OT: RIP Johnny "Pie" McKenzie

[DaBruinz]

The former Bruin passed today..

 

[maust]

RIP Pie.
He was the original Marchand, without the overtly dirty stuff. Pie could instigate with the best of them and still bury the biscuit.

 

[PrairiePat]

He was the spark plug for that Bruins engine in the early 70's. RIP.

 

[LaterGator]

Loved him as a player. Sad he's gone.

 

[IcyPatriot]

May he rest in piece ... I was Pie McKenzie a few times on the pond ... loved that guy.
Mckenzie, O'Reilly, Wensink, Jonathan ... loved those guys when I was a young man.

 

[Patjew]

What a great nickname.

 

[captain stone]

What a great nickname.

Yep. Who doesn't love pie?

He was the Forechecker on the 2nd line, same as Cashman on the 1st line. He was the one who forced the defensemen to cough up the puck, and that allowed Fred Stanfield to find John Bucyk.

I wish today's Bruins had a 2nd line as good as that one. Maybe it will if Pasternak is switched from the 1st line.

That champagne from the first Stanley Cup must've tasted especially sweet to him and the other vets like Bucyk, Ed Westfall & Ted Green. RIP, Johnny Pie.

 

[LaterGator]

My cousin grew up in Montreal, big Habs fan, texted me "Not only my favorite Bruin of all-time, one of my favorite NHLer of all-time. We lost a true hockey player..."

 

[RobertWeathers]

In the 70s, my grandfather was a police officer in Methuen, MA and noticed a car out of control driving around the town center (near the fire station rotary for those who know Meetuen). In the car was Pie, Shadow Westfall, Bucyk and the last person on earth who should have been behind the wheel was Turk Sanderson.

Anyway Pepe had Turk drive the car (questionable judgement by my grandfather but whatever) to the police station (which was 300 yards away) and then drove them all home. He became pretty good friends with Eddie Westfall who either lived in North Andover or Tewkesbury....I forget.

 

[captain stone]

Nice story on McKenzie through NHL.com:

McKenzie, two-time Cup winner with Bruins, dies at 80

Never knew about the skull fracture suffered during game 1 of the 1971 version of SB42, still the most gut-wrenching PO series in Bruins history alongside the 2010 ECF.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Yep. Who doesn't love pie?

He was the Forechecker on the 2nd line, same as Cashman on the 1st line. He was the one who forced the defensemen to cough up the puck, and that allowed Fred Stanfield to find John Bucyk.

I wish today's Bruins had a 2nd line as good as that one. Maybe it will if Pasternak is switched from the 1st line.

That champagne from the first Stanley Cup must've tasted especially sweet to him and the other vets like Bucyk, Ed Westfall & Ted Green. RIP, Johnny Pie.

I was thinking of Johnny the last couple days.

Marchand is just like him.

Johnny was an old timer who kicked around with the Black Hawks, Red Wings, Hawks again and Rangers (and Hershey Bears! Yay!) for years before the downtrodden Bruins picked him up. Those Bruins had a lot of guys nobody else wanted. Anyway, Pie always mixed it up but had a real nose for the net, finishing fourth on the team in scoring in both the '70 and '72 playoffs.

At the celebration in '70, he poured an entire pitcher of beer on Mayor Kevin White's head.

At the end of the sixth and last game in the 1972 Stanley Cup finals, when the Bruins defeated the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden to take the Cup, McKenzie skated to center ice, raised one arm in mimicry of the Statue of Liberty, placed his other hand around his neck to appear as though he were choking, then jumping up and down in a circle several times. Thus he implied, to the Rangers and their fans, that the Rangers had choked at their best chance of winning their first Stanley Cup since 1940. This became known as the "McKenzie Choke Dance," or simply the "choke dance." Later, at the Cup-winning celebration, Mayor White was there again - and proceeded to pour a pitcher of beer over Johnny's head. Touche.

We all know what happened after that...the WHA raids, which were enough to keep the Cup away for a long, long time.

