Shaun Newman Podcast - Ep. #116 - Boston Bruins Gerry Cheevers

Episode Date: September 23, 2020

Originally from St. Catharines ON we discuss Gerry's early years of playing between the pipes and his journey to the Boston Bruins. He shares some epic stories about playing with Bobby Orr, being coached by Don Cherry & leaving the Bruins to sign with the Cleveland Crusaders of the WHA.  Let me know what you think     Text me! 587-217-8500

Hi, this is Braden Holphy. Hey, this is Tanner, the Bulldozer Bozer. Hi, this is Brian Burke from Toronto, Ontario. This is Daryl Sutterin. Hello, everyone. I'm Carlyagro from SportsNet Central. This is Jay On Right. This is Quiddiquity coming to you from Tuffino, Saskatchew. Hey, everybody, my name is Steele-Fleary.

This is Kelly Rudy. This is Corey Cross. This is Wade Redden. This is Jordan Tutu. My name is Jim Patterson. Hey, it's Ron McLean, Hockeynet in Canada, and Rogers' hometown hockey, and welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the podcast, folks.

We got a great one for you today. Let's get on to today's episode sponsors, HSI Group. They are the local oil field burners and combustion experts that can help make. I'm sure you have a compliance system working for you. The team also offers security surveillance and automation products for residential, commercial, livestock, and agricultural applications. They use technology to give you peace of mind so you can focus on the things that truly matter. 3902.52nd Street, or give them a call, Brodie or Kim, at 306, 825, 63,

10. Foremost, they offer smooth walled grain bins, hopper bottoms, and fuel tanks. They're in stock, manufactured locally. They want to ensure you know they are constructed of the highest quality and engineered for a long life. Delivery is free within 300 kilometers of Lloyd Minster. You can buy any other co-applications, Lloyd Minster, Lashburn, Nealberg. For more information, check them out on their website at foremost.ca. Lauren over at Art and Soul. She, you know what I told her I was having Jerry Jeevers on. She sent me this crazy, list of people that have had Boston Bruins memorabilia framed. I guess there's a few fans out there.

Anyways, what she does is spectacular. She makes it look unbelievable. Whether you're framing, you know, I don't know, I had a Milan Luchitz jersey. I know that isn't a popular topic here in Alberta, but once upon a time, old Milan in Boston was an absolute giant of a man. And whether you've got a Milan Luch's jersey or you're framing a local piece of a of artwork, a sheath of wheat, whatever it is. You named it. She's framed it. I'm just saying, take it down, stop in and see your Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Give her a call 780808,

6313, or stop in at 50, 16, 39th Street. It's more than just a frame. It's a story. I'm excited about this episode. I can't even spit half of these out right now. I'm excited to get to Jerry achievers. I mean, holy moly. Clay Smiley, Profit River is a retailer of firearms, optics, and accessories serving all of Canada. They specialize in importing firearms from the United States, hard-to-find calibers, rare firearms, special editions, check them out at Profitriver.com. Gartner Management is a Lloydminster-based company specializing in all types of rental properties to help meet your needs. Whether you're looking for a small office space or a 6,000 square foot commercial space, Wade Gardner, is a man to call. Give him a call. 780-808, 50, 20,

Tracy Clots, the team over at Titus Tools. They've hopped on board. They've been, you know, showing the podcast some love. Titus Tools is a locally owned business since 1997. Let's get it right. Under Tracy's direction, Titus Tools has remained local, loyal to the Lloyd Minster and surrounding community. Man, I can't spit nothing out tonight.

Everybody are having fun out there? Because I seem to be. They're a Lloydminster-based company who has remained loyal to the Lloyd Minster. and surrounding communities. I'm laughing at myself right now. I'm having a grand old time over here. Under Tracy's direction, they remain loyal to the Lloydminster and surrounding community,

continue to invest in local charities and fundraisers. He's just been, you know, heard about the podcast. He approached me, and since then he's been a part of the SMP road trip, summer road trip, and continues on. So if you want to find out more about Titus tools and what they do in the oil field, Give them a look, Titus Tools.com.

Deanna Wander and the team over at Read and Write, if you're in Lloyd Minster, spot out the SMP billboard. It looks superb. If you're heading into any of these businesses, make sure you let them know that you heard me mumble something about them on the podcast because today doesn't seem like a day that I can spit anything out. If you're interested in advertising and hearing me mumble about your company, check out Sean Newman Podcast.com in the top right corner,

hit the contact button and send me your information. I tell you what. fun today and you can be part of this fun. Shoot me a message. We'll make something work and we'll have a little bit of fun, all right? Podcasting is fun people. Anyways, let's get on to our T-Bar-1. Tale of the Tape. Originally from St. Catherine's Ontario, over his NHL career, he played 418 games with 230 wins and a goals against average at 2.89. In the middle of his two stints in in the NHL, he signed with the WHA, the World Hockey Association. He played 191 games for the Cleveland Crusaders with 99 wins and a goals against average of 3.12.

He won a Calder Cup with the Rochester Americans in 1965. He won two Stanley Cups with the Boston Bruins in 1970 and 72, and he was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1985. Honestly, the list of accolades this guy has could go on for a very long time. I'm talking about Mr. Jerry Cheever's. So buckle up, because here we go. Hi, this is Jerry Cheever's and welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. Well, welcome to the Sean Newman podcast.

Today I am joined by Mr. Jerry Cheever, so thank you, sir, for hopping on. My pleasure. I've been out to Lloyd Miniser, wherever you guys are, and I've always had a good time. Yeah, well, I first got to give a shout out to Skip for helping line this up. Without Skip, this doesn't happen. And we were just talking about them before we started. and Skip is quite the guy, and I do appreciate him helping line this up. Well, Skip you and I played together in three different teams, actually, Oklahoma City Blazers,

the Bruins, Boston Bruins, and the Cleveland Crusaders, and our paths across many times, and we won a couple championships in Oklahoma City. I don't think he was on one of our Bruin Cups, but he was a great team. a very good friend of my wife and myself. And we travel a lot together. She was a great, great couple. Love him. Yeah, well, and I was hoping, you know,

you played, like you say, multiple seasons with Skip. Did you have a fond memory of Skip? Can you give us any insight what Skip was like as a young guy? I didn't get to know him that well because he never came back to our end. He always said to me, try and get me the puck up at and I said, well, you've got to come back on this side of Center Iceer. It's two lines

outside. This is before the modern day hockey. But we can, Skip was a great team player. He's always one of our assistant captains, and you know, he cared about his teammates. He was an excellent guy to play with.

Yes, well, it would be fun if you ever get up this way. I'd love to corner you and Skip and get you in the same room. I've heard stories of you guys exchanging old war stories from back in the day, and it being quite a good time. Yeah, we did have a good time, and I just hope the players that play today would be able to in the future to look back and say they had a good time. I'm sure they will.

But we couldn't go too far, but we enjoyed ourselves. Well, you're originally from St. Catharines, Ontario. You know, and reading your book and just kind of doing a little digging on you, Jerry, your dad was quite the athlete. Was he a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs? Yeah, that's probably the only reason I got to go to the lease. But my dad was his assistant manager in the arena. He was actually in the Canadian Macross Hall of Fame. and he had a lot to do with minor hockey and S. Catharines,

and the lease hired him, and I think the only, they had a firearm when, I think I was the only guy he scouted, but actually we had three or four guys to St. Catharines become part of the lease organization, and he was very responsible for that. He was also the convener of the little NHL, which took off in Ontario.

And he started that in St. Catherine, some of another fella. And all it really basically was give a lot of young guys a chance to play hockey. It was good. We had a lot of guys playing the annual shelf. From there, we went to Bannum. And the Toronto Organization, the Marleys, they won championship after championship, and they won championship after championship, Vanham until they got us. We won two years in a row.

the All- Ontario Bannam, we had six guys playing the NHL out of that Bantam team. Five or six. I think it was six. But, you know, five for sure. And we beat the Marley's and that's how I

end up going to Toronto. It's because we beat him a couple years in a row and don't ever beat them. That's what I ended up going to St. Mike's out of St. Catharge. In those days, the the six NHL teams' own territory, territories. And after I went to St. Mike's, even though I was in Chicago territory, Toronto was always allowed a couple of players if they decided to go to school. And that's what I did when going to St. Mike's. And from there, we just went on and played, you know, MedJid, Juvenile, Junior B, Jr. at St. Mike's and went pro.

