Brad McCrimmon

[Steve Kournianos]

Really one of my favorite defensive defensemen of all time. It seemed like he was always on an elite team or going deep on a playoff run.

To me, he really stood out on the 1989 Flames as the glue of that defense. Sure they had bigger names, but I always liked his presence.

Also, IIRC, he was a master at the fake dump in from center ice. I specifically remember him victimizing Pat Jablonski in the early 1990's.

Rest in peace.

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[goyotes]

Finished his career with the Coyotes. The entire situation is so sad.

 

[revolverjgw]

10th all-time in plus/minus, look at these names

1. Larry Robinson 730
2. Bobby Orr* 597
3. Raymond Bourque* 528
4. Wayne Gretzky* 518
5. Bobby Clarke* 506
6. Serge Savard* 460
7. Denis Potvin* 460
8. Guy Lafleur* 453
9. Bryan Trottier* 452
10. Brad McCrimmon 444
11. Nicklas Lidstrom 429

 

[MS]

Great player, ‘Hall of Very Good’ type guy who was just a step below elite level.

Was as good or better than Kevin Lowe but didn’t get the accolades that Lowe did as a result of playing for a dynasty. Langway, McCrimmon, Lowe, and Mike Ramsey were arguably the top 4 ‘shutdown’ defensive defenders in the league in the mid-1980s. McCrimmon-Howe was probably the most dominant pairing in the league from 1984-87.

His influence was considered a major part of the development of Lidstrom and Konstantinov into elite NHL defenders.

RIP, what a terrible day.

 

[reckoning]

Quote from Nicklas Lidstrom today about Brad McCrimmon

"He was my (defensive) partner my first year in the league over here and he was my roommate too so I got to know him real well. He helped me out a lot my first year over here. He was more of a stay-at-home defenseman so that gave me the opportunity to jump up in the play and be a part of the offense. He was my partner every game in my rookie year and he was a stable, steady defenseman. He also protected me in certain situations when things got a little heated so he was a great partner to have."
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/daily-take/201109/brad-mccrimmon-spent-life-making-best-better


And there dozens of other defencemen who were teammates of Brad who would express similar sentiments on the influence he had on their career.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

His trade to Calgary is pretty much universally accepted as the worst deal in Philadelphia Flyers history. His pairing with Mark Howe is clearly the best ever pairing, and was the best in the league during the mid-80's.

Such as shame, for as good a player he was, he was considered a better teammate/person.


My new avatar is a pic of my one year old nephew, wearing his Mom's (my sisters) first Flyers jersey. It was 1985, and my two sisters and I each got to pick out a jersey, all of our firsts. I chose rookie, Pelle Eklund, my oldest sister got a Pelle Lindbergh jersey (he died less than 10 days after we received the jerseys) and my youngest sister picked Brad McCrimmon.

 

[reckoning]

Here's an article with Mark Howe sharing his memories about McCrimmon:

http://www.csnphilly.com/09/07/11/Howe-McCrimmon-always-had-my-back/news_flyers.html?blockID=560682&feedID=704

I've heard before that the Calgary trade was because he and Clarke were having problems contract-wise, but according to this it was over a mere $25,000 difference between the two sides.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Quote from Nicklas Lidstrom today about Brad McCrimmon

"He was my (defensive) partner my first year in the league over here and he was my roommate too so I got to know him real well. He helped me out a lot my first year over here. He was more of a stay-at-home defenseman so that gave me the opportunity to jump up in the play and be a part of the offense. He was my partner every game in my rookie year and he was a stable, steady defenseman. He also protected me in certain situations when things got a little heated so he was a great partner to have."
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/daily-take/201109/brad-mccrimmon-spent-life-making-best-better


And there dozens of other defencemen who were teammates of Brad who would express similar sentiments on the influence he had on their career.

pronger was another one. both he and lidstrom thanked mccrimmon when they won their first norrises. and he made gary suter a second team all-star one year.

i'm a canucks fan, so i saw a lot of those powerhouse flames. there weren't a lot of guys on that team i liked, but mccrimmon was one of them. he looked like a no-nonsense lunch pail guy out there, but he was an incredibly smart player too. when marc crawford got fired, he was the guy i wanted the canucks to hire as head coach. he would make all of our defensemen beter.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

Here's an article with Mark Howe sharing his memories about McCrimmon:

http://www.csnphilly.com/09/07/11/Howe-McCrimmon-always-had-my-back/news_flyers.html?blockID=560682&feedID=704

I've heard before that the Calgary trade was because he and Clarke were having problems contract-wise, but according to this it was over a mere $25,000 difference between the two sides.

