cherry predicted that Montreal under the superb play of Carey Price would win the Cup if it ever started up.
He phoned me last night and I'm STILL laughing!!!
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Post by SeaBass on Jun 25, 2020 8:38:19 GMT -5
It is February in Florida. The Penguins and Panthers, in a much simpler time, were conducting their respective pregame skates about a month before the COVID-19 pandemic stopped everything.
Far above the ice, in the righthand corner of the BT&T Press Box, Bobby Orr is waving his arms — not frantically, but regally, for he is Bobby Orr — at a Penguins fan who recognized him.
“Come on up,” Orr said. “It’s OK.”
Opening the gate — which reads “press only” — to the press box for the young woman is Eddie Johnston, producing an irony that can’t be ignored. Even at 84, he’s still breaking the rules. Only this time, he’s the one opening the door.
“Bobby used to open the door for me all the time when he’d drive us home because I’d have one too many at the bar,” Johnston said with a laugh. “Bought him a chauffeur hat his rookie year. Really, I did.”
Then Johnston regains his focus.
“Come on in, Cupcake, get your picture taken with Bobby,” Johnston said. “It’s OK. You’re allowed in. They aren’t going to say no to Bobby.”
After 54 years, the Bobby and E.J. show is still going strong.
‘I want my son to live with you’ Orr was the talk of Bruins’ training camp in 1966, as the 18-year-old immediately lived up to the hype, becoming one of the greatest hockey players in history.
“You should have seen him,” Johnston said. “From the very first day, we knew he was the real thing. We knew he was different than anyone else that we’d ever seen.”
But he was also barely an adult, and life in Boston was a little different than in Parry Sound, Ontario. Orr’s family didn’t want the teenager living by himself in a new city, a new country, a new life.
Orr’s father, Doug, identified Johnston, the Bruins’ hard-partying, veteran goaltender, as the man to take care of his son. Johnston and young Orr had taken a liking to one another during camp.
“My dad loved Eddie immediately,” Orr said. “And how could you not? Everyone in Boston loved Eddie. Everyone loves Eddie to this day, and there was something about him that I just loved from the very beginning. Over the years, when my family would come to Boston, Eddie was the first person they wanted to see. He’s just that kind of person. My dad really, really loved him. And Eddie would come to Parry Sound and spend time with my family. He was a lot older than me, but it didn’t matter. We were friends from the very beginning.”
Orr was quiet, shy and polite. Johnston wasn’t necessarily any of those things, but above all, he was lovable. The two instantly clicked.
Doug Orr approached Johnston one day after practice.
“I want my son to live with you,” he said.
The goaltender was stunned.
“I don’t know why he picked me,” Johnston said. “I said, ‘Are you sure I’m the right guy to be staying with Bobby? They call me “Downtown,” you know.'”
“Downtown” was indeed Johnston’s nickname, one he still chuckles about today.
“They called me that because I liked going downtown at night,” he said. “I was always at the bars, closing down the bars. Girls, you know. Stuff like that.”
This behavior didn’t change even though he had become Orr’s mentor.
“Trust me, he earned that nickname of his,” Orr said. “I don’t really know how much my dad knew about that. Eddie was always wearing a black suit, a white shirt and a white tie. He was that guy. And my God could he have fun.”
Johnston figured out a way to include Orr in the escapades. The two would have dinner together on off nights for the Bruins, and then the real fun would begin.
“I’d always want to go out drinking,” Johnston said. “Christ, all the time. So, I’d have Bobby just drop me off at whatever bar I wanted to go to. Then, because he was too young to drink and didn’t want to be in bars anyway, Bobby would just go see a movie somewhere in Boston by himself. Then, after the movie was over, he’d come pick me up. He’d throw me in the back seat and we’d go home. That’s why I bought him the chauffeur hat.”
Thankfully Johnston and Orr remember those days vividly, even if Orr didn’t remember to hold on to the hat.
“Unfortunately I don’t have it anymore,” he said. “But I would put it on, and the guys thought it was pretty funny back then. Eddie more than anyone. It always amused him.”
Hockey possesses a rich, not-necessarily-noble history of young players being bullied by older teammates into a life of partying. No such thing ever took place with Johnston and Orr, however.
“Not at all,” Orr said. “He just wanted me to be me. There was no pressure or anything like that. We were different in some ways but I just liked the guy so much. A lot of the Bruins took me under their wing at that time because I was so young. But Eddie really took care of me.”
Johnston wasn’t going to change his lifestyle for anyone, but he never pushed Orr into an uncomfortable climate, knowing full well that he was hockey royalty even as a teenager. He just showed him the view from the edge.