Did you, did you ever think, like, was there a conversation in the household of being in Chicago Blackhawks territory? Was there any, thought of ever going that way? It was quite a battle between my dad and I. My dad had taken up with Toronto. My dreams are always to play for the St. Catherine's TPs, which is a Chicago organization team. But as I said earlier, Toronto was always, if you wanted to go to school,

Toronto was, they could take a couple of players from certain districts. But anyway, getting back, I really wanted to say St. And it turns out that my dad wanted to go to Toronto and I sort of thought, eventually thought it was a very good idea. And it was too. And we had, we had some great battles with St. Catharines and the TPs, if you're

familiar with those. TPs, you couldn't do it today, but it was a T.P. was their local. But it's suited for Thompson products. I think a man named Stelford owned the St. Catherine's team. But they won the Memorial Cup one year, we won it the next year. So I think we would have won it somewhere we're at. Yeah, no kidding.

Pretty crazy that you meet them in the Memorial Cup final that first year and lose to them. That must have been... Well, we met him in the Ontario final. Oh, Ontario Final. Yeah, yeah. Then the next year we beat them out. So it was quite a thing. And I used to go home summer and spend time without.

half the guys are playing that game. So it was mixed feelings. What was that like going to St. Mike's? Did you spend a lot of years there? Yeah. It feels great. It was, you know, it's like the Notre Dame of hockey in Canada. And it's, I think it was a really special to go to St. Mike's, a real honor.

And I had a, right from Mitchett to Junior B to Junior B, to Junior, I was a junior, to Junior A, we had a coach name, we had a couple coaches, but one very important coach was Father David Bauer, who eventually ran hockey Canada and was responsible for Canada, you know, regrouping and having a strong hockey program. But he was my coaching junior. In fact, he was really a, he was way ahead of his time as a coach. Our team, our junior team that won the Memorial Cup. We knew more about checking than any teams in junior hockey.

And in fact, he was such a good coach. I believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs might have offered him a job to coach of Maple Leafs, a priest, which I'm sure he couldn't do. But when I went to turn pro, there's no agents in those days. I asked Father Bauer to represent me, and I got a fairly decent contract because I thought they wanted him to be a coach. So they gave it into me But he was

He was my first agent So if I heard that correctly You're saying a priest Was the head of hockey Canada And possibly the Leafs This is after the fact He was a priest at St. Michael's Yeah

taught classes And he was also a hockey coach He coached us He coached us And he was as good as coach as you could ever have especially for a goaltender. His teams were checking, they could check anyone.

And I remember the year we won the Memorial Cup, I had a lot of games where I just, I had to stay awake. I'd fight to stay awake because I wasn't getting much action, which is okay with me. But that was his style of coaching. And there was some scuttled butt that the least wanted him to coach.

And he would have won the Stanley Cups with the least, but, you know, his being a priest and I wouldn't allow him. to do that. So he left St. Michaels and went to Vancouver, to University of BC, where he sort of solidified the hockey Canada. No kidding. That's a cool story. Yeah, I tell you, if you want to, I don't know who's got stories about him or if there's books about him, but Father

David Bauer was certainly a guy you should read up on. Absolutely, yeah, no, that's, like I say, a cool little piece there to have, and that to be the guy who negotiate your first contract with the leaps. When you sign that deal, you must have been over the moon. Well, there's more to the story. I didn't realize, but I had accepted money for the lease without knowing. I was a standby goalie, and in those days, the NHL, the home team had to supply the extra goalie, and they give you $10 a game. It was nothing. It was just spending. the money. But I had decided to go to Denver University on a hockey scholarship and the lease

wouldn't let me go. So I was sort of perturbed about that because I guess I wasn't an amateur anymore. And so I went to Father Barr. That's when he went in and sort of got me a decent contract. It was enough to buy a car anyway. As a standby goalie, did you ever get to play? No, no, I didn't. But the Marley goalie at that time, it was named Lent. Bernie Broderick, who ended up playing with a brother, he got in a game. And one other goal that got in a game, not from Mr. Blanchevigate's name. But that's the way it works. The home team supplied the goal he could go in for either team.

That's awesome. Front row and center to watch the NHL, the young age. It would have been awesome for you, but not for me. They might not have found me if I had to go in. Pretty nerve-wracking sitting there watching? Yes, it is. We weren't in uniform either. We're not in the stands.

You know, you mentioned playing Junior A for St. Mike's every Sunday you guys played in the Maple Leaf Gardens. With 16,000 people watching? It was a double part of a double-header. The Marley's play, we played. In fact, as they're running, because when we played the marlies, we played in community rings outside in Toronto. But we had a doubleheader, and no one knows this.

It's sort of funny that I wasn't a goalie that won goals against averages or a dozen trophies or anything. But in Toronto, I won them two years in a row, because when you play in Maple Leaf Gardens on Sunday, the first two periods are straight time. Now, I don't know what that translated in goals over the course of the year, but it'd be certainly a lot less goals than other teams. The straight time helped your goals against average, because... Certainly, yeah, doesn't make sense.

Especially the way I played, I could delay the game forever. Who was your... Who did you model your game after? You must have had somebody you looked up to... Until that time. My favorite goalie was Sautchuk, Terry Sautchuk. I just liked the way he played. Then I turned pro, and I was in a dressing room at training camp with Satchuk, Johnny Bauer.

And I was the young gun. In fact, they tried to protect me as a forward because I had played 12 games of forward in junior to make way for a goalie Dave Darden because he would want to play the next year. And anyway, Punch Him, I tried to, after three years, tried to protect me as a forward. They wouldn't let him. So that's how I went to Boston. But I did model myself after Satchek. I love this style.

The guy I really loved one of the name was Johnny Bowler. And he was my first roommate when I turned pro. And he was an amazing, amazing guy. And he taught me, not that I took it all in, but he taught me how to work hard. He taught me how to use my gold stick rather than, you know, everything. And I became quite good with my gold stick, folk checkin, sweet checking. And it was because of Johnny Bauer. I love Johnny Bauer.

I got to, I was watching, you know the lovely thing about YouTube is I searched you and got to watch old footage. And, man, you were electric flying out there and just had stacks. I did think I would sell many goaltending technique books. I read that your first roommates in Toronto were Eddie Shack and Johnny Bauer. That must have been, you mentioned imparted a little bit of wisdom on you. Well, Johnny Barber was my first roommate. Then we went on a road trip and I grew up with Shacky. I learned a lot for both of them.

And I learned how to make, on the road, learned how to make my bed look like someone was sleeping in it. It was Jackie. But he was a good man, a good man, and brought a foot to beer. He just lost him, didn't we? He just died this year. Yeah. Good man.

On that making bed with making it look like you're sleeping there, I assume then you had room checks, so if anyone ever walked in, they'd think you're sleeping and out the door you went? Something like that, yeah. You know, a couple of times we did that. It was just, you know, everyone does it. Oh, everybody having a little bit of fun. That's all. You know, you mentioned back, and I kind of wanted to grab onto it, was you played 12 games of forward.

Did I hear that right in junior? Yes, you did. Yeah, I actually was the all-star goaltender who played 12 games of forward. That's a trophy winner. And what it was, Father Bauer was actually coach. And he, one thing Father Bauer did, he made sure that his goaltenders always skated. You know, they were big parts of every skating drill. And he come up to you one day.

We had a real good team. Well, it was between us and golf in those days and St. Catherine's. And my time limit was up. I was overage the next year. And they had to get a goalie. So Dave Dryden was available, not Kenny. Dave Dryden, the brother. But he wouldn't come unless he played 12 games that year.

