Player Discussion Bostons forgotten great Barry Pederson

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

so I was looking at some numbers just to see how playoff scoring really has happened throughout history and I just shocked the pants off myself

barry Pederson is the third highest scorer points per game in nhl playoff history... its not even close between him and number 4 on the list

the ONLY 2 guys in history that did better are wayne gretzky and Mario Lemieux. This is despite Pederson getting hurt and only making the playoffs 4 times in his career... struggling to put up only 2 points in his last 6 games

so in those first 2 years Pederson made the playoffs for us... he has 21 goals and 50 points in just 28 games... did we know that? does anyone remember this guy and how freaking amazing he was?

Bobby Orr... Cam Neely... even gord kluzak… norman leveille… we all know this franchise history with the great names we lost to horrible injuries or illness too early in their careers. why is barry Pederson never on this list?

I was only around 11-12 when he busted on the scene so its a long time ago now. I guess im guilty as anyone else letting the memory of this guy fade. at that time I used to debate the kids at school here in alberta that Pederson was as good as gretzky and better than the other pretenders to the throne. perhaps I was a bit biased... but this playoff numbers dont lie

only Mario Lemieux and mike bossey have ever scored goals at a better rate than barry Pederson at playoffs. Maurice Richard is 4th...

do you see these names that compare to Pederson at playoffs... gretzky… Lemieux.. bossy... Richard... there is no one else

holy forgetton superbruins of the past

Click to read more...

 

[jgatie]

Bobby Orr... Cam Neely... even gord kluzak… norman leveille… we all know this franchise history with the great names we lost to horrible injuries or illness too early in their careers. why is barry Pederson never on this list?

I think the answer to this is quite obvious. We didn't lose Barry Pederson to injury. Sure he had the tumor in his shoulder that caused some sub-par seasons. But he didn't retire, he was traded and in his first season as a Canuck, he scored 76 points, and in his second, 71 points. It was then that other injuries caused his production to wane.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

I think the answer to this is quite obvious. We didn't lose Barry Pederson to injury. Sure he had the tumor in his shoulder that caused some sub-par seasons. But he didn't retire, he was traded and in his first season as a Canuck, he scored 76 points, and in his second, 71 points. It was then that other injuries caused his production to wane.

he was a slow fade that tarnished his rep sure enough... I guess that was the key behind a james dean philosophy to live fast/die young/leave a good looking corpse

but I did include leveille in my list intentionally because to me a strange illness is as bad as a injury as far as reasons that derail careers go

if fate was different and Bergeron didnt recover from his concusion… heaven forbid we could have added him to the list too. im not sure Johnathon girard was ever destined to be as good as these others but we lost him way too early too.

this franchise has had a lot of great guys with long careers... but I daresay no other franchise in nhl lost more better players at an earlier point in their careers than we lost. it is so sick

and barry Pederson was so freaking good at playoff time that hes top 3 in history in both goals and points per game played… holy bleep

 

[jgatie]

But you are missing the point, it's not his slow fade, it's that his slow fade was with another team!

Leveille's career ended as a Bruin. Neely's as a Bruin. Kluzak as a Bruin. Girard as a Bruin. Orr's was effectively ended as a Bruin and Eagleson's screwing of Bobby is a legend in itself.

Pederson didn't retire as a Bruin and had some good years after he was traded, so the Bruins didn't "lose him to injury", some other team(s) did.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

He put up points in the easiest era to do so. Are Mogilny and Juneau better than the likes of Crosby and Ovechkin off the backs of the 92-93 season when everyone had amazing stats right before the Devils ruined hockey and ushered in the dead puck era?

Not sure he’s forgotten either dudes still on NESN.

 

[TCB]

He put up points in the easiest era to do so. Are Mogilny and Juneau better than the likes of Crosby and Ovechkin off the backs of the 92-93 season when everyone had amazing stats right before the Devils ruined hockey and ushered in the dead puck era?

Not sure he’s forgotten either dudes still on NESN.

