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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Yep. Who doesn't love pie?What a great nickname.
I was thinking of Johnny the last couple days.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.
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.
9/11 was thus a direct, personal loss for everyone in the Bruins' family.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.
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.
Gary got hurt, and missed the '74 season, and that hurt us in the finals.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.
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.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.
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.
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
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.