Johnny was one of the nicest men, but in my opinion he was looked down upon by the stars among his peers. He wasn't just an annoying opponent; he was simple and humble and not caught up in the glory of the sport. In the Summit Series in 1974, when they made the introductions for Team Canada before Game 1 against the Soviet Union, he was introduced right after, I think, Frank Mahovlich, who just ignored him (it's on YouTube). Johnny was his usual, smiling, pleasant self, but I think the snobs in the NHL didn't respect him.

He'll always be one of my childhood heroes, and a Boston Sports legend.

R.I.P.

 

[maust]

In the 70s, my grandfather was a police officer in Methuen, MA and noticed a car out of control driving around the town center (near the fire station rotary for those who know Meetuen). In the car was Pie, Shadow Westfall, Bucyk and the last person on earth who should have been behind the wheel was Turk Sanderson.

Anyway Pepe had Turk drive the car (questionable judgement by my grandfather but whatever) to the police station (which was 300 yards away) and then drove them all home. He became pretty good friends with Eddie Westfall who either lived in North Andover of Tewkesbury....I forget.

I wasn't going to do the drinking story because Pie struggled with booze for a lot of his life but since there's one posted... Newly returned to civilian life I was eating egg rolls & chicken wings & drinking mai tais (back when they were pretty much just rum) at the bar at Kowloon when a blond guy asked if anyone could give him a jump start. I went to help but his starter was cooked. He was all kinds of wired 'cause the guys he had been drinking with had scoffed his wallet as a joke leaving him a note to meet them at the next bar and without the car he couldn't catch up with them to get it back (no cells back then). He seemed decent enough and one thing leading to the next we went from bar to bar one note and several (prepaid) beers at a time and ended up in Rowley at EJ's where an epic drunkfest ensued that continued well after the regular patrons were cleared out and the bar closed. The guy was Ace Bailey, the buddies we finally caught up to were Pie, Don Awrey, Rick Smith and Donny Shock and the reason we were there after the bar closed was it belonged to Eddie Johnston. Man could those guys drink. I kept in occasional touch with Ace over the years until his untimely demise on 9/11.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I wasn't going to do the drinking story because Pie struggled with booze for a lot of his life but since there's one posted... Newly returned to civilian life I was eating egg rolls & chicken wings & drinking mai tais (back when they were pretty much just rum) at the bar at Kowloon when a blond guy asked if anyone could give him a jump start. I went to help but his starter was cooked. He was all kinds of wired 'cause the guys he had been drinking with had scoffed his wallet as a joke leaving him a note to meet them at the next bar and without the car he couldn't catch up with them to get it back (no cells back then). He seemed decent enough and one thing leading to the next we went from bar to bar one note and several (prepaid) beers at a time and ended up in Rowley at EJ's where an epic drunkfest ensued that continued well after the regular patrons were cleared out and the bar closed. The guy was Ace Bailey, the buddies we finally caught up to were Pie, Don Awrey, Rick Smith and Donny Shock and the reason we were there after the bar closed was it belonged to Eddie Johnston. Man could those guys drink. I kept in occasional touch with Ace over the years until his untimely demise on 9/11.

9/11 was thus a direct, personal loss for everyone in the Bruins' family.
...the game-winner in Game 1 in '72 finals
...wrapping it up in NY

 

[RobertWeathers]

Nice story on McKenzie through NHL.com:

McKenzie, two-time Cup winner with Bruins, dies at 80

Never knew about the skull fracture suffered during game 1 of the 1971 version of SB42, still the most gut-wrenching PO series in Bruins history alongside the 2010 ECF.

I wasn't going to do the drinking story because Pie struggled with booze for a lot of his life but since there's one posted... Newly returned to civilian life I was eating egg rolls & chicken wings & drinking mai tais (back when they were pretty much just rum) at the bar at Kowloon when a blond guy asked if anyone could give him a jump start. I went to help but his starter was cooked. He was all kinds of wired 'cause the guys he had been drinking with had scoffed his wallet as a joke leaving him a note to meet them at the next bar and without the car he couldn't catch up with them to get it back (no cells back then). He seemed decent enough and one thing leading to the next we went from bar to bar one note and several (prepaid) beers at a time and ended up in Rowley at EJ's where an epic drunkfest ensued that continued well after the regular patrons were cleared out and the bar closed. The guy was Ace Bailey, the buddies we finally caught up to were Pie, Don Awrey, Rick Smith and Donny Shock and the reason we were there after the bar closed was it belonged to Eddie Johnston. Man could those guys drink. I kept in occasional touch with Ace over the years until his untimely demise on 9/11.