He will never be forgotten.

Add Sean Kuraly and Trent fredreic, right below Martin Jones

 

[McGarnagle]

Pederson didn't retire as a Bruin

Actually he did, coming back in 1991-92.

 

[mikelvl]

The Pederson - Middleton combo was one of the best in that era. He is definitely one of the under the radar great Bruins. They were lights out. Between them and Ray Bourque, the Bruins had a chance to win most games, jut not enough to get past Montreal and the Islanders dynasty.

 

[DKH]

Don’t think I missed one home game he ever played

Phenomenal player

Better than Taveras in his prime not even close

They took a big chunk of muscle out of his bicep with tumor and he was never the same

He was the equivalent of Nomar Garciaparra those first 6 years

Stud

 

[BNHL]

Tremendous hockey player with a HOF start to a career derailed by a bicep problem

 

[LSCII]

Don’t think I missed one home game he ever played

Phenomenal player

Better than Taveras in his prime not even close

They took a big chunk of muscle out of his bicep with tumor and he was never the same

He was the equivalent of Nomar Garciaparra those first 6 years

Stud

Didn't Reed Larson have part of his biceps removed too? It wasn't cancer though, but something weird, right?

 

[jgatie]

Actually he did, coming back in 1991-92.

If you want to be pedantic, then yes. But he was washed up by then, playing less than half a season, so we weren't "losing" anything at that point.

Regardless, comparing him to losing guys like Leveille is a stretch by anyone's count.

 

[DKH]

Didn't Reed Larson have part of his biceps removed too? It wasn't cancer though, but something weird, right?

He had his front teeth removed I know - but there was something wrong yes

 

[LSCII]

In terms of Barry Pederson, he was a tremendous player, but he's a footnote because he was traded for a HoF player in Neely. Hard to lament and miss Barry when you got the premier power forward in the game in return for him.

 

[McGarnagle]

I guess you could compare him to Sergei Samsonov.

Started out with offensive flair, had some injuries that hampered that, traded away and started a slow fade, now no one remembers him in the annals of great Bruins scorers.

 

[LSCII]

He had his front teeth removed I know - but there was something wrong yes

My memory is foggy because it's been so long and Larson only played here for a handful of seasons, but I want to say it was a car accident of some sort? I looked at wikipedia and they did not reference it, so I'm done. lol

 

[TCB]

Don’t think I missed one home game he ever played

Phenomenal player

Better than Taveras in his prime not even close

They took a big chunk of muscle out of his bicep with tumor and he was never the same

He was the equivalent of Nomar Garciaparra those first 6 years

Stud

He was a great Bruin and it seemed as though his tenure was much longer. Him and Middleton were a one-two combo second to none in their playing days.

 

[aguineapig]

For his first three years he and Nifty were the equal of Bergeron and Marchy . The rapport they had was pure magic and his rookie year 44 goals still a B's record. Reed Larson was in an auto accident and his van rolled over on his arm as i recall, shot was never the same after.

 

[aguineapig]

The 1980 draft was unique in that the B's took Pederson, Tom Fergus and Steve Kasper with first three picks. All three would start 81-82 campaign out of camp and receive significant playing time. Pederson teamed with Middleton and Kasper played with Cashman and Marcotte on checking line. Fergus was fourth line but scored 15 goals and Johnny Peirson always raved about his release on his wrist shot. Can't recall three rookies ever manning three out of four center positions before or after that.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

But you are missing the point, it's not his slow fade, it's that his slow fade was with another team!

Leveille's career ended as a Bruin. Neely's as a Bruin. Kluzak as a Bruin. Girard as a Bruin. Orr's was effectively ended as a Bruin and Eagleson's screwing of Bobby is a legend in itself.

