OT: RIP Johnny "Pie" McKenzie

[captain stone]

Great Bruins stories! The closest I ever came personally to them was when my brother, two friends & I went to the 3 Bs (Beef, Beans & Brew?) restaurant near the Garden for a charity all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner sometime during the early/mid '70s. Bobby Orr, Wayne Cashman, Phil Esposit0 (pre-Rangers trade) & John Bucyk were definitely there, among others I'm sure. Orr himself came to our table to thank us for coming. Our "all-you-can-eat" consisted of one plate plus one refill, then out ye go. The line to get inside was down the street, so I can't really blame them.

 

[maust]

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

That's Ace Bailey in the pic with Park

 

[DarrylS]

If I remember correctly he was called "pie" because of the long term effects of too much prednisone he was from a generation who just "walked it off" or got a shot...

Favorite hockey story about those days, was at "Bachelor's Three" with my ex wife.. and at the next table was the Bill Wirtz the owner of the Blackhawks, he asked us about how we felt about the NHL and had a conversation, blah, blah, blah.. he bought us a round (which was pricey) and then looked at me as if it was my turn. I was low budget during those days, so I paid my bill and left. It was awkward, but could not buy them a round as there were six of them..

Hockey in the early 70's was much different than it is now, if you wanted to watch it had to go to a bar that carried it on Channel 38 and only in black and white... Orr, Cashman, McKenzie, Vadnais, O'reilly, Esposito, Sanderson et al.. it was a much different game.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Those Bruin teams were as fun and colorful as any team in Boston sports history. They were as wild off the ice as on. Loved Pie, Bobby and Cheese. Those 3 were my all-time favorites. The Bruins had a hold on this region back then the same way the Patriots do now. Rinks were built all over New England. Street hockey was played in neighborhoods all over the place the way kids play basketball today. The B's were must see TV and every game was on Channel 38 which was unheard of back then.
Great memories!! Rest In Peace #19 Pie McKenzie.

 

[Triumph]

McKenzie never backed down from anyone. For a short guy he could scrap with the best of them. If a Goon happened to get the better of McKenzie in brawl, no problem, Wayne Cashman and his left haymaker would finish what Pie McKenzie started. End of fight.

He was apart of great Bruins teams and NE sports history.

 

[Triumph]

Those Bruin teams were as fun and colorful as any team in Boston sports history. They were as wild off the ice as on. Loved Pie, Bobby and Cheese. Those 3 were my all-time favorites. The Bruins had a hold on this region back then the same way the Patriots do now. Rinks were built all over New England. Street hockey was played in neighborhoods all over the place the way kids play basketball today. The B's were must see TV and every game was on Channel 38 which was unheard of back then.
Great memories!! Rest In Peace #19 Pie McKenzie.

 

[Triumph]

Those Bruin teams were as fun and colorful as any team in Boston sports history. They were as wild off the ice as on. Loved Pie, Bobby and Cheese. Those 3 were my all-time favorites. The Bruins had a hold on this region back then the same way the Patriots do now. Rinks were built all over New England. Street hockey was played in neighborhoods all over the place the way kids play basketball today. The B's were must see TV and every game was on Channel 38 which was unheard of back then.
Great memories!! Rest In Peace #19 Pie McKenzie.

After the game, Sanderson would seen smoking a cigarette sitting at his locker. There was no such thing as no smoking areas. He might have had a beer going too, but I dont know for sure. Different times. Great times.

 

[Kontradiction]

What a great nickname.

If only his first name was PoonTang...

 

[50-yard-line]

The Bruins used to train at the Wallace Civic Center in Fitchburg. We'd go over and watch, and often hang with them when I was a kid. Very different world.

And yeah, they used to tear Leominster and Fitchburg up at night in the clubs...slept with half the women in the twin cities, I think.

When Chris Houser opened the first dekhockey rink in Leominster (where those old Mylec sticks and balls were made), Esposito was there - often. Houser and Esposito and some of the others had played junior hockey together in Canada, I believe.

 

[1960Pats]

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.
View attachment 20562View attachment 20563

R.I.P.

I'd like to add a couple of my favorite Johnny McKenzie memories to this post.

While playing the Rangers in NY, 6'2" Orland Kurtenbach had the puck in the offensive end, had his back up against the boards and was looking to pass the puck to a Rangers' teammate.

Well along comes McKenzie, who was much shorter than Kurtenbach, to try and stop him. What Pie did was reach up and stick his gloves in front of OK's face to block his vision. There was Kurtenbach, head bobbing left to right with Pie's gloves moving along with him, when OK got so frustrated that he threw a punch at McKenzie, which drew a penalty. In typical Pie fashion, a few seconds later, while on the power play, Mckenzie was also called for a penalty.

Johnny was very approachable right up to near the end. You could catch him most mornings at a bagel place on Rte 28 in Reading and you could have a friendly conversation with him.

My other memory came up here a while ago in another thread. That was the fight with Forbes Kennedy in the playoffs. Kennedy was in a rage and looking to get into it with someone and Pie hung around just close enough to get a few shots in, which he did.

