- Brad Park
Douglas Bradford (Brad) Park (born
July 6 , 1948 inToronto ,Ontario ) is a retiredice hockey defenceman in theNational Hockey League (NHL) and is a member of theHockey Hall of Fame . He played for theNew York Rangers ,Boston Bruins andDetroit Red Wings .Playing career
Park was drafted by the
New York Rangers in the first round (2nd overall) in the1966 NHL Amateur Draft and, after a brief stint with the minor-leagueBuffalo Bisons of the AHL, began playing for the Rangers in 1968. He quickly became the Rangers' best defenceman and drew comparisons with the greatBobby Orr . His offensive skill, stickhandling and pugnacity attracted much attention from fans.Park was made the alternate captain of the Rangers and briefly served as their captain. In 1972 Park led his team to the
Stanley Cup finals but lost to Orr and theBoston Bruins . That same year he was the runner-up for theNorris Trophy and was named Best Defenceman in the1972 Summit 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 7th, 1975, one of the biggest trades of the era was made. Park, star centreJean Ratelle and minor-leaguerJoe Zanussi were traded to Boston for superstar scoring championPhil Esposito and defencemanCarol Vadnais .While Esposito and Vadnais remained effective players for the Rangers, the Bruins had struck gold. In Boston Park served under coach Don Cherry and continued his great success. He came second in the Norris Trophy race twice in a Bruins' uniform. In 1977 and 1978 Park went with Boston to the
Stanley Cup finals but lost to Montreal both times. His last hurrah with Boston was in the 1983 playoffs, when he scored a long-remembered overtime goal to beat theBuffalo Sabres in the seventh game of their playoff series.The following season Park signed with the
Detroit Red Wings as a free agent and won theBill 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.In 1988 Park was elected in his first year of eligiblity to the
Hockey Hall of Fame in his hometown ofToronto . Park has resided on the North Shore ofMassachusetts for almost 30 years, with his wife Gerry. He is not related to current NHL playerRichard Park . He has five children and at current three grandchildren.Honors and achievements
* Named to the First All-Star Team 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 thanEarl Seibert , 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 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' (and NHL) history toBobby Orr .
* At the time of his retirement, had played the most seasons in league history for a player never missing the playoffs.
* Currently 11th all-time in NHL history in defence scoring.
* Elected to theHockey Hall of Fame in 1988.
* Along withButch Goring , one of the last two active players who had played in the 1960s.
* In1998 , he was ranked number 49 on "The Hockey News "' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.Career statistics
Regular Season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1968–69 New York Rangers NHL 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 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 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 ee also
*
List of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame
*List of NHL players
*List of NHL seasons
*List of NHL players with 1000 games played
*Captain (ice hockey) References
*Legendsmember|Player|P198804|Brad Park
*hockeydb|4153|Brad Park
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