So Father Bauer come to me. He said, would you mind? I said, no, I wouldn't mind it. And I said, I don't mind at all. He said, well, those 12 games, because in those days, he didn't dress two goal tenders. He says, I'll play it forward for 12 games. Well, that was an experience, to say the least.

It was a lot of guys who I jails with and the goal would come after me. I remember the first time in Barry. And Barry was a pretty tough team. But I went in the corner for the puck. all five of the very flyer players come in a corner with me. I got the hell out of there as fast as I could.

Not only that's the last time I went in the corner. At no point did you think, what if I get hurt or anything like that? The only thought I had is that being a goaltender, that I would know how to score a goal if I had a breakway. The 12 games I had one breakway, I'll never get,

it was New Year's Day in St. Catharines, of all places. and they had a great goaltender, St. Catherine, Roger Coacher, I had a break away on them, and I just shot it right in the stomach. I was mad about that, then anything that ever happened by you, because I was, you know, I never scored. I got a few assists, but never did score a goal, and it was just a terrible effort by me. I flipped it into a stomach. It was terrible.

Even think of it now I get mad. Jerry Cheever's the star forward. That has a funny ring to it. Yeah. I enjoyed it, though. In reading your book, I want to go back to when you're a kid. I can't. Well, I didn't, I wasn't even a thought back then,

but I hear the stories of Hockey Night and Canned on the radio, and kids, you know, in the family, huddling or on the radio and listening to it. But in reading, I stumbled upon a line that you said, when it switched to television, you only got a period and a half was broadcasted. Do you remember that?

What was that? I actually don't remember listening. I never listened to Hockey and Radio. Okay. But when it comes on Saturday night, it comes on, if the game started at 8, it didn't come on on the air until 9. I thought we got half of the second period in the third group.

But, I mean, I mean, everyone in Ontario or Canada, I would think. that was a big night. Their ratings must have been in sky high to watch. I'm trying to think what the intermission was called the Hot Sto League, intermission.

And I remember Foster Hewitt. Howie Meeker, I think, was on when I first started listening as an analyst or a commentary. So, yeah, it was, I mean, no matter where you were Saturday, you got to go by 9 o'clock to watch the hockey game. And it was faithful.

You just never went anywhere because you were at home to watch the game at 9 o'clock. You only got a period in a half. Do you know why it was only a period and a half? I'd never heard this before. Well, there must have been a restriction between the league and the NHL. I mean, it wasn't for that long. Then they picked up two periods. Then it was the whole game.

Can you imagine nowadays and only getting a period and a half? Holy man, the world would be set on fire. Yeah, and the NHEL wanted to get half the money. They can do whatever they want. That's why they're playing today. Money. Now, there's big, big, big money now. Do you remember what the first contract you signed was

when Father Bauer negotiated? I talk about it all the time. Because people, oh, you played hockey, you got plenty of money. Well, that first contract I got, with Father Bauer hustling it a little bit, I got $3,000 signing bonus, and $5,500, $11,000 for two years,

$5,500 a year, which was big money in the American League in those days. And, you know, and you take it or leave it, that's the way it went. And believe me, with Father Bauer, I got, you know, I got a little more, I would think. What did you do with your first paycheck? Did you...

I first paycheck. My dad was a car salesman. In the summer, when I turned row, I got $3,000. I used Chevrolet for like $1,700 or a couple thousand. And cruised the streets. And cruise downtown St. Catherine's. That's awesome. What was the HAL like back?

you played for the Rochester Americans. Right, correct. We had a, but the second or third year was there, we had a terrific team. In fact, we played

an exhibition game against the Maple Leafs. We were their farm team, and we're supposed to play one in Rochester, and one in Toronto. We beat them 5'1 in Rochester, and we never went back to Toronto to play them.

But we had a lot of, we had a lot of guys, and that's first team in Rochester. It was today, we would have had maybe eight or nine forwards and five or six defensemen playing in the NHL. That's how good we were,

or how good the league was, I should say. Every team had four or five guys. It was today's hockey would be playing. But, you know, it's, it's, it was a good league, I'll tell you that. Well, you only had six teams, right?

Like, the NHL was, it's hard to... A couple of teams. Six teams, yeah. A couple of HL teams, like would have Toronto and Detroit splits in players or something because there's a few more teams, I think, it was anyway.

Yeah, there's a couple independent teams in looks like. But it was a great league. It was the bus league, you know, occasionally a train, but it was competitive. And they had some great old players in that league. You guys you couldn't believe.

guys you couldn't believe how good they were oh how good they were oh I got you I got you today they'd be in the NHL yeah well I mean we're coming up on 32 teams in the NHL now

I mean six to 32 that's a giant jump you know well in those days there were six teams in NHL and six in the American League that's only one third of the players

leaves in the NHL today yeah absolutely what was the original six like you know i don't know if i've had anyone on it got to you know you know it was you played a lot against you know when i was there as a 20 year old i actually played a couple of games but i mean you played saturday night in trona wednesday in trana maybe jump on a train but a Montreal for thursday come back play saturday going to train to either Boston, Chicago, New York, or Detroit on Sunday. Come back to next morning.

And then you might see the same team a couple of times in three weeks, and you really knew who your opponent was in those days. Only six change. And you had to win two playoff series and win the Cup. So you're very familiar with your opponents. Man, there must have been some hate, like some just ferocious competition. Yeah, it was ferocious competition, but it was. It was all, you know, there was like hockey, there's incidents every once in a while.

It didn't happen every night, but it was tough hockey. I mean, you had to be a tough guy to play. One of my favorite players, when I went up to Toronto, as a 20-year-old, watching these guys play, and he finally got into the hall of the fan was Dickie Duff. He was as tough and hardest player, one of the hardest playing, and they finally, elected to them to the Hall of Fame, which was one of the most popular inductees that were put into the Hall of Fame

because that was the type of player that played in those days. You had to be tough, believe he. You got to be tough nowadays, don't get me wrong, but you had to be tough to stay there. Yeah, well, you watched the videos of the game back then. It ain't nearly as skilled or as fast, but there is an elegance to, the old way.

Well, don't forget the film itself is anything like it is today. I look at it sometimes and say, oh, how do we compete against them today? But there was speed, there was toughness, there's everything you see today back then. Oh, the fans, the atmosphere is in those buildings, Jerry, look, looks unbelievable. The fans? Yeah. Well, the fans are good today. We get them back.

They're good fans. You know, to me, no fans in all sorts right now. No one talks about it, but we're not having, it's a different effect with those fans. Wow. You watch the Stanley Cup playoffs right now, and it's good hockey. It's really good hockey, but not having... Listen, I give the players all the credit in the world. They don't leave anything out there.

there's no fans. You know, and I keep thinking as a goaltender, you're back there by yourself, and if you make some unbelievable save, right now there's no applause, the plague goes up the other end, and outside of your teammates, no one knows what you just did,

and you would like to have an applause, not, you know, that it really matters, but, you know, it's an ego thing, and your ego needs that occasionally. But I give the players credit. I don't know how they're, they're, they're playing as hard as I've ever seen them play. And there's no prima don't prima donas out there.

They're trying to win a cup right now, two teams. And it's good. It's really good. The National League, I don't want to say finally, they'd have a lot of good stuff. But when they were the first going to the bubble and arrange their season, they did a hell of a job, hell of a job. No positives, which in itself is a miracle.

And it's been as a fan watching, it's been really the way they have played the games and had them all throughout the day and just rolled with it. Those first couple of rounds, there was a lot of hockey going on. And boy, having a long time there where we had nothing, it was enjoyable to have some things on the TV and something to watch and competitive fast-paced hockey right off the hop. Oh, it was great. We've got it all here on the safe. You know, you mentioned the fans giving you applause. What was the Boston faithful like when you were playing for the Bruins in your first stint there before the WHA? Well, I won't reorganize you.

Boston fans are as good as they're in any city in the actual, including all the Canadian cities. They're as good as fans. They understand hockey more than anything, and they're loyal. and I remember when I went to Boston, we were fighting for last place for a couple years, and the Celtics were perennial NBA champions. You couldn't get a ticket to a Bruin game, and you could get a section for the Celtics.

