Fifty years later, Sinden thinks of Eddie Westfall.
What I was worried about was not so much what great play Derek and Bobby were going to make, said Sinden, who turns 88 in September. It was who was going to cover up for Bobby when he went in.
That was Westfall, the right winger, who saw Orr breaking and dutifully cycled back to the right point, ready to thwart a potential St. Louis breakout in the first minute of overtime. Sinden, moments before Orr made history, was able to relax.
The next thing you know, he said, were all out on the ice and all hell broke loose.
Sinden, who teleconferenced with Boston reporters Monday in advance of Sundays 50th anniversary of Orrs goal, has been arguably the largest and most vocal figure in the Hub of Hockey this half-century. When asked to describe his tenure in Black and Gold, he was direct.
The only word I can think of is wonderful, he said.
Sinden arrived as head coach in 1966-67, the same season Orr and Gerry Cheevers debuted and then-general manager Milt Schmidt robbed Chicago of Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield. Along with Derek Sanderson next year (One of the great rookies ever to break into this league, noted Sinden), to go with the existing core of John Pie McKenzie and once-and-future captain Johnny Bucyk, the Bruins golden era had begun.
It created a nucleus of a future great team, and its been going on ever since. I used to live in fear we might lose the attitude or the personality of that group of players, he said. But then along came Terry OReilly and Cam Neely.
Sinden, who had the Bruins in the playoffs for an NHL-record 29 consecutive years, regrets the lean years of the late 90s, when he was nearing the end of his run as GM, and the lack of Stanley Cups between the Big, Bad Bs and the 2011 squad. But he sees similar traits across the eras.
I just think what the team and players establish as an example for the way you have to play in Boston, has never gone away, he said. The fans wont let it go away. You guys [media) certainly wont let it go away. Theyve bought into it big-time. It has a lot to do with [President] Cam [Neely] and [GM] Don [Sweeney] and [coach] Bruce [Cassidy].
We had a couple players who were really good players who we got in drafts or trades, and they were good goal-scorers, but I never thought of them as Bruins, and I couldnt. But as long as we can keep that alive, were going to be challenging for the Stanley Cup forever.
Other thoughts from Sinden:
Any similarity between Orrs Bruins and the way they play now?
Very, very comparable, he said. And every bit as good.
In Sindens mind, this is one of the best-checking Bruins teams in history. The stats bear that out. The Bruins have ranked near or at the top of the league in key defensive and puck-possession stats over the last decade. Sinden likes how the Bruins third and fourth lines carry just as much load as the top scoring units.
We used to score a lot of goals back in the years were talking about, but we always had one of the best goals-against averages, too, he said. In todays game, its particularly important.
Sinden had high praise for Bucyk, who has been with the Bruins going on 63 years.
He was one of the three great left wingers of his era, with only Bobby Hull and Frank Mahovlich ahead of him, but not by much, Sinden said of Bucyk, who played here for 21 years (1957-78) and spent two decades as a color commentator before moving onto other roles. He is currently a team ambassador.
Bucyk delivered many of his 545 goals, still a franchise record, from close range.
He knew how to stop at the edge of the crease and take the pass and score like no one I knew before him, and like no one since, Sinden said. I see [Brad] Marchand do it today in much the same manner.
Sinden referenced the ill-fated 2015 draft, when the Bs took Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk and Zach Senyshyn with successive picks in the middle of the first round, while professing his trust in the current Bruins leadership.
They came in here with a few problems, Sinden said of the current leadership. Don Sweeneys first draft, he had never seen any of the players play. He spent all his time in Providence. He had nothing to do with the three draft [picks] we had in the first round. He had never really seen them play at all. He had to live with who they are. We came out of it pretty good, but weve done better since.
He spoke of how badly he wanted Neely back in the organization, after the passionate No. 8 retired for good in 1998.
No one no one that I dealt with in all my years was so in love with the game of hockey as Cam Neely. He took a terrific blow to one of the spectacular careers that could have been, and was, and took a few years off and just could not stay away from it, Sinden said.
We always had a great relationship. We fought a lot certainly not on the ice, because you wouldnt be talking to me today over certain things. He wanted to be back in the game. He wanted to do what he always wanted to do, which is be involved in hockey.
They couldnt give him some title like head of Northwest scouting or something stupid." He had to be a high-level executive.
The 1986 trade Sinden made with Vancouver worked out good, but those trades are always lucky or not lucky, he mused. But his presence in this city has been spectacular.
He praised Cassidy for being a players coach who is in charge, and for leading the Bruins back from the danger of missing the playoffs for a third year in a row.
The job that he was doing in Providence was never unnoticed by Don and Cam, and certainly never by me, Sinden said. I thought we had a gem here . . . I cant say enough about him.
He said he counts no greater career victory than the 1970 Cup, considering it as even greater than the 1972 Team Canada Summit Series win over the Soviet Union.
One interesting cross-generational comparison: Sinden likened late defenseman Gary Doak to shot-blocking center Gregory Campbell: He really would sacrifice himself to win a hockey game.
Read the original:
Harry Sinden on the game Bobby Orr took flight and other thoughts on the Bruins - The Boston Globe
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