DeJordy in Boston?

[Axxellien]

..By the 1960-61 season the slumping Bruins had a serious goaltending problem. Aging Veteran Harry Lumley, who BTW, had been purchased from Chicago 3 years previous, had retired & Donnie Simmons had been sumarilly, unfairly demoted. The replacements Bruce Gamble & later Don Head proved unsuitable...Meanwhile Chicago were surging as a powerhouse under the aegis of ironman Glenn Hall..Accomplished Hawk backup Goalie Dennis Dejordy, who had succeeded Harry Lumley as Buffalo Bisons netminder would see no action...What if Bruins management had purchased DeJordy in 60-61 or 61-62 to help the hard pressed Boston Defensive rookie corps?...A DeJordy=Simmons tandem would most certainly have better equated = the Plante, Bower, Sawchuk, Hall, Worsley juggernaut??

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[pappyline]

..By the 1960-61 season the slumping Bruins had a serious goaltending problem. Aging Veteran Harry Lumley, who BTW, had been purchased from the Chicago 3 years previous, had retired & Donnie Simmons had been sumarilly, unfairly demoted. The replacements Bruce Gamble & later Don Head proved unsuitable...Meanwhile Chicago were surging as a powerhouse under the aegis of ironman Glenn Hall..Accomplished Hawk backup Goalie Dennis Dejordy, who had succeeded Harry Lumley as Buffalo Bisons netminder would see no action...What if Bruins management had purchased DeJordy in 60-61 or 61-62 to help the hard pressed Boston Defensive rookie corps?...A DeJordy=Simmons tandem would most certainly have better equated = the Plante, Bower, Sawchuk, Hall, Worsley juggernaut??

Not sure. Always thought Gamble was a decent goalie. Not sure if Dejordy was any better. He never got many chances to be a #1 goalie so it is hard to tell. Anyway, Hawks buried him in their system for most of his prime. Teams could do that in those days.

Agree with you on Simmons. Under-rated IMO.

 

[Canadiens1958]

1960-61 Hawk Goalies

..By the 1960-61 season the slumping Bruins had a serious goaltending problem. Aging Veteran Harry Lumley, who BTW, had been purchased from the Chicago 3 years previous, had retired & Donnie Simmons had been sumarilly, unfairly demoted. The replacements Bruce Gamble & later Don Head proved unsuitable...Meanwhile Chicago were surging as a powerhouse under the aegis of ironman Glenn Hall..Accomplished Hawk backup Goalie Dennis Dejordy, who had succeeded Harry Lumley as Buffalo Bisons netminder would see no action...What if Bruins management had purchased DeJordy in 60-61 or 61-62 to help the hard pressed Boston Defensive rookie corps?...A DeJordy=Simmons tandem would most certainly have better equated = the Plante, Bower, Sawchuk, Hall, Worsley juggernaut??

1960-61 Hawks had three goalie prospects. Dejordy and Roy Edwards who split time between Buffalo and Sault Ste Marie in the EPHL roughly half/half. and Roger Crozier in junior. They wanted to evaluate all three before moving forward so neither was available. They settled on Dejordy wh started getting NHL playing time in 1962-63, Crozier was traded to Detroit while Roy Edwards continued in the minors.

 

[Axxellien]

DeJordy:

..Well, We here in Québec were definitely given the impression by the press , media & word of mouth that DeJordy was the up & coming goalie in waiting...I vividly recall an interview on Radio Canada between periods in 62-63..Phil Watson had just been relieved from the Boston Coaching job..DeJordy was also present, dressed in his Hawk uniform..Watson said that Denis could be a starter in Boston...DeJordy never got a chance to prove very much..imo.,,A shame that..

 

[Axxellien]

Bruce Gamble:

..Yes Gamble was a decent Goalie..certainly game...But not in the above league.....A longtime Boston fan told me that Gamble actually suffered a heart attack during play!!...But to replace Simmons instead of alternating Him with an untested newcomer seemed absurd to me.....Interesting that Gamble succeeded Simmons as Bower`s backup in Toronto!!

 

[Killion]

I wasnt aware of that possibility (Dejordy to Boston, and ya, Bruce Gamble was another really very solid goaltender), that wouldve' been interesting as I too felt he was both under-rated & never really got a chance to shine consistently. He played Junior with the Dixie Beehives & St.Catherines Teepees' with Makita & Hull, wound up behind Hall in Chicago, then Esposito; winds up in LA where he gets shelled; traded to Montreal & winds up behind Dryden. If it wasnt for bad luck, the poor guy wouldnt have had any luck at all. Post career, he was the first ever full time Goalie Coach in the NHL, hired by Detroit to work with Rutherford & others.

 

[Killion]

......Interesting that Gamble succeeded Simmons as Bower`s backup in Toronto!!

Bruce Gamble suffered a heart attack while playing for the Flyers in a game against Vancouver in 72 that ended his career and died from another in 82. He was a star in the OHA Jr.A with the Guelph Biltmores and like Sawchuk was a top performer playing with guys several years older at a young age. He refused to report to Springfield in 64 & lost a year due to being suspended, branded a bit of a troublemaker as a result. 66-67 he played a couple of dozen games through the season behind Sawchuk & Bower, with the "2 Smiths", Al & Gary playing a few games behind Gamble. While in Toronto, he'd grown mutton chop sideburns, much to Punch Imlach's displeasure, who bribed him to shave them off. One of the funnier signs I recall from Maple Leaf Gardens was "Dont Gamble, play Plante". Really rather unfair, as he was steady & sometimes spectacular, taking anything that got past him personally. an almost visible black cloud surrounding the guy to go with the scowl. Boston wouldve done well with him.

 

[doakacola*]

..By the 1960-61 season the slumping Bruins had a serious goaltending problem. Aging Veteran Harry Lumley, who BTW, had been purchased from Chicago 3 years previous, had retired & Donnie Simmons had been sumarilly, unfairly demoted. The replacements Bruce Gamble & later Don Head proved unsuitable...Meanwhile Chicago were surging as a powerhouse under the aegis of ironman Glenn Hall..Accomplished Hawk backup Goalie Dennis Dejordy, who had succeeded Harry Lumley as Buffalo Bisons netminder would see no action...What if Bruins management had purchased DeJordy in 60-61 or 61-62 to help the hard pressed Boston Defensive rookie corps?...A DeJordy=Simmons tandem would most certainly have better equated = the Plante, Bower, Sawchuk, Hall, Worsley juggernaut??

Axe I know this is unfair to DeJordy but growing up in Greater Boston from say 1969-70 until we essentially went our separate ways after college we would always yelp out "DeJordy" when one of us playing net was faked out or let a softie in.

In fact, my best friend called from Denver, where he has been since 1978 and when I answered the phone when G7 was winding down in Vancouver in the SCF, instead of saying hello, blurted out Thank God DeJordy came out of retirment, when discusiing one of the goalies.

Its funny because one of his friends at college got a 1 period audition in net for Boston in the 1979-80 season and got lit up for 5 goals in that one period. His buddy would have killed for DeJordy's resume.

 

[Axxellien]

DeJordy:

...Well i know DeJordy was very frustrated thru the 60s at not playing, being the understudy of the great Glenn Hall...I brought this point up in the context of the cataclysmic descent the Bruins experienced while retooling in the early 60s..Note how high the Goals Against Ave. balooned with the Head=Gamble duo...Horrendous..I am quite certain a young DeJordy would have done better..Hard to do any worse!