The Boston fans are good, knowledgeable, and you better perform for them. Did you guys, you know, speaking of the Celtics, and those would have been Larry Bird days, I suppose. Would... A little before that. Was it before that? Bill Russell. Yeah, Bill Russell's group.

Oh, Bill, yeah, yeah. Okay, yeah. Did you guys ever, you know, nowadays, you go, I assume it's the same back then. Heck, everything's just a little different as time moves along. Did you guys go and check out a bunch of those games? No, no. I don't think they went to any of our games, and we paid attention, but we never went to games.

I think once a year the Boston Gardens, had a Christmas party, and that's the only time the Celtics and the Bruins were in the arena at the same time. Really? And even when they were a championship team, you guys never went and... Yeah, it was 100% opposite. We don't care about them. And, you know, if they were on the road, and they were great, they went on 10 or 11 in a row. if they're on the road Saturday night and we're on the road Saturday night and you woke up in the morning

first thing you'd say is how the ruins do Fair, okay It goes in errors too But then you know they're now Then Bobby Orr came along And all of a sudden it was just crazy The Hockeyin Boston Well I mean

You got to On the list of I'm a defenseman by trade Jerry That's what I grew up playing. I got to watch, you know, on the Don Cherry Rockham, Sockhams. But, I mean, you got to witness it every night. Like, how good was Bobby Orr? He was the best. He was the best.

He revolutionized the position of defense. Now, you watch them today, you watch these players today, as such a guy like Hedman and a couple of the Dallas guys. They're up in the playing everything. and Bobby originated that. I mean, Bobby had great speed, great. New areas going, great anticipation. He was just, you know, and more than anything,

he was a great teammate. He cared about winning. He cared about his teammates. And that's what made him pretty special. What was the first time you hopped on the ice with Bobby, or was he, did it take him time to kind of mold into where he was. It took about 10 seconds.

I'll never forget it. We're in London at training camp. And what you're doing in training camp, you have teams and the scrimmage. Well, I was sitting in the players bench with Eddie Johnson, who I just, no, we were and Bobby showed up. And that's exactly what it took, 10 seconds to find out how good he was. He had the puck, but he took it. It made unbelievable.

He, uh, 10 seconds, that's my answer. That's the long it took. That's, that's, that's pretty cool. I mean, like you say, everybody the best. The problem is I'm too young, so I never got to witness them play the game. Yeah, it's, uh, I'm sure there's, you talk about you to, I don't know a bunch about it, but I'm sure there's tapes you should, you know, be in a defense, but you should, you know, just watch him. He's a, he's a beauty to watch.

He had speed, he had toughness, he had quickness, he had everything. The best I've ever seen of Bob, Bobby, was the Dawn Cherry Rockham Sockham where he's on the penalty kill and he's behind the net, but nobody wants to chase him. And he goes down and scores and puts his head down in shame because he embarrass the flames. Well, one of the best is we're. playing in Oakland, killing a penalty, like you said, and he sort of got bumped at center ice and dropped his buff glove. And he continued on. Instead of shooting, he round the net.

He started picking up Oakland players. And everyone, I was in goal that night, and I said, what the hell does he do it? And he went and he circled the net with a puck and scooted up the right side and stopped the pick his glove up and went out and scored. It was, I wish you could see that. It was the Bruins, for instance, the Oakland, whatever they're called seals. Golden Seals. It was just seals?

I don't know what they were. You know, you guys brought with Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito and yourself and a whole cast of characters in the Bruins days. I think it had been 29 years. You talk about the fans falling along with what happens with you guys. over what even what the Celtics were doing. What was it about that group? Like, I think I'd read, on the road,

if you guys went for beers, everybody had to go for at least one. And there was that kind of like team concept. Yeah, that's what it was. And we had a lot of fun. And we, you know, our characters, our role characters, our role players, they would say,

our characters like Derek Sanj, Johnny McKenzie. I mean, they're unbelievable guys. Eddie Johnson and cash and Ace Bailey when there. They were just players and personalities that people loved. I mean, as soon as Johnny McKenzie come there, they nicknamed them Pie Face, and all of a sudden there's pies after them and companies are naming things.

It was just there we were in. And we, we, and the type of players we had. And we had a lot of fun. Probably costs us a cup one year, but we enjoyed ourselves. And on the road, in those days, there's no charters. So if we played in Detroit, which is a border city, and a lot of people from Ontario, our families, but you had to go for one beer with your team.

That was the rule we had. or also was the old kangaroo court situation, which was a find. You know, I don't know why it should surprise me one bit that kangaroo court came from the NHL. But as a young guy in junior hockey, I just always assumed kangaroo court was something that junior hockey kids made up. But what was kangaroo court like? Who is the judge? and the jury It was just

unwritten rules that I think kangaroo court was, I have no idea where it originated but I thought it was baseball or some other sport I'm not necessarily hockey

but I don't know I just said that because of a guy didn't show up or something I don't know he had to buy a beer or something like that

but were you a guy who got fined at all Jerry? No I mean, you know, something happened. No, not the, no, there's no fines. No fines.

But you learn pretty quickly how you were supposed to act as a teammate no matter who you were. And, you know, rookies had to pick up the bags or buy a beer or something like that. Yeah. They're all sort of little funny rules to make that. But I'm sure all sports have. Oh, I mean, that's a right of passage, is it not? I mean, that's kind of, you've got to earn your stripes at all different.

different level. Exactly right. That's exactly it. You know, you guys got a, Harry Sinden was a young guy when he started coaching the Bruins. What was he, from all accounts of what I've read on him, he was quite the man. What was it like having a young guy like that coming in coach? Yeah, it was good. He was very good coach, first of all. And he had a way of coaching and a philosophy. when I coach for him I used to talk to him a lot about this. He, you know, he was the coach. You know, he was a guy like the manager managed the coach, coach, and players' fights.

And our gang, we had nicknames and everything, but he would never use the nickname. And I asked him about that one day. Like he would never call me cheesy or B.O. or ESMO. He'd always call him by Phil or Bobby or Jerry or Wayne or Kenny or whatever. because he always thought that the nicknames

for they were for the players themselves amongst the players. And I asked about that, and I said, that's just the way I felt about it as a coach. The nicknames were the players for the players. It was an interesting philosophy he had there. But he was all business, but he could lean either what way he had to keep the team in life. He was a very good defensive coach. He knew about coaching. He was a good coach, very good

coach. That's an interesting story about not using the nicknames. Yeah, I mean, it was just a little thing. I don't think anyone would make a big deal of it, but I asked him about it one day, and that was his reason. He thought it was the players for the players. it's an interesting way to separate to yes it is does he like

there's obviously a few things that fall in the place for the Bruins but who is the guy who drove the culture for the Bruins I know what you talk about just being a tight group but usually there's a guy who kind of this is how we're going to do it like whose idea was it on the road we go for beards

Or whose idea was it to try and mold this group? I think it was just, you know, some would come up with the idea. It was an unwritten rule. Let's go and do it. And, you know, we had different, we didn't have factions where there's three guys here, four guys there, three guys, you know, we were a team. And we had four or five guys that made sure we were a team. We had a guy like Eddie Westball, who was, you know, probably the,

one of the oldest member in the chamber, Johnny Busek, and they sort of had, you know, a saying of, you know, of what we're supposed to do and not do. It's,

I wouldn't say there was any one individual that drove us that way. I mean, Harry came in, and we all respect him as a coach, and, you know, I think he has a lot,

certainly had a lot to do with it. Then our next coach, when Harry, when, into private business. Our next coach, Tommy Johnson, he was the opposite of him. He just said, hey, go do your thing.

