Terry O'Reilly
| Terry O'Reilly | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 O'Reilly in 1978 | |||
| Born |
June 7, 1951 Niagara Falls, ON, CAN | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb) | ||
| Position | Right Wing | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for |
NHL Boston Bruins AHL Boston Braves | ||
| NHL Draft |
14th overall, 1971 Boston Bruins | ||
| Playing career | 1971–1985 | ||
Terence Joseph James O'Reilly (born June 7, 1951) is a retired ice hockey right winger, who played for the NHL's Boston Bruins, and one of the most effective enforcers in NHL history. O'Reilly was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, but grew up in Oshawa, Ontario.
Playing career
O'Reilly was picked by the Boston Bruins in the 1st round as the 14th pick overall in the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft. O'Reilly spent his entire career in Boston, serving as the captain of the Bruins during the 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons before his retirement. The Bruins retired his #24 on October 24, 2002.[1]
O'Reilly was known for being a tough player, racking up over 200 penalty minutes in five consecutive seasons, and earning for himself the nickname "Bloody O'Reilly" in the press. His teammate, Phil Esposito, dubbed O'Reilly "Taz" in reference to the Tasmanian Devil cartoon character for O'Reilly's reckless, hard driving style of play. He was very protective of his teammates. When the Bruins retired O'Reilly's #24, Bourque noted that O'Reilly's banner "hangs next to mine, protecting me again."[2]
On top of his physical presence, he also had a decent scoring touch, highlighted by his 29-goal, 90-point season in 1977–78. He added to that with a 77 point effort the following campaign. He had 211 and 205 minutes in penalties in those seasons respectively, displaying an excellent balance of grit and scoring that any hockey GM would cherish. He finished his 13 year career with 204 goals, 402 assists for 606 points, a +212 plus/minus (a tribute to his good defensive skills) and 2,095 minutes in penalties.
In the infamous December 23, 1979 incident at Madison Square Garden, during a post-game scrum, a New York Rangers fan rolled up a program tightly and smacked Stan Jonathan in the face drawing blood, and then stole his stick and wielded it like a weapon. O'Reilly scaled the glass boards and charged into the stands. His teammates followed when other fans tried to intervene. O'Reilly was suspended eight games for his part in the brawl.[3]
He became the replacement head coach of the Bruins during the 1986–87 NHL season and kept his job until 1989, when he left to care for, and spend more time with, his son who was seriously ill with liver disease. In that time, he took the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1988, where they were defeated by the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers. O'Reilly also was an assistant coach for the Rangers for the two seasons prior to the lockout.
Other
In the Adam Sandler movie Happy Gilmore, O'Reilly is mentioned as Happy Gilmore's favorite hockey player growing up because of his tough style.
O'Reilly has stated his favorite player currently on the Bruins is Milan Lucic, also born on June 7.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1968–69 | Oshawa Generals | OHA-Jr. | 46 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 87 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1969–70 | Oshawa Generals | OHA-Jr. | 54 | 13 | 36 | 49 | 60 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 22 | ||
| 1970–71 | Oshawa Generals | OHA-Jr. | 54 | 23 | 42 | 65 | 151 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | Boston Braves | AHL | 60 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 134 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 31 | ||
| 1971–72 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 72 | 5 | 22 | 27 | 109 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1973–74 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 76 | 11 | 24 | 35 | 94 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 38 | ||
| 1974–75 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 68 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 146 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | ||
| 1975–76 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 80 | 23 | 27 | 50 | 150 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 25 | ||
| 1976–77 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 79 | 14 | 41 | 55 | 147 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 28 | ||
| 1977–78 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 77 | 29 | 61 | 90 | 211 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 40 | ||
| 1978–79 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 80 | 26 | 51 | 77 | 205 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 25 | ||
| 1979–80 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 71 | 19 | 42 | 61 | 265 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 69 | ||
| 1980–81 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 77 | 8 | 35 | 43 | 233 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | ||
| 1981–82 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 70 | 22 | 30 | 52 | 213 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 56 | ||
| 1982–83 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 19 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983–84 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 58 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 124 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | ||
| 1984–85 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 63 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 168 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | ||
| NHL totals | 891 | 204 | 402 | 606 | 2095 | 108 | 25 | 42 | 67 | 335 | ||||
Coaching statistics
| Team | Year | Regular season | Post season | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | T | Pts | Division Rank | Result | ||
| Boston Bruins | 1986–87 | 67 | 34 | 27 | 6 | (74) | 3rd in Adams | Lost in 1st Rd |
| 1987–88 | 80 | 44 | 30 | 6 | 94 | 2nd in Adams | Lost in Cup Finals | |
| 1988–89 | 80 | 37 | 29 | 14 | 88 | 2nd in Adams | Lost in Second Round | |
| Total | 227 | 115 | 86 | 26 | ||||
| Preceded by Gerry Cheevers |
Head coach of the Boston Bruins 1986–89 |
Succeeded by Mike Milbury |
See also
References
- ↑ Bruce Allen (October 24, 2002). "Terry O'Reilly gets his number". Boston Sports Media Watch. Archived from the original on December 14, 2004. Retrieved 2006-07-18.
- ↑ http://static.espn.go.com/nhl/news/2002/1024/1450686.html
- ↑ "1971 NHL Amateur Draft — Terry O'Reilly". Retrieved 2006-07-18.
External links
- Article about number retirement and achievements at bostonbruins.com
- Terry O'Reilly's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
| Preceded by Ron Jones |
Boston Bruins first round draft pick 1971 |
Succeeded by Mike Bloom |
| Preceded by Wayne Cashman |
Boston Bruins captain 1983–85 |
Succeeded by Ray Bourque Rick Middleton |
| Preceded by Butch Goring |
Head coach of the Boston Bruins 1986–1989 |
Succeeded by Mike Milbury |