Pederson didn't retire as a Bruin and had some good years after he was traded, so the Bruins didn't "lose him to injury", some other team(s) did.

not sure you were around back in that day... theres only 1 trade in boston history that made me swear off the team and throw a temper tantrum that threatened to see the tv go out the window. it wasnt thornton… it wasnt kessel… it wasnt even bourque or orr…

it turns out later that the guy coming back for Pederson was pretty damn good himself... so in time i got over my anger. but theres more to the trade.

Pederson was damaged goods. bruins knew of his health problem. we knew he would be a diminished player in the future. effectively his future as a hof super stud was over because of the health issue and it happened while he was on our team

after that we made the greatest trade in history and moved him so it did end well for us. i wont deny that it has a happy ending for the bruins. i guess thats why we dont cry over it. much like when we traded blake wheeler we won a cup. no one cares nearly as much that we traded wheeler as kessel or seguin or thornton because we won a cup. the result takes the sting off of it.

---------

as for the comment up above that it was easier to score then, i will say

top 3 in nhl history. it was easier for everyone to score but he did it better than anyone else

gretzky
lemiuex
Pederson

those are the names that occupy the top 3 spots

 

[LouisSleigher]

He put up points in the easiest era to do so. Are Mogilny and Juneau better than the likes of Crosby and Ovechkin off the backs of the 92-93 season when everyone had amazing stats right before the Devils ruined hockey and ushered in the dead puck era?

Not sure he’s forgotten either dudes still on NESN.

True, but unlike Gretzky, Pederson played more of his games in the "always rugged Adams Division" where play was more physical and checking more tight.

 

[LouisSleigher]

The other amazing thing is that in those playoff series Pederson and Middleton typically had to carry a total stiff as the third forward on their line. The Bruins just did not have a decent left wing to play with them, so they ended up with marginal NHLers like Mike Gillis and Luc Dufour. For awhile they got a young Mike Krushelnyski, but in 1983, when the Bruins made the Conference Finals, he was moved off the Pederson line to fill in on an injured line. Pederson and Middleton mostly had to do it on their own.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

He will never be forgotten.

Add Sean Kuraly and Trent fredreic, right below Martin Jones

Trade trees are somehow both the dumbest and coolest thing in existence.

 

[Lady Rhian]

so I was looking at some numbers just to see how playoff scoring really has happened throughout history and I just shocked the pants off myself

barry Pederson is the third highest scorer points per game in nhl playoff history... its not even close between him and number 4 on the list

the ONLY 2 guys in history that did better are wayne gretzky and Mario Lemieux. This is despite Pederson getting hurt and only making the playoffs 4 times in his career... struggling to put up only 2 points in his last 6 games

so in those first 2 years Pederson made the playoffs for us... he has 21 goals and 50 points in just 28 games... did we know that? does anyone remember this guy and how freaking amazing he was?

Bobby Orr... Cam Neely... even gord kluzak… norman leveille… we all know this franchise history with the great names we lost to horrible injuries or illness too early in their careers. why is barry Pederson never on this list?

I was only around 11-12 when he busted on the scene so its a long time ago now. I guess im guilty as anyone else letting the memory of this guy fade. at that time I used to debate the kids at school here in alberta that Pederson was as good as gretzky and better than the other pretenders to the throne. perhaps I was a bit biased... but this playoff numbers dont lie

only Mario Lemieux and mike bossey have ever scored goals at a better rate than barry Pederson at playoffs. Maurice Richard is 4th...

do you see these names that compare to Pederson at playoffs... gretzky… Lemieux.. bossy... Richard... there is no one else

holy forgetton superbruins of the past

Loved Pederson! I was so mad when Sinden traded both Barry and Krushelynski- their line was amazing, rounded out with Nifty. I always thought it stunk he was traded after the tumor on his arm healed.

 

[Lady Rhian]

He will never be forgotten.

Add Sean Kuraly and Trent fredreic, right below Martin Jones

Love this! Thanks for posting it. Still heart broken over Barry being traded. I won't lie, I did not take to Neely for a long time. That line of Barry, Rick, and Mike was one of my favorites back then. It still puzzles me as to why Sinden traded Krush- made no sense to me.