We're good enough to win. And we screwed at one season, but then we went up the next season. How did you, the season you didn't win? How did you say you screwed it? It just didn't show up or the one that got away? Probably by Montreal. We, in all honesty,

we probably didn't work as hard as we should as out here. Took a lot of things for granted. And, you know, the city and, races so much that we probably thought we were pretty damn good. And, you know, if you don't put it all out there, you're not, you're not very good. And, uh, but we come back to the next year and won it and then the team woke up a little bit. You know, speaking of, uh, you were, you know, going back to Bobby Orr, that first Stanley Cup, you guys went over the blues has the, you know, So nobody, they don't write, oh, they won the series 4-0.

What gets hung on the wall is the picture of Bobby flying through the air in overtime. Well, no one knows this. That was the fourth game, Boss Gardens, Mother's Day, Sunday afternoon. We won that game 4-3, and, believe me, we were heavy favorites in the series, heavy, heavy favorites, and St. Louis spent on the hell of show. But I went in two terrible goals that night. to force it into overtime so Bobby could get the goal. So without you giving up two weak ones, there's no Bobby flying.

Terrible goals, just so we could go into overtime. He might not ever, never heard of them. Do you tell Bobby that from time to time? Oh, no, Bobby, yeah, I've told him that. But that's, you know, that was just fitting that he got that goal. Even though if he missed it, he would have been caught up ice and oak. But that was good. And you know what?

My thought in that game was we won the Stanley Cup, and it sort of justifies why you become a hockey player. You become a hockey player, in my opinion, to win the Stanley Cup. And it happened, so mission accomplished. And was that night hoisting that trophy as good as what every kid who dreams of it? And more, and more. It's, and it's the same today. You last over wins this series, Tampa and Dallas,

which I believe will go to seven games. And they're going to be tired, beat up guys, but the happiest guys in the world when they win it. Who you got picked, Jerry, who you think is win. Well, I think it's very close. That's why I said seven games. I get to watch Tampa, here a little bit in Florida

when the Panthers are playing or something but I've started cheering for Dallas Jimmy Nill is a really good man he's the GM and he was sort of in the background of all those great Detroit teams but he's a real honest guy and

you know if you can't can't play for him you can't play for anyone and the coach's story is very good really good coach you've been an assistant coach a long time a head coach or assistant coach Rick Bonas, and I'm surprised that no one's mentioned after the first two games, the fact that at least I haven't seen it in the TVs,

that he was an assistant coach for Tampa, so he must have a little edge there, know something that another coach might not know. Well, I tell you what, you're the first person to say it to me. Well, I'm surprised that it hasn't been brought up as a key in this year, a key factor in the series. He should know. I mean, he coaches their power player, their penalty kill, And it hasn't been brought up.

It should have been. It should be. I mean, it's a big, big factor. Yeah, not to mention just being on the inside of the room to know all the guys he's playing against. Sure, he knows that Kuturav might be a little temperamental or this guy or that guy, sure. Absolutely, well, how to get him off their game and everything else, right?

Or tendencies? Right. He probably knows something of a brain point. right now. Looks like if if Tabba's going to win, Braing points going to be the MVP, him or the goalie. So maybe he knows something about them. But it hasn't been mentioned. You know, we have a thousand analysts in hockey, and that hasn't been mentioned yet. Not that I know.

They must be holding on to it for a better time, I guess. No, well, the better time was before the series. You know, when you guys win in 70 that first time, You ended drought for the Bruins or Boston in hockey of 29 years. After you win, like obviously hoisting the cup and the night in the dressing room, is that the most memorable point, or do you get to bring the cup home? Do you get a parade? Well, you probably get a parade.

Those days we didn't bring the cup home. Now that whole summer was memorable. I mean, it was, you couldn't go anywhere in Boston without asking for an autograph. or being mobbed or anything like that. You really, actually, if you wanted a little vacation, you had to get out of town, go to New Hampshire or Maine or the Cape. And get away from the craziness.

Yeah, exactly. So when you look back on it then, I didn't realize you guys didn't take the cup home. The best night then would have been in the dressing room, champagne and beer and laughter. Actually, the best night lasts about two weeks. just going out and celebrating. There was some heavy celebrating, believe me.

Well, I think anyone, well, you win a senior hockey championship, Jerry, in Saskatchew, and you party for two weeks. So the Stanley Cup should earn you two weeks. I know. I think it earned, I think it's still going on with a veteran. I guess he really celebrated it when Washington won. That's good.

That's what it's all about. 100% 100%. You mentioned a while back, Ace Bailey. There's a guy from Lloyd who's no longer with us. What are some, is there a story or two on Ace that you can share with us? Ace was quite a character. His wife and my wife worked together, so we started to know each other. Then we started traveling and scouting.

But Ace was a, you know, we talked about, when did you know, Bobby Orr was good. Well, I said in 10 seconds we knew it was good. But when Ace Bailey came along, it might have been even the same year as Bobby. But if Bobby decided not to have the puck, Ace Bailey would have the puck for the most of the time. He had great ability and talent. And we were one year, we're in like the 60th game of the year, and Ace hadn't scored yet or something. And he was taking a lot of flag from it.

He finally scored a goal in. in Montreal but he wouldn't come out of the dress room because they were going to announce it was his first goal of the year

in the 60th year that's how sensitive he was about it but Ace could skate he could shoot he was a he was a great teammate

to have Ace we miss him dearly obviously and I'll tell you funny story about Ace when we scouted in the American League the American League

used to play Friday Saturday and Sundays, you know, just to get crowds. And they don't have any press room. They have little press rooms like popcorn. But in Worcester Mass, they had a press room, and the lady cooked great dinners. And about 90 minutes down the road, Springfield, you got nothing. So we're in the Worcester press room. And I said, where are you going to more night?

He said, Springfield. I said, oh, he said, where are you going? I said, I'm coming back here. So I go back here. And sure enough, he was in the dressing room. an hour and a half before the game in the press room. I said, I thought you were going to Springfield. He says,

I am, I just stopped to have my dinner here in the press room. He was a character. He was a character. Love kids. He was a great in their dressing room. He was good. Miss him. I appreciate that. Being from the Lloyd area, I've been up in the Lloyd area

and actually Matt Deuce's parents, I think. I don't know if they're still alive, I doubt it, but yeah, and Skippy's brother and sister and brother-in-law. I met the ball of those guys up at Lloyd Minister. I played the golf tournament, Lloyd Minister. It was 180 in the shape.

And my team was doing good, and I said to one of my teammates on the golf team, what's the take to win this? He said, what do you mean? He said, what score is it take to win? He said, oh, we don't have any winner. What do you do? He said, you get a ticket, and you get a shirt,

and you go to the banquet. I said, I'm out here. and a hundred degree of weather, working my butt off to try and win it, and there's no winners. I'll never forget that. He's a great golf course, too, by the way, up with the way. Yeah, no, that sounds about right.

Yeah, that's good. It was good. Skip you got me up there. Well, Skip is a good man. I was curious, you know, I'd mentioned you played in the original six and what that was like. What were the guys like when the NHL expanded

and 67, and all of a sudden you get the California, the L.A., the Minnesota, the Philly, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis, and now you just doubled the sides of the league. Were guys excited about that? Was it? Well, first of all, before we go there, let me mention something. When I first broke in and turned pro with the lease, they had nowhere to send me. Johnny got hurt one game, and I played a weekend. When I was up there as a practice goalie and everything, and one guy, took me under his wing and he was nice to me and I became friends with him throughout his career

and my career and it was Bobby Nevin who just passed away two days ago. And I wanted to, I had a like the chance to mention that. He was a captain of a couple of teams, really good player, terrific person. You're going to ask anyone about that, but he went out of his way to make sure if I was a rookie that I was doing okay. So mentioning that, your question was, when we went to these new cities,

well, you know, the original six was Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, New York, region. They were interesting cities because, you know,

we've been there as a young player, but now we're going to Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and every trip of Los Angeles, and I'm sure

every team is the same way in the early days. She's, I think we can stay there a couple of extra days. The guy, we'd go to San Anita, a racetrack, or the beach, or Hollywood, or to the studios. And so that was all unique. So it was, we're looking forward to, to the trips, especially L.A. Then Vancouver came in, Vancouver was a special spot to go to.