“I’ll tell you this,” Johnston said. “Bobby never had a drink of alcohol until he turned 21. He was very serious about it. And even then, he never drank much. I drank enough for both of us. And I can tell you that he hasn’t had a drink since my son’s christening, and that was 35 or 40 years ago. It’s just the way he lives his life. He’s as clean-living as it gets. I was a little different. But that’s who he is and I never wanted to change him. He was serious about it and still is.”
‘He was there all the time’ Speaking of serious, a moment nearly robbed Johnston of his life and subsequently emboldened an already strong friendship.
In Orr’s third season, the improving Bruins were playing in Detroit’s Olympia Stadium on Halloween in 1968. During warm-ups, Johnston was looking in a different direction when a rising Orr slap shot struck him in the head.
“I remember like it was yesterday,” Orr said. “It used to be, we’d only have one puck in warm-ups. But by that time, you had a few pucks. Eddie just looked away at the last second. He saw someone else was about to shoot a puck right as I was taking a shot. And I fired a shot really hard, and I lost control of it. It went high. I can still see it.”
The puck drilled Johnston in the temple.
“Thank God he was wearing a mask that day,” Orr said.
Johnston was rushed to a hospital where he would remain in a coma for six weeks. During this time, Johnston’s head was filled with blood clots. A priest stayed with him for two weeks as many feared he wouldn’t survive.
“But nobody came to see me more than Bobby,” Johnston said. “I didn’t know he was there, of course. But my teammates told me that Bobby was there for hours, there as much as he could be. It was just a horrible accident.”
Orr can breathe a sigh of relief 52 years after the fact.
“It was my fault,” he said. “You should never shoot a puck high like that in practice anyway, and I knew that. I felt awful. It was a tough time, obviously.”
Remarkably, Johnston emerged from the coma, was given a clean bill of health shortly thereafter, returned later that season and played 10 more NHL seasons. Less than two years later, the Bruins won the first of their two championships in that era.
Through it all, their friendship only grew.
“There’s a reason that Bobby is my oldest son’s godfather,” Johnston said.
That oldest son — Eddie Johnston Jr., who is the founder of 3ICE, a three-on-three hockey league that will debut next summer — wouldn’t even exist without Orr.
Johnston knew plenty of women during his time in Boston, but there was only one Diane. And she came into his life because of his best friend.
“I introduced Eddie to his wife,” Orr said. “Did you know that? I sure did. Back then, I knew a group of young ladies. And I told Diane that she had to meet my friend Eddie, that everyone loved him, and she would, too. And let me tell you, she’s a great woman. They’ve been married for more than 50 years now and they’re just the best.”
‘We are friends for life’ It’s not uncommon for teammates to develop close friendships. Sometimes teammates remain friends long after their playing days, particularly when teams forge championship bonds, as the mighty Bruins of the early 1970s did.
Orr’s loyalty to those Bruins is the stuff of legend.
“You know what he did for Derek Sanderson,” Johnston said. “Well, everyone should know.”
Sanderson, a member of the championship Bruins teams, suffered from alcoholism during his career and his life spiraled following his playing days. Orr took control of Sanderson’s life and put him in rehab.
“That was his own money that Bobby spent, too,” Johnston said. “To this day, people have no idea how many things Bobby has done for people, how many hospitals he’s visited, how many incredible things he’s done for people. He doesn’t want anyone to know. He doesn’t want to talk about it or get credit for that kind of stuff. But he deserves credit for it, I’m telling you. What a man.”
So yes, Orr is loyal to all of those Bruins. Yet his affection for Johnston is different and it is mutual.
“There was just something special about our relationship from the very beginning,” Orr said. “He’s a funny guy and liked to have his fun. But he taught me a lot about life. He took care of me when I was just a kid. I’ll never forget how good he was to me.”
Thus, their relationship has gotten stronger over time, even as many aging teammates see their relationships fade.
They both say it will always be that way. They’ve never fought. And they never go a week or two without speaking.
“I’m always on the phone with Bobby,” Johnston said. “We talk hockey a lot. Things we like about the game. Things we don’t like. We get a little worked up sometimes.”
To Orr, loyalty is everything. No one was ever more loyal than Johnston.
“He didn’t always play and it was hard for him,” Orr said. “Of course he wanted to be playing more. But he never complained. Never made trouble. He just wanted to win. He was an incredible teammate and I’ve never forgotten that. Eddie was tough. He was really tough, the last goalie to play in all 70 games in a season. Nowadays, guys worry if 45 or 50 games is too many to play. Don’t let him fool you with that sense of humor. He was tough. But at the same time, he had a big heart.”
Orr laughs when he considers Johnston’s popularity. Sure, Orr is the icon, the greatest defenseman ever. He’s Bobby Orr.