The stories you, and the kind my grandfather had that are passed down are a gift.

When I was in elementary school, I remember when my dad and mom were working nights and my grandparents were looking after me and Eddie Westfall would come over and they'd drink beers, watch Police Woman and I'd play with my toy dinosaurs on the carpet. They took me to Rockingham Race Track once. Not a good scene for a 9 year old but whatever....I had fun.

In the 80s my dad owned a business on Portsmouth Ave in Exeter, NH and up the street was a restaurant called The Epicurean which was was owned by Gary Doak. I played hockey back then he and I had some great conversations.

Even though I was just a bit too young to live through it, the Big Bad Bruins were very much were a part of my life.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

The stories you, and the kind my grandfather had that are passed down are a gift.

When I was in elementary school, I remember when my dad and mom were working nights and my grandparents were looking after me and Eddie Westfall would come over and they'd drink beers, watch Police Woman and I'd play with my toy dinosaurs on the carpet. They took me to Rockingham Race Track once. Not a good scene for a 9 year old but whatever....I had fun.

In the 80s my dad owned a business on Portsmouth Ave in Exeter, NH and up the street was a restaurant called The Epicurean which was was owned by Gary Doak. I played hockey back then he and we had some great conversations.

Even though I was just a bit too young to live through it, the Big Bad Bruins are very much were a part of my life.

Gary got hurt, and missed the '74 season, and that hurt us in the finals.

Eddie got taken in the expansion draft, and all he did was lead the Islanders to the seventh game in the semifinals against eventual cup winning Flyers in '75.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Gary got hurt, and missed the '74 season, and that hurt us in the finals.

Eddie got taken in the expansion draft, and all he did was lead the Islanders to the seventh game in the semifinals against eventual cup winning Flyers in '75.

I have a faint memory of Pepe being upset when Mr. Westfall went to The Island. Didn't really see much of him after that.

Mr. Doak was a good man. My dad and I would have dinner there often and he'd always ask how how my hockey game was coming along. I played D as did he so it was a really cool thing for him to give me pointers. I had heard he passed away in March.

 

[maust]

Even though I was just a bit too young to live through it, the Big Bad Bruins were very much were a part of my life.

They owned the region. Things were different back then with pro athletes, they were accessible everyday guys in most cases being out earned by the people that were cheering for them. Hell, Ace did landscaping in the offseason. Today they are high income targets. BTW, what really set the path to friendship was the next day once we were able to crawl through our hangovers we picked up a starter and I replaced it right there in Kowloon's parking lot. Yeah, things were very different back then with more than just athletes.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

9/11 was thus a direct, personal loss for everyone in the Bruins' family.
View attachment 20565...the game-winner in Game 1 in '72 finals
View attachment 20566...wrapping it up in NY

pie mckenzie and brad park in the same frame....classic !

 

[RobertWeathers]

They owned the region. Things were different back then with pro athletes, they were accessible everyday guys in most cases being out earned by the people that were cheering for them. Hell, Ace did landscaping in the offseason. Today they are high income targets. BTW, what really set the path to friendship was the next day once we were able to crawl through our hangovers we picked up a starter and I replaced it right there in Kowloon's parking lot. Yeah, things were very different back then with more than just athletes.

Yep. The story I told earlier.....The car Turk was driving was actually owned by Mr. Westfall. So that night when they got pulled over, my grandfather gave Mr Westfall his home number and told him to call him when he was ready to pick up the car at the station. The next day, they met and Mr Westfall got his car back and that was it. No hassle. No news crews. No Twitter. Nothing. Just locals looking out the home team heroes having a few pops. Thats how they became friends. It was based on trust.

 

[maust]

Westie was a hell of a penalty killer which was a big deal on that team, it really racked up the minutes, He also had one of the sweetest backhanders you'd ever want to see. Sanderson would feed that and they were a constant threat to score a shortie. Westfall never got the credit he deserved for keeping up with Sanderson, the man had wheels.