I'm trying to think of it. Buffalo came in. That was really a special spot to go to. of our families were Ontario, so it became somewhat special. So, yeah, it was great. It was, I went to places I never would have been to who was in for expansion. Yeah, well, and then, like you say, L.A. would be a treat from being up in the East Coast to the down south. And not only that, L.A. was a treat because if you were, I remember Derek Sanders,

He woke me up and boarded in LA on Saturday, the day of a game. And we didn't have boarding skates in those days. I said, what do you want? He says, come on, we're going to ride. He got a cab. We went to Universal Studios. Paul Lankham met us at the front gate, took us in. We watched and rehearsed with Shirley Bassy for two hours.

Come home. Paul went to the game, come in the dress room after. So, I mean, that was unique. That doesn't happen all the time. And a lot of actors that were Canadian. Larry Mann, for example, who you wouldn't know. He was a character actor and George Kennedy. They all came to the games.

There's no telling who you met at the games. What about, you know, speaking about different things in the game? You're at the forefront of goalies wearing masks. You must have had days where you didn't wear masks, maybe not in the NHL, but as a kid. I played the lot on each other on the mask. I tried to. There was a tie.

I never got cut or hurt until my first game was a major. Until my first game was a Maple East and exhibition. I got five stitches. The next day I got ten stitches. I never wore a match. But you play different. And all of a sudden, after two or three years of pro, I said, if I'm going to last, I better put a mask on.

so I put a lefty Wilson mask on. He was the trainer in Detroit who made masks, which really the mask shifted all the way. If you got hit the face, it was worse than not having a mask. So I come to Boston and I finally met a guy named Merley Higgins, whose son was a goalie. He made him a mask. He said, you might have been making one.

I said, go ahead. I just make sure it's anchored in the chin. And he did it. And I only wore that. I wore one mask my whole career. And it's on my grandson's wall. right now. And I had a lot of practice max and the next to Bruce Gaines mask. But there's a time when I said

if you don't put a mask on, you're not going to make it. You'll be the funny farm in a year. So it took me two years to get used to it. Then I put stitches on it. Now it's the most famous mask in hockey. 100%. It's the most iconic mask ever. Whatever it is. Did you just say you only wore one mask? Like, you said practice and exhibition you had a mask, but during games you only ever wore one mask? You only ever wear one mask during the game. I mean, it was, you know, fixed up every year, but I only wear one mask.

It fit perfect. I used to put new sponges in the inside of it to absorb the blow. You know, that's it. How did you come up with the idea for the stitches? Well, I used to have a white mask. I never wore white stockings. They made me nervous. And I was trying to get out of practice.

In fact, Harry said it was coaching. I'm driving into practice. How am I going to get out of this practice? You know. And I always said, geez, what do I do with my mask? Well, sure enough, one day the puck flipped up, if I didn't have a mask on, it wouldn't have cut me. And I faked like I was hurt, so I went in.

And he came in after he says, get out there. You're not even hurt. Yeah. So my trainer, John Forrestow, Frosty, that's better-knowing, hold it. So he runs against a magic marker, and he puts a 10-stitch cut over my eye. And we got out and we all got a chuckle out of it. And the next game I played, I took one off the nose. He put a stitch there.

And we embellished a lot of it, but there's, there where I get whacked in the head. And it was all Frosty's idea. I keep using to something. How do I get a mask like yours? I'd say, send me $100 and I'd send them a magic market. Well, it's pretty great. Like, considering what goalies do now, like with all these different mass

and constantly changing, you know, multiple masks sometimes through the year or even a different mass for a certain game, it's almost not comparing Apple. to apples, to be honest. Well, I can never wear one of the big masks that were a day. I wish I could have. I would have started that

to me was so head-heavy that was like the hockey player in the back of the car who heads shifts every bump. And I just don't have time to get it down or else I would have one. But, you know, I'm sure they loosens up a lot,

shifts a lot on. them and maybe they like to try something new or get better padding inside a lot of reasons to change how about the rest of the yeah oh so not the artwork of it how about the rest of your gear jerry did you know what did you did you use the same pads and gloves and everything or was that something that changed well no i used to have uh i used to get a a new set of leg pads every year and a new set of leg pads every year and a new set of gloves.

And what I did is I used to have a contest in Boston and whoever won it got to use my pads for a month and they break them in for me. My pads and my gloves. That's a, I used,

the first time I ever put my pads on, I used them in the game. They've been mourned for a month by a high school goalie, which was good thinking by me because it's tough to break of them in. But getting back to equipment

sometimes when I see old clips, I said, oh, geez, why did we get killed goalies like us in those days? And these new guys, they're so well protected and rightfully so. But I did a commercial for

Zellers in Canada, and they put me in those equipment. It took them three hours to get it on me. Then they had to push me out to the front of the net. I didn't know where things went and they buckles and Velcrest and this and that. We just, I mean, there was times when I played in the NHM, I never wore shoulder pads.

You never. He couldn't do it today. What would a shot going off you're not having a chest protector on feel like? Well, that didn't bother you. The chest protection was the least by words, because you're always crouched. And by the time it got, you know, you took, don't give you wrong, there's a lot of shots.

That didn't bother me, just protect it, with the shoulders and the elbows. You know, and they just didn't have any, now they got fiber. You know, God forbid they do. I don't think you can get hurt playing goal now. You know, you just, I mean, I watched the Little Islander goalie there. I forget his name, Carmelop or something. He took about four out of the mass in that last series. I mean, bullets.

Well, you're not wrong there. I mean, the goaltending equipment today is meant to be, you know, almost bulletproof. That's right. So you don't feel, well, you just don't get, I mean, they're shooting the puck ridiculously hard. But, I mean, it wasn't like they were just throwing, you know, pillows at you, Jerry. I mean, like, certainly you had to be coming out of games, bruised and everything else. Oh, yeah, I don't know. And I was an easy bruiser, whatever that means.

I mean, you just hit me, and I broke out in the bruise. But, you know, you couldn't play that way, and you had to face a shot, turn and face it. The scariest part of equipment and playing goal is recognizing what you have to do, not to get hurt. You've got to turn on the shooter. You can't cheat. Think he's going to pass.

You've got to turn on them. And I see so many goalies today that won't do that. I had a goalie in Boston. who just wouldn't turn on the shooters and he lasted a year you know, you've got to turn on the shooters and that'll keep your safety record intact. But once you don't, you're in trouble.

Hmm. Another thing that I was looking at today was and if I get this wrong, I guess I apologize, did you not use to shake hands at the end of series? Just with a goalie. The goalie wouldn't shake hands? No, I did.

I would shake hands with the fores. I just shook hands with the other goal. So you'd skate down to the other end and shake hands on the goalie. Circle the line, shake hands, say, Good series of Eddie or Eddie or something like that, and go right to the restroom. Now, being, saying that, you know, I'd buy the potent beer or whatever I saw.

To me, it was an artificial ceremony, that no one meant it. Oh, geez, great series. Screw you, great series. You just cost me $20,000 and beat the hell out of me. You know, I'll congratulate the guy in the summer if I bought that, Gilbert, but I'm not, you know, that was my philosophy. They say, poor sports was, yeah, poor, poor this.

That's awesome. You mentioned he just cost me $20,000. Was there a big bonus then for making it round by round? Well, maybe not that much. I mean, you know, we got, I know when year we won the cup, we got 11,000. Jeez. You know, so if the team beat us, they got five, you know, sure, it costs you six, ten in those days. Yeah, it cost you money.

Well, beated it. You know, and you imagine shaking an innocent guy just robbed your 10,000. Hey, congratulations, you called me out at 10,000. I just didn't understand that. Were you working part-time then in the summers back then? Sure. Yeah? First years of pro, I had a job at the racetrack.

I had a job in construction. And I started working for Ontario Jockey Club and did some television. Sure, you couldn't raise a family without a summer job. You know, you brought up horses in the racetrack. you are a guy who enjoys horses. Yeah. Is that something from your childhood, or is that something as you grew up? No, because when I grew up, when I had a work in the summer, I worked at the fordory racetrack.

