How good was Al Secord ?

[brianscot]

I wonder if Harry Sinden ever regretted trading Secord away. He never had much icetime in Boston, but flourished in Chicago on the top line with lots of PP time. I think he could've been just as successful on a line with Middleton and Pederson as he was with Savard and Larmer. Plus, having a skilled player who could also be an enforcer would mean one less roster spot wasted on a goon in Sinden's unending futile attempts to intimidate Montreal at playoff time in the 80s.

Sinden's standard line about Secord was: "I'd like to have Al Secord back, but I wouldn't trade Mike O'Connell to get him".

That's good GM speak and O'Connell did have four productive seasons in Boston taking some puck moving load off Ray Bourque, but Secord, Pederson, and Middleton would have been great to watch.

Then again, Secord might have been stuck in the tough guy role exclusively and never developed the way he did in Chicago.

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

Sinden's standard line about Secord was: "I'd like to have Al Secord back, but I wouldn't trade Mike O'Connell to get him".

That's good GM speak and O'Connell did have four productive seasons in Boston taking some puck moving load off Ray Bourque, but Secord, Pederson, and Middleton would have been great to watch.

Then again, Secord might have been stuck in the tough guy role exclusively and never developed the way he did in Chicago.

Given how he worked with Savard and Larmer, it would be interesting to speculate how Secord would have worked playing LW with Pederson and Middleton.

That said, O'Connell was a pretty solid D-man for the Bruins and gave the Bruins more than they were getting with Secord.