Brad Park
Encyclopedia
Douglas Bradford Park is a retired ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 defenceman who played in the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 (NHL) for the New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...

, Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

 and Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...

. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

.

Playing career

Park was drafted by the New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...

 in the first round (2nd overall) in the 1966 NHL Amateur Draft
1966 NHL Amateur Draft
The 1966 NHL Amateur Draft was held at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Selections by round:Listed below are the selections in the 1966 NHL Amateur Draft.-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-External links:* *...

 and, after a brief stint with the minor-league Buffalo Bisons
Buffalo Bisons
The Buffalo Bisons are a minor league baseball team based in Buffalo, New York. They currently play in the International League and are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets...

 of the AHL
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...

, began playing for the Rangers in 1968.

New York Rangers

Park quickly became the Rangers' best defenceman
Defenceman (ice hockey)
Defence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring...

 and drew comparisons with the great Bobby Orr
Bobby Orr
Robert Gordon "Bobby" Orr, OC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Orr played in the National Hockey League for his entire career, the first ten seasons with the Boston Bruins, joining the Chicago Black Hawks for two more. Orr is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest...

, as both were credited with revolutionizing the "offensive" defenceman. Park's offensive skill, stickhandling and pugnacity attracted much attention from fans. Park and Orr occasionally fought each other on ice, and fans and sportswriters fueled the rivalry by making frequent comparisons, not least as the Rangers and Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

 were bitter opponents. Years afterward, Park remarked "I saw no reason to be upset because I was rated second to Bobby Orr. After all, Orr not only was the top defenseman in the game but he was considered the best player ever to put on a pair of skates. There was nothing insulting about being rated number two to such a super superstar."

Park was made the alternate captain of the Rangers and briefly served as their captain. In 1972, despite the loss of leading team scorer Jean Ratelle
Jean Ratelle
Joseph Gilbert Yvon "Jean" Ratelle is a former Canadian ice hockey player and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. It has often been said of Jean Ratelle that he was so consistently effective at a high level of play day in and day out that he has been overlooked by some as one of the greatest to...

 with a broken ankle, Park led his team to defeat the defending champions Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

 in the first round of the playoffs. The Rangers advanced to the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

 finals where they lost to Orr and the Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

, and Park finished runner-up for the Norris Trophy. When the upstart World Hockey Association
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...

 tried to lure Park away, the Rangers re-signed him to a $200,000-a-year contract that made him, briefly, the highest-paid player in the NHL.

In the 1972 Summit Series, with Orr unable to play due to injury, Park emerged as a key contributor to Team Canada's series over the Soviets, being named the MVP of the deciding Game Eight and named Best Defenceman of the series.

In 1975–76, the Rangers got off to their worst start in ten years and the team began getting rid of their high-priced veterans. On November 7, 1975, one of the biggest trades of the era was made. Park, star centre Jean Ratelle
Jean Ratelle
Joseph Gilbert Yvon "Jean" Ratelle is a former Canadian ice hockey player and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. It has often been said of Jean Ratelle that he was so consistently effective at a high level of play day in and day out that he has been overlooked by some as one of the greatest to...

 and minor-leaguer Joe Zanussi
Joe Zanussi
Joseph Lawrence Zanussi is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 149 games in the World Hockey Association and 87 games in the National Hockey League...

 were traded to Boston for superstar scoring champion Phil Esposito
Phil Esposito
Philip Anthony Esposito, OC is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and is considered to be one of the best to have...

 and defenceman Carol Vadnais
Carol Vadnais
Carol Marcel Vadnais is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman who played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League from 1966–67 until 1982–83...

. The New York press and public had felt that Park, 27 at the time, was overweight, overpaid, and over the hill, as he was facing comparisons to the New York Islanders
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

' Denis Potvin
Denis Potvin
Denis Charles Potvin is a former defenseman and team captain for the New York Islanders in the National Hockey League and cornerstone for the Islanders' four Stanley Cup championship teams in the early 1980s. His brother, Jean Potvin, was also an NHL defenseman and the brothers were teammates for...

.

Boston Bruins

While Esposito and Vadnais remained effective players for the Rangers, that team remained mired at the bottom of the division after the trade, and Rangers general manager Emile Francis
Emile Francis
Emile "The Cat" Francis is a former player, coach, and general manager in the National Hockey League, most notably with the New York Rangers....

 was eventually fired. Contrary to expectations that the Rangers had gotten the better end of the trade, the struggling Bruins were instantly rejuvenated and soon again became one of the NHL's best teams, despite the departures of Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr.

Taking over the mantle of leadership from Orr, whose career was threatened by injury and who would soon leave the team, Park continued his great success under coach Don Cherry. Park had previously been an end-to-end rushing player attempting to imitate Orr, but with the Bruins he was told by Cherry to concentrate on defence. Getting over his unpopularity in Boston when he was a member of the arch-rival Rangers, Park settled in well with the Bruins, even hitch-hiking a ride from two teenagers at 1 am after his car ran out of gas, and Park later rewarded them with free tickets to the next Boston home game.

From 1977-79, Cherry's "lunch-pail gang" captured three division titles for the Bruins. Park earned two First All-Star Team selections, while coming in second in the Norris Trophy race twice in a Bruins' uniform, with 1977-78 being considered one of his finest seasons. In 1977 and 1978, Park was a key contributor to Boston's back-to-back appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals
Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup Finals is the championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, emblematic of the professional club championship of ice hockey. Although the Cup itself has existed since 1893, an annual championship series between professional teams was not established until 1913...

 where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

 both times. His last hurrah with Boston was in the 1983 playoffs, when he scored a long-remembered overtime goal to beat the Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...

 in the seventh game of their playoff series.