And I always said, and I loved horses, when I could afford it, I'll buy some. And I did. I had some good horses. In fact, when you see Skippy, I ask him, Skippy and Diane and Betty and myself, we flew over to Tron of from Cleveland to watch Secretariat run in the Canadian Championship. It was a great day. Really? You got to see Secretariat run. Yeah, and I wonder if Skippy's still got some pictures.

I have got pictures of that. Not only that, on the way home, we flew home to Cleveland next night. We bumped into the jockey and he signed our programs. Don't get it. At the airport, too, it was a great day. When you watch Secretariat run, was it just unbelievable? Unbelievable. I saw him win the Preakness.

I didn't see him win the Belmont. I mean, I saw it in television, but at the Prectus a couple I don't know, Skippy might have been with us. At the Pretingham, I had a box right of the finish line when he won the Prectus and it was just you know, he was a beautiful horse

in Carisna, why he was the best. And he could run. And Ronnie Turk out of Canadian was his rider. That's cool. That is cool. You know, talking about Skip, you make the change from the... Go ahead. You make the switch from the NHL to the WHA.

I assume, well, money. Money comes full circle when you're making the switch from the NHL and the WHA. I'm assuming there's a story behind. moving from the NHL over to the WHA? Mm-hmm. Well, I just, I think I lost three games or four games that year, set a record and all that sure. We won her second cup, and I was making $50,000.

The WHA was a reality, and we had a lawyer that was negotiating with the players, and he had no idea what he was doing. and he called me in and I think I went 30 games a real loser that year something crazy thing

and he offered me a $5,000 raise and I said don't know meanwhile I was very disillusioned why only 5,000 world hockey was a reality

cops everything and I sort of got pissed off at it if I could use those words and I said don't so then

they offered me 5,000 a year for two years so they'd give me 110 over two years now then I get a call from a friend of mine that said Cleveland just got your rights so I said let's go see him I didn't want to go to Cleveland

so I go there and I get on the plane and what are you going to ask for I said I'm going to ask for a million dollars over four years which was unheard of in hockey so the guy that met me Nick Mulletti and went to Cleveland and the Indians and the Cavaliers,

finally said, what do we need to get you? And I said, a million dollars for four years. He says, you've got a deal. I went, hold it. I was just kidding. No, you got a deal. Then he came back to me that same night and said, we went longer than that.

I said, what's longer? He said, seven years. I said, well, wherever that comes to it, give me a year up front. He said, we'll make a deal. So I said, well, I'm going to go back and get the brew. and see something to tell them, you know, give another chance. So when I see the lawyer for boss and I said,

here's what I want. I want 300,000 over the next three years. That's 100,000 a year. I don't care how you give it. The guy said, oh, we can't give you that. I said, fine. So I called up Nick Mulletty. I said, Nick, let's get together and really make this a deal.

You know, but I needed so much money in front, blah, blah, blah. So then the guy that's coaching the Bruins, Johnson, he sort of knew more than anyone how important I was to the team. So he comes to me and he says, I'm here to offer you the same as Cleveland's offering you, which is crazy. I said, well, Tommy, here's what they're offering me. And he goes, oh, he said, do they need a coach? I said, no, they don't.

I said, go back and tell your people, I need that $100,000 a year for three years. They never come up with it, so that's how he went to Cleveland. And at the time, I didn't know Skippy was there, Gary Jarrett, but I met a couple of Paul Sharer and Gary Pender come out there, and we became good friends. In fact, my wife just passed away a couple of years ago, and Skippy and Willie and Bobby Wedden played ball with me, and Kerry Pender, who lives in Calgary.

We used to go every year for four or five years, we went away to holiday, play golf and celebrate it. We had a great time. That is an unbelievable story. Yeah, that's the way it went. Huh. That doesn't even, I mean, that's a lot of money compared to what you were getting. Yeah, they didn't realize it.

But they realized it after when Harry come back the next couple of years, I think, and ran the team. He knew. But some broken-down lawyer didn't know anything about hockey. You know, while you're in the WHA, you get to, everybody talks about the 1972 Summit Series, I mean, for obvious reasons, but you got to compete in the 74 Summit Series being with the WHA. Well, let's go back to 72. Bobby Hall, myself and J.C. Trombly were picked on 72, the Summit Series, but we weren't allowed to go because we went over to the WHA. It was Team Canada still.

It should have been, and I've talked to Bobby Hall 100 times about this, it should have been called Team NHL if they weren't going to let us play. I'm still very angry at that. The poor J.C. has passed away, but Bobby Hall, and you talk to him with that someday. He'll tell you that that team should have been called Team NHL if they were going to let us play because with Team Canada, I'm a Canadian.

Yeah, that's fair. That's very fair. We should have been, you know, and we should have been, we should have been allowed to play. In fact, it was, I don't know whose idea it was, but it was wrong. And it was a great series,

and Harry was the coach. rescinded, which he had nothing to do. He told me that, Jerry, you're going to play the first game. And I said, why? I mean, you got Dryden, you got Tony. I said, I'm in the least shape. He said, no. He said, I get two months

to talk to you every day to tell you how good the Russians are. Because no one knew how good they were. He says, I know how good they are. He says, I'll get you ready to play the first game. Meanwhile, the first game was a shootout, I think, what I was if I remember correctly.

I told all my friends that this is going to be a classic series. The team candidate is no cinch. They ended up winning and get weight. But to really get back to your question, we had no chance when we went with the WHA, we just weren't strong enough. We played hard, and we weren't strong enough. And there's a couple, you know, critical situations.

We should have won, but that's the way it goes. But once again, just to overstate it maybe is that we either should have been allowed to play or they should have been called team NHL. You know, you're bringing it up, though, Jerry. When I researched it, I was like, huh, that's kind of interesting that you're not on the team. I was thinking like, okay, well. I was peck, Bobby was peck, J.C. Tomliver picked. Yeah.

Well, I don't know, Bobby personal, went to, you know. Winnipeg, and, you know, he's the first guy to make a million dollars in hockey. Now, hundreds of them. Thousands of them probably. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, that's 74 Summit Series. You mentioned you don't have a chance.

But you do get to play four games in Canada. You get to play four games over in Russia. You got a Gordy Howe, a Bobby Hull, a few notable characters on that team. we had some good players we just weren't deep enough and we could have got up at Canada even we won, tied then all of a sudden in

Winnipeg Bobby Hall, myself and Gordy didn't play then we go into Vancouver for the 14 big key game we go ahead at 3-1 all of a sudden the clock stops and light goes out the rushes weave the ice what's going on here

Then they come back, we tied at 5-5, and we had a chance to win a couple games in Russia. Who knows? Was Russia quite an experience? Yeah, I've been there a couple of times, but that time was... But that time, you played hockey every other day, and you're fighting for your life out there,

but it was... At the time, you said, I never want to go back, but I went back in some other business later on. How about... you got, well, probably one of the most recognizable Canadians ever in Don Cherry as a coach. What was that man like back in his heyday? Well, first of all, his heyday as a player, he's a teammate of mine in Rochester. Oh, right.

And we had a great team in Rochester. And once again, I end up one of the goals against, which I usually don't do. And he was one of my defensemen with Al Arbor, Larry Hylvin, Darrell Sly, and Dwayne Rupp. And anyway, with Don, there was never a second shot. I saw every shot. No one, no one was ever in front of the net. Anyway, make long and sorry short, his wife rose,

and my wife, Betty, became friends. You know, we couldn't go out every night and spend $20 or $30 we could afford it. So we, you know, we hung around how I was done. I became playing. Then I was in the WHA when he coached the Bruin. He was a very good coach. And when I come back, you know, we beat Philly. He won two double overtime games in Philly and beat him out four straight.

But he was a coach that he enjoyed playing for her because every day was an adventure. Every day, something different was going to happen. And it was exciting. And he did, I mean, he's one of the guys that got the most, the most out of his team through just being grapes and being, you know, he wasn't a master in X and O's, but he had his own idea about a quarter year end, and out of four check and everything like that. And he got him and he had 12, 20 goals scores one year.