Johnston’s popularity in NHL circles is pretty iconic, too.
“I was just on the phone with (Florida general manager) Dale Tallon,” Orr said. “He was just asking me how E.J. was doing. People always want to know about him, always want to be around him. Sid (Sidney Crosby) loves him. Mario (Lemieux) loves him so much. It’s hard not to.”
Orr and Johnston spend their winters in south Florida and they can regularly be found on the golf course together. When the Penguins visit the Panthers, Orr and Johnston always sit in the same spot in the press box. They’re old Bruins, but Orr knows where Johnston’s allegiance is. “He loves his Penguins,” Orr said of his former teammate, who later served as GM and coach of the Penguins. “He really does. You’ve got to be careful when you’re watching a game with him. He always starts swinging his elbows when he gets worked up. He’s gotten me a few times.” Still breaking the rules, after all of these years. “We are friends for life,” Johnston said. Orr wouldn’t have it any other way. “It’s been so many years, and it’s been a treat,” Orr said. “He’s my dearest friend.”
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Post by madmarx on Jun 25, 2020 15:23:00 GMT -5
Yes I believe Toronto went out in the first round 👀, Edmonton has very few cases so they have that going for them .. I see Edmonton here twice but TSN is still saying Toronto is in the mix. Also I hope the Eastern teams have eastern time zone starts. There was a joke in there somewhere 🤷♂️
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Post by kjc2 on Jun 25, 2020 20:35:13 GMT -5
I see Edmonton here twice but TSN is still saying Toronto is in the mix. Also I hope the Eastern teams have eastern time zone starts. There was a joke in there somewhere 🤷♂️ Mike Babcock “start on time” quote or something like that. Lol
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Post by madmarx on Jun 26, 2020 13:49:33 GMT -5
There was a joke in there somewhere 🤷♂️ Mike Babcock “start on time” quote or something like that. Lol Something about Toronto going out in the first round, but while you’re at it “Boys gotta did in “ ..
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Post by kjc2 on Jun 26, 2020 21:36:02 GMT -5
Mike Babcock “start on time” quote or something like that. Lol Something about Toronto going out in the first round, but while you’re at it “Boys gotta did in “ .. Toronto could lose to Columbus which is technically not even the first round this year😂
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Post by kjc2 on Jun 26, 2020 21:37:50 GMT -5
They’re saying Vancouver out right now and Toronto very much back in but all still could change.
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Post by nfld77 on Jun 27, 2020 11:42:45 GMT -5
They’re saying Vancouver out right now and Toronto very much back in but all still could change. Ontario and Quebec is by far the 2 worst provinces when it comes to Covid19 cases..Of course thats because it's the 2 most populated of our provinces.We have no cases here on the Rock as of now, been awhile now. We have Mile One Stadium and where there's no fans attending, I'm sorta surprised Atlantic Canada isnt getting a look. Maybe the problem is the lack of stadiums and hotel accomondations,I dunno. But just a thought, I have a feeling I'm missing something here..
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Post by kjc2 on Jun 27, 2020 18:56:27 GMT -5
They’re saying Vancouver out right now and Toronto very much back in but all still could change. Ontario and Quebec is by far the 2 worst provinces when it comes to Covid19 cases..Of course thats because it's the 2 most populated of our provinces.We have no cases here on the Rock as of now, been awhile now. We have Mile One Stadium and where there's no fans attending, I'm sorta surprised Atlantic Canada isnt getting a look. Maybe the problem is the lack of stadiums and hotel accomondations,I dunno. But just a thought, I have a feeling I'm missing something here.. No, I say you’re right. They have one legit rink for games, probably not enough practice facilities for 12 teams starting out so probably not meeting the criteria...I guess.
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Post by KSJ08 on Jun 28, 2020 8:56:18 GMT -5
Your telling me (Buttman that is) there are NOT enough rinks/hotels in the immediate Boston area vs Chicago to have this happen in Boston?
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Post by SeaBass on Jun 29, 2020 13:04:43 GMT -5
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Post by kjc2 on Jun 29, 2020 13:49:29 GMT -5
I’d like to see more bodies out there. Time to ramp this thing up!😀
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Post by SeaBass on Jun 30, 2020 6:08:21 GMT -5
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Post by madmarx on Jun 30, 2020 16:40:54 GMT -5
Toronto and Edmonton the talk for hub cities not a fan of Toronto being one ton of bias there already..🤬
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Post by kjc2 on Jul 1, 2020 5:57:16 GMT -5
Toronto and Edmonton do seem like the two safest choices right now.