Yes, Clarke was still a relatively inexperienced GM at the time, and he got into a big beef with Brad's agent, and he took the negotiations personally. Clarke admits that it was far and away the biggest mistake he made in 20+ years as a GM.

 

[God Bless Canada]

He was one of my favourites when I was a kid. A rock in his own zone who had tremendous hockey sense and a physical presence to boot.

I was going to discuss his impact on Lidstrom's career, but reck beat me to the punch.

A few things about McCrimmon that stand out:
1) He was part of the infancy of what might be the greatest dynasty in North American junior hockey history: the 70s and 80s Prince Albert Raiders. He won an SJHL championship with PA in 1976 - the first of seven straight SJHL titles for the Raiders. He missed out on the Raiders teams that won four national Junior A titles in five years from 77 to 81.
2) McCrimmon had a heck of an alibi. He was trying to win a Memorial Cup with the Brandon Wheat Kings. He came close; the Wheaties lost in the tournament final. Gord Miller had a great tweet earlier today: in that final, McCrimmon played the entire game, including overtime. That was a competitor who understood the significance of the Memorial Cup, and how difficult it is to win.
3) His plus-minus record was incredible. I know some of you guys don't buy into plus-minus, but it can be very telling. McCrimmon was a minus player twice in his career. One of those years was his first season in the Show. The other was on a bad Hartford team in the mid 1990s. He had some great plus-minus numbers, but one of the best might have come in the lockout-shortened 1995 season. On a bad Hartford team, McCrimmon was a plus seven, even though he only had one assist. That takes skill.

I always thought he would have been a great NHL coach. Tenacious, hard-working, a great competitor who had a great eye and mind for the game.

It's an incredible tragedy. It's one of those things that's very rare, but at the same time, it's inevitable that it will happen somewhere. Maybe we should be surprised that it doesn't happen, when you consider all of the travel for sports teams around the world, and the substandard conditions that some teams have while travelling. But it's just a shocking story, probably one of the saddest hockey stories I've ever seen.

(In one of Brian McFarlane's "It Happened in Hockey" books, there's an account of a near miss for the Habs in the 1970s. You wonder how many of those incidents have happened over the years).

 

[MS]

It's an incredible tragedy. It's one of those things that's very rare, but at the same time, it's inevitable that it will happen somewhere. Maybe we should be surprised that it doesn't happen, when you consider all of the travel for sports teams around the world, and the substandard conditions that some teams have while travelling. But it's just a shocking story, probably one of the saddest hockey stories I've ever seen.

(In one of Brian McFarlane's "It Happened in Hockey" books, there's an account of a near miss for the Habs in the 1970s. You wonder how many of those incidents have happened over the years).

The Vancouver Canucks team plane was nearly wiped out in 1991 in the incident mentioned below at LAX. If memory serves, the Canuck plane was waiting in a queue, shifted forward, and moments after moving forward the plane behind them that moved into that place was slammed into by a plane that was landing. I believe some players saw the crash through their windows.

On February 1, 1991, USAir Flight 1493, a Boeing 737-300, landing on Runway 24L at LAX, collided on touchdown with a SkyWest Airlines Fairchild Metroliner, Flight 5569 departing to Palmdale, that had been holding in position on the same runway. The collision killed all 12 occupants of the SkyWest plane and 22 people aboard the USAir 737.

 

[Peter9]

The family and friends of Brad McCrimmon have my condolences. Throughout his career he earned a great deal of respect from the fans of opposing teams wherever he played. As a Canadiens fan, i particularly remember him from the 1989 Stanley Cup final series. Just a tremendous defender who could be relied on with absolute assurance that he would perform solidly. And he apparently was that way off the ice, too--a solid guy who could be counted on as a friend. How tragically disappointing that we will not see what he could have achieved as a coach. Thanks to Brad for all the pleasure he gave those who watched him play, and may his soul be in a state of peace and happiness.

The airplane crash that took his life and the lives of his players was a terrible shock, but it ought not to surprise given how frequently sports teams fly. My hometown football team, Manchester United, was wiped out in an air crash in Munich in 1958, and reading news of that was one of the saddest days of my life. It was exceeded when my 26-year-old cousin, Mark Clowes, a hockey player and fan, died in a Taiwan plane crash in 1981. Things sometimes seem/are so unfair.

 

[jkrx]

if you got into the HHoF by being a great teammate and a exemplary role model for young players he would be a first ballot. R.I.P. Brad, I'm glad I had you on my ATD team.