RIP Pie

 

[1960Pats]

Great Bruins stories! The closest I ever came personally to them was when my brother, two friends & I went to the 3 Bs (Beef, Beans & Brew?) restaurant near the Garden for a charity all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner sometime during the early/mid '70s. Bobby Orr, Wayne Cashman, Phil Esposit0 (pre-Rangers trade) & John Bucyk were definitely there, among others I'm sure. Orr himself came to our table to thank us for coming. Our "all-you-can-eat" consisted of one plate plus one refill, then out ye go. The line to get inside was down the street, so I can't really blame them.

We used to go to Montreal every year for a game and stayed at the same hotel as the Bruins, the Sheraton Mount Royale or something like that. The players were all great and would hang around and talk to all of the fans. Super group of guys.

 

[Jimke]

My neighbor in Danvers for several years was Cotton Dunn. He was the golf pro
at Kernwood Country Club. One winter Cotton decided to sharpen his golfing skills by spending the winter in Florida. He rented his house to the Cheevers
family. My wife became friendly with Betty and my son played with Craig. Gerry
gave my son one of Johnny Bucyk's practice hockey sticks. Every morning a car
full of Bruins would come to pick up Gerry.
We became Bruins' fans that winter and they rewarded us with a Stanley Cup.
I remember Johnny Pie on the second line along with Fred Stanfield and Johnny
Bucyk. I believe that all nine players on the three lines had 20 goals or more.

 

[Triumph]

The Bruins used to train at the Wallace Civic Center in Fitchburg. We'd go over and watch, and often hang with them when I was a kid. Very different world.

And yeah, they used to tear Leominster and Fitchburg up at night in the clubs...slept with half the women in the twin cities, I think.

When Chris Houser opened the first dekhockey rink in Leominster (where those old Mylec sticks and balls were made), Esposito was there - often. Houser and Esposito and some of the others had played junior hockey together in Canada, I believe.

Are you from lemonister?

There used to be a really good Chinese restaurant there IIRC. I went to watch the Bruins in Fitchburg.

 

[Triumph]

We used to go to Montreal every year for a game and stayed at the same hotel as the Bruins, the Sheraton Mount Royale or something like that. The players were all great and would hang around and talk to all of the fans. Super group of guys.

Habs fans were mouthy Molson swilling D bags who would come down for games.

For some reason, I remember them in Nashua NH singing that song "Hey Hey, Na Na, goodbye" while heading back home on route 3 evidently. Obviously after a victory.

 

[captain stone]

...Favorite hockey story about those days, was at "Bachelor's Three" with my ex wife...

Wasn't that the place in NYC owned by Derek Sanderson, Joe Namath & somebody else?

 

[captain stone]

After the game, Sanderson would seen smoking a cigarette sitting at his locker. There was no such thing as no smoking areas. He might have had a beer going too, but I dont know for sure. Different times. Great times.

I'm sure he did have a beer - or 3 - going in the locker room after the game...and I bet he wasn't the only one either.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I'd like to add a couple of my favorite Johnny McKenzie memories to this post.

While playing the Rangers in NY, 6'2" Orland Kurtenbach had the puck in the offensive end, had his back up against the boards and was looking to pass the puck to a Rangers' teammate.

Well along comes McKenzie, who was much shorter than Kurtenbach, to try and stop him. What Pie did was reach up and stick his gloves in front of OK's face to block his vision. There was Kurtenbach, head bobbing left to right with Pie's gloves moving along with him, when OK got so frustrated that he threw a punch at McKenzie, which drew a penalty. In typical Pie fashion, a few seconds later, while on the power play, Mckenzie was also called for a penalty.

Johnny was very approachable right up to near the end. You could catch him most mornings at a bagel place on Rte 28 in Reading and you could have a friendly conversation with him.

My other memory came up here a while ago in another thread. That was the fight with Forbes Kennedy in the playoffs. Kennedy was in a rage and looking to get into it with someone and Pie hung around just close enough to get a few shots in, which he did.

RIP Pie

LMAO Pie got the jersey off!!!

...note: Turk used to have Dan Canney sew his jersey onto his pants, so nobody could do what he liked to do to them...

and, Frosty Forristall used to write "KILL" etc. signs around the locker room before big games...

 

[50-yard-line]

Are you from lemonister?

There used to be a really good Chinese restaurant there IIRC. I went to watch the Bruins in Fitchburg.

Dan Chan's or Singapore were the two back then.

 

[DarrylS]

Wasn't that the place in NYC owned by Derek Sanderson, Joe Namath & somebody else?

Ken Harrelson was the third partner, it was two doors down from the old Playboy Club and Bachelors III became the now closed Daisy Buchanan's...

When the Jets played the Pats in those days Namath would hang out at Bachelors III drinking on Friday and Sat. nite..

In NYC Namath had other partners and ran into trouble with Rozelle as "bookies" and gamblers frequented the place, if I remember correctly Namath had to divest from that business venture...

 

[captain stone]

Ken Harrelson was the third partner, it was two doors down from the old Playboy Club and Bachelors III became the now closed Daisy Buchanan's...

Batchelors III was in Boston? At the site of the old Daisy Buchanan's? I did not know that.

And I remember the old Playboy club in Boston, but I thought it was closer to Park Square.