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Post by kjc2 on Jul 1, 2020 6:04:07 GMT -5
I joked with a Leaf fan a month ago, wouldn’t it be justice to have the Leafs win a cup in there own city and barn for the first time in 53 years and have nobody in attendance. 😀
Obviously it’s a joke, the thought of them winning makes me 🤮
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Post by madmarx on Jul 1, 2020 6:56:12 GMT -5
Top 16 bonuses being paid out July 1:
A. Matthews, $15.2M M. Marner, $14.3M C. McDavid, $13M A. Panarin, $12M J. Tavares, $11.09M R. Josi, $11M E. Karlsson, $10M S. Aho, $9.87M C. Price, $8.75M S. Stamkos/A. Vasilevskiy, $8.5M T. Seguin/J, Trouba/B. Burns/C. Kreider/J. Benn, $8M
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Post by madmarx on Jul 1, 2020 6:58:59 GMT -5
Toronto and Edmonton do seem like the two safest choices right now. I believe it has to be held in one Country to cut travel out of the picture and with the recent spike in the US in covid I guess this makes sense 🤷♂️
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Post by SeaBass on Jul 1, 2020 7:40:30 GMT -5
Top 16 bonuses being paid out July 1: A. Matthews, $15.2M M. Marner, $14.3M C. McDavid, $13M A. Panarin, $12M J. Tavares, $11.09M R. Josi, $11M E. Karlsson, $10M S. Aho, $9.87M C. Price, $8.75M S. Stamkos/A. Vasilevskiy, $8.5M T. Seguin/J, Trouba/B. Burns/C. Kreider/J. Benn, $8M 3 Loafs on that list. Stupid bastards.
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Post by SeaBass on Jul 1, 2020 10:06:16 GMT -5
Happy Canada Day you hosers!
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Post by madmarx on Jul 1, 2020 10:11:34 GMT -5
Happy Canada Day you hosers! Cheers 🍻
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Post by madmarx on Jul 1, 2020 10:14:11 GMT -5
A thread of every team's highest player bonus payout for 2020-21, per division:
ATLANTIC:
BOS: Bergeron, $1M BUF: Skinner/Eichel, $7.5M each DET: Nielsen, $2.5M FLA: Bobrovsky, $6M MTL: Price, $8.75M OTT: Ryan, $2M TB: S. Stamkos/A. Vasilevskiy, $8.5M TOR: Matthews, $15.3M
CENTRAL:
CHI: Toews/Kane, $5M COL: Kadri, $2M DAL: Seguin/Benn, $8M MIN: Spurgeon, $4M NAS: Josi, $11M STL: O'Reilly, $5M WPG: Nobody on active roster
PACIFIC:
ANA: Getzlaf, $3M AZ: Kessel, $5M CGY: Gaudreau/Monahan/Tkachuk, $3.5M EDM: McDavid, $13M LA: Doughty, $2M SJ: Karlsson, $10M VAN: Edler, $4M VEG: Stone, $7M
METRO:
CAR: Aho, $9.87M CBJ: Bemstrom/Texier/Peeke, $92,500 NJ: Subban, $6M NYI: Ladd, $3M NYR: Panarin, $12M PHI: Voracek, $4M PIT: Malkin, $5M WAS: Backstrom, $6M
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Post by madmarx on Jul 1, 2020 10:22:36 GMT -5
On this day in 2006 Z left the Sens for Boston and signed a 37.5 mil deal , What number did he take ??
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Post by SeaBass on Jul 1, 2020 10:29:33 GMT -5
On this day in 2006 Z left the Sens for Boston and signed a 37.5 mil deal , What number did he take ?? 19? 13? 00?
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Post by SeaBass on Jul 1, 2020 10:32:09 GMT -5
On this day in 2006 Z left the Sens for Boston and signed a 37.5 mil deal , What number did he take ?? 44? 33? 6?
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Post by madmarx on Jul 1, 2020 10:39:48 GMT -5
Hint it was formerly wore by Nick Boynton??
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Post by crafar01 on Jul 1, 2020 11:02:26 GMT -5
Hint it was formerly wore by Nick Boynton?? 44? Or is my memory worse than I suspect?
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Post by madmarx on Jul 1, 2020 11:15:33 GMT -5
Hint it was formerly wore by Nick Boynton?? 44? Or is my memory worse than I suspect? 👌 You are still good 😉
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Post by madmarx on Jul 1, 2020 11:23:30 GMT -5
Toronto and Edmonton do seem like the two safest choices right now. If it’s To and Edmonton should the West play in Toronto and East play in Edmonton so there’s no hometown bias ??
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Post by crafar01 on Jul 1, 2020 11:44:00 GMT -5
44? Or is my memory worse than I suspect? 👌 You are still good 😉 NICE!!! Good to know I haven't pickled that particular brain cell yet!
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