That's hard to believe. and guys love playing for him. He's a very good coach. I listen to his podcast every once in a while, and every so often he loves talking about you, and he was telling a story of one practice where I believe you didn't want to be there maybe. Yeah.

Here's what he did. We had a week off. We ended up in the first place. We had a week off, because the first place he'd got to buy. So we weren't going to play for 10 days. So he said to me, he said, I don't want you in practice for a week.

I said, we're going to the Stanley Cup playoffs. He says, go to Maryland. I had a group of horses in Maryland. Go to her, but I don't want you there. He said, you ruin my practices. You don't try. I'll try.

No, you won't. I don't want you there. But anyway, let me go have a story short. I showed up the third day. And he's mad at me. He said, I told him. So I show up, get my equipment on, go out, skating around, took a couple of warm-up shots.

He calls, he says, you get to one end, the other goal will get in the other end. He calls him around Center Ice, the players, and they start giggling and lap. So now we start scrimmaging. The first guy comes in, he shoots, I think was Terry O'Reilly, actually, and he shot me right in the stomach. He put his arms up. The next guy came in, shot. off by pads, put his arms up.

Well, what he told them was, because I was such a bad practice goalie, if they hit me with the puck, I counted as a goal. So I said, screw you, I'm out of here, and I threw my stick out of it and walked out of the ice.

And he said, I knew I'd get you out of the ice. So, but then we went to Philly and won, beat them out four straight. I forget who beat, oh, the islanders beat, you know.

That's, yeah, that story does not get old. That is, that's fantastic. Well, I've kept you for about an hour and 20 minutes. I want to, first off, just want to say again, thanks for making some time for me. I really do appreciate it. No problem. We slide into the crew. Skipies is a friend of mine.

Well, Skip is a good person. No doubt there. Nobody can argue that. The final segment of this is the Crude Master Final Five. So shout out to Heath and Tracy McDonald, sponsors of the podcast. It's just five questions, Cherry, long or short as you want to go. We got all the time in the world. So if you want to talk a little bit about it, don't feel like you're staying too long.

So the first one is, you know, you talked about taking some shots off the head and that kind of thing. Was there a guy back in the day that, you know, like, oh, man, this guy's got the puck? Like, he's got a bullet. When I come back to the WHA, I never thought of that. I never had any thought about, I was more worried of the scoring than rather get here. But in the WHA, I played against a guy that I had no idea who he was. He actually went to the Hall of Fame this year.

His name was Bad Klieff, Badabansky. And I didn't know how you could shoot the puck. he came back and he shot the puck. The first time we played him, he held his hands high and was sick, and he shot the puck, and I missed it. I actually had a beat with. It was so fast, it was right past him, not in the net, over the net. So I knew he was.

So now I get to the NHL, and I've never worried about that. We're playing in Buffalo one night, and this is when the French connection was quite the thing. And Joe Barreau passed it over to Rico Martin. Rico shot it exactly like Zedabaski. I missed it. It went right through my... I could hear it whistle last of my ear. The only two shots I've ever missed that I saw.

And to answer your question, I was always weary of Rico Martin after that. But no one else. I went to the WHA and they... Because of Bobby Hall, they had an inch and a half sticks and the puck went up doing dips. I used to call him

White Wilhelm shots. He was a knuckleballer in baseball. And they were tricky, but I was never worried about getting ahead or flinching or anything like that. And, you know, and I guess on the NHL, I'd be remiss if I didn't say, you know, Dennis Hall's shot was very wild.

Dennis was a dear friend of mine. He would never shoot at my head, but he'd get away from him, and he'd whistled. I could hear it whistle by my ears, and he'd skate by him. and he'd giggle like that. So Bobby, I never read about Bobby,

because he usually scored, so I knew he couldn't get hurt. But that's what it, from their shots. Number two is, you know, I get, I've been very fortunate in my short time doing this to get to sit across from guys like yourself and hear stories and get to pick their brains and just enjoy some really good conversations. Is there a guy that you got to sit across from once upon a time

that you got to sit there and talk about some things with them and it was a really cool experience? Well, that's a good question. I have an answer to that. I played in an All-Star game. I never played in the All-Star games. And after the game, the goalie and the other team was Glenn Hall, who was absolutely.

legend. I was one of the greatest that ever played. And we're sitting having a beer. And it was just before that, that Glenn Hall never wore a mask, and we're playing a Boston Gardens. And I was at the other end and Bobby Earl had a shot go

through a screen, and it went right by his ear, Glenhall. Then he put a mask on the next game. So he said to him, sitting there with about 50 beers each, I said, Gully. His nickname was Gully. I said, Gully. That was one of the worst shots ever seen him, you know.

And he had his catching match over his face and his stick mint over his crotch, and it hit the glass. And Glenn, who's a wonderful man, said in his own way because he had somewhat of a list, he said, when that puck hit the glass, it was the sweetest music this eye of heaven. In other words, it didn't hit him. So that was one conversation I had with an opponent sitting there. He was good. How about hypothetical?

If you could go back to your playing days and you've been traded, but you get to bring one teammate with you, who would you bring? Well, I'd bring Bobby Orr if I could. Well, actually. I don't think they trade him. Let's not count him. I'd probably bring Wayne Cashman. And why would you bring Wayne Cashman?

because he tried to win. He was a great teammate. Tried to win as hard as any guy ever played with. And all he cared about was winning. Who is your favorite current goalie? Is there a guy currently playing that you watch? I'm really enjoying the Dallas goalie. Yeah, who do you know.

You know, the last four goalies, the four goalies in the semis and finals are all rushing. Am I correct there? Salavsky, In Newman, Lennar. No, not Lennar. Okay, Lennar was in...

Okay, three of the last... Three of the last, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's it, not Lennar, yeah. Who's my favorite goal? I think... I think, and I don't watch him, you know. I watch the goalie here in Florida. Bobarovsky.

He's certainly not my favorite. I got to like... Vaselowski a lot. I don't like the guy in Toronto. I think he can be more aggressive as a goalie. I'm not a great, I get right through the colds for being not a Kerry Price fan. So therefore, I think my favorite goalie is Fleury, to answer your question. I haven't seen the guy that just won the business that much. I haven't seen a lot of them. But from what I understand, Fleury is a terrific team guys, won a couple cups. That's going to be my answer, flurry.

Okay. Final one for you before I let you go is if you had a piece of advice for young players or goalt, it can be either or that are trying to work their way up to, you know, the NHL, that kind of thing. What would you, what's the best piece of advice you could give them? Well, you know, first of all, you've got to work hard. I mean, there's no question above that. But I don't, you know, everyone I see works through tailout. than that. But I think

is you really have to enjoy it. And I mean, everyone says, oh, have fun, I have fun. But you can have fun too, and you can work. But you've got to enjoy your craft. You've got to enjoy what you're doing. You can't. You know, I watch these golfers playing the U.S.

Open. I mean, that was torture. But no one had a smile in their face. No one did they enjoy it? Well, I guess after it was all over over and it's a different sport, but you've got to enjoy what you're doing. And that's my only advice. Don't, you know, don't be miserable, don't be negative.

Enjoy it. Have fun. You know, because, you know, in 10 years or now, 12 years, it's going to be, you know, you'll be gone. Yeah, I think that's a very, I get what you mean by enjoy it. That can be put to anything. I play 20 years I enjoyed it. I should have been out 10 years, but I played 21 years.

enjoyed every, I'd say, 19 over 21 years. Well, once again, I really, really, really appreciate you making some time for me tonight and another shout out to Skip for helping line it up, but I really appreciate you hopping on, Jerry, and talking a little bit about your career and everything else. This has been highly enjoyable on my side. All right, John. Thanks for having me, and you can call me anytime.

Well, thanks again. Hey, folks, thanks again for joining us today. If you just stumble on the show and like what you hear, please click subscribe. Remember, every Monday and Wednesday a new guest will be sitting down to share their story. The Sean Newman podcast is available for free on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever else you find your podcast fix. Until next time.