Detroit Red Wings

The following season Park signed with the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...

 as a free agent and won the Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance that same year, having set a record for assists by a Red Wings' defenceman. After the 1985 season, still an effective player but hobbled by repeated knee injuries, he announced his retirement. The next year he briefly served as Detroit's coach.

Retirement and personal life

In 1988, Park was elected in his first year of eligibility to the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

 in his hometown of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

.

Park has resided on the North Shore of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 for almost 30 years, with his wife Gerry. He has five children and four grandchildren.

Honors and achievements

  • Named to the First All-Star Team
    NHL All-Star Team
    The NHL All-Star Teams were first named at the end of the 1930–31 NHL season, to honor the best performers over the season at each position.Representatives of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association vote for the All-Star Team at the end of the regular season.The career leaders in citations are...

     in 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976 and 1978.
  • Named to the Second All-Star Team in 1971 and 1973.
  • Runner up in Norris Trophy voting in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976 and 1978
  • Received both the most First Team All-Star nominations (other than Earl Seibert
    Earl Seibert
    Earl Walter Seibert was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played for 15 seasons for the Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings.-Playing career:...

    , who retired before the trophy was awarded) and was runner-up for the Norris more times without winning the Norris than any other defenceman in NHL history.
  • Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978.
  • Retired as the leading defence scorer in Rangers' history and the second leading defence scorer in Bruins' history to Bobby Orr
    Bobby Orr
    Robert Gordon "Bobby" Orr, OC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Orr played in the National Hockey League for his entire career, the first ten seasons with the Boston Bruins, joining the Chicago Black Hawks for two more. Orr is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest...

    .
  • At the time of his retirement, had played the most seasons in league history for a player never missing the playoffs.
  • Currently 13th all-time in NHL history in defence scoring.
  • Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
    Hockey Hall of Fame
    The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

     in 1988, in this first year of eligibility.
  • Along with Butch Goring
    Butch Goring
    Robert "Butch" Goring is a retired Canadian ice hockey player. He played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders and Boston Bruins. He is a four-time Stanley Cup winner with the Islanders. Since retiring as a player he has served as head coach of...

    , one of the last two active players who had played in the 1960s.
  • In 1998, he was ranked number 49 on The Hockey News
    The Hockey News
    The Hockey News, commonly abbreviated to THN, is a North American ice hockey magazine published by Transcontinental. The Hockey News was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Bill Côté, and has since been the most recognized hockey publication in North America...

     list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
  • Ranked No. 11 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons
    John Wiley & Sons
    John Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...

    , 2009).

Career statistics


















































































































































































































































































































































































    Regular season   Playoffs
Season
Season (sports)
In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an...

Team League GP G
Goal (ice hockey)
In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to...

A
Assist (ice hockey)
In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal...

Pts
Point (ice hockey)
Point in ice hockey has three official meanings:* A point is awarded to a player for each goal scored or assist earned. The total number of goals plus assists equals total points. In some European leagues, a goal counts as two points, and an assist counts as one...

PIM
Penalty (ice hockey)
A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,...

GP G A Pts PIM
1965–66 Toronto Marlboros
Toronto Marlboros
The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association and Ontario Hockey League from 1904 to 1989...

OHA
Ontario Hockey Association
The Ontario Hockey Association is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. Other Ontario sanctioning bodies along with the...

33 0 14 14 48
1966–67 Toronto Marlboros OHA 28 4 15 19 73
1967–68 Toronto Marlboros OHA 50 10 33 43 120
1968–69
1968–69 AHL season
The 1968–69 AHL season was the 33rd season of the American Hockey League. Eight teams played 74 games each in the schedule. The Buffalo Bisons finished first overall in the regular season...

Buffalo Bisons
Buffalo Bisons (AHL)
The Buffalo Bisons were an American Hockey League ice hockey franchise that played from 1940 to 1970 in Buffalo, New York. They replaced the original Buffalo Bisons hockey team, which left the area in 1936 after its arena collapsed...

AHL
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...

17 2 12 14 49
1968–69 New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...

NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

54 3 23 26 70 4 0 2 2 7
1969–70 New York Rangers NHL 60 11 26 37 98 5 1 2 3 11
1970–71 New York Rangers NHL 68 7 37 44 114 13 0 4 4 42
1971–72 New York Rangers NHL 75 24 49 73 130 16 4 7 11 21
1972–73 New York Rangers NHL 52 10 43 53 51 10 2 5 7 8
1973–74 New York Rangers NHL 78 25 57 82 148 13 4 8 12 38
1974–75 New York Rangers NHL 65 13 44 57 104 3 1 4 5 2
1975–76 New York Rangers NHL 13 2 4 6 23
1975–76 Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

NHL 43 16 37 53 95 11 3 8 11 14
1976–77 Boston Bruins NHL 77 12 55 67 67 14 2 10 12 4
1977–78 Boston Bruins NHL 80 22 57 79 79 15 9 11 20 14
1978–79 Boston Bruins NHL 40 7 32 39 10 11 1 4 5 8
1979–80 Boston Bruins NHL 32 5 16 21 27 10 3 6 9 4
1980–81 Boston Bruins NHL 78 14 52 66 111 3 1 3 4 11
1981–82 Boston Bruins NHL 75 14 42 56 82 11 1 4 5 4
1982–83 Boston Bruins NHL 76 10 26 36 82 16 3 9 12 18
1983–84 Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...

NHL 80 5 53 58 85 3 0 3 3 0
1984–85 Detroit Red Wings NHL 67 13 30 43 53 3 0 0 0 11
18 seasons NHL total 1113 213 683 896 1429 161 35 90 125 217

See also


External links

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