News Article: Eddie Johnston talks injuries, Bobby Orr, trades and more

[Fenway]

Eddie Johnston certainly saw good times with the Bruins after a lot of bad times in the mid 60's. The Bruins protected EJ in the 1967 expansion draft as they felt he deserved a chance to play for a better Bruins team so they let the promising Bernie Parent be exposed and he was claimed by Philadelphia.

ESPN sat down with him.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/1...ston-more-pittsburgh-penguins-good-luck-charm

Anderson: You were the last goalie to play every minute of every game for a team, and you did it without a mask?

Johnston: Yeah. No brains, either. On my back was my IQ back then. I was No. 1. You really only had one [goalie] back then.

Anderson: When did you start wearing a mask?

Johnston: I got hit in Detroit in the warmups [by teammate Bobby Orr's slap shot on Halloween night 1968] and I was in a coma for six weeks. I remember [St. Louis goalie] Glenn Hall came up to the hospital to see me when his team came in town, and he put the mask on that night. Back then we wore [the form-fitting white "Friday the 13th"] masks. If the puck hit you hard, you would get cut, but it would save you from breaking bones. Now [masks] are terrific, all the equipment for the goalies. With us, starting at training camp, you were black and blue and you were hurting all the time. Your arm pads were soft. You had a chest protector, but you never had anything for your shoulders. They have protection all over now, thank God.

Click to read more...

 

[Gordoff]

Great article but I'd love to read the "unprintable" stories that he eluded to...
I never heard that he was in a coma for 6 weeks.
Hopefully he writes a book someday!

 

[Fenway]

I am trying to remember where EJ's bar was - My brain is telling me it was on Rte 1 near the Topsfield Fair.
One of the Bruins favorite bars back then was The Branding Iron in Charles River Park.

Anderson: When you won the two Cups with Boston, what were the celebrations like?

Johnston: I owned a nightclub called E.J.'s back then. We stayed open for almost 48 straight hours. There were two kids that worked on the door because we had lines all night long. The two kids on the door, the first Cup they made $15,000 apiece letting people in. The second one, they made $20,000 apiece. The celebrations were crazy. Back then you had the motorcycles with the sidecars. We brought a cop in and he had a few drinks in him and got to feeling pretty good, so we put him in the sidecar and drove him around the city. Johnny McKenzie took his helmet and drove him around. [The cop] got "suspended" for a couple of days. You got away with things like that back then. [If you won a title in Boston] you could drive up the wrong side of the street, and they would blame the other guy. You couldn't get away with it now.

 

[Gordoff]

I am trying to remember where EJ's bar was - My brain is telling me it was on Rte 1 near the Topsfield Fair.
One of the Bruins favorite bars back then was The Branding Iron in Charles River Park.

I'll have to ask one of the few remaining relatives that I have who were adults at that time....

 

[Gordoff]

Came up with this;" There was a bar I believe it was on RT1 called E.J.’s..alot of the Boston Bruins and others hung out there in the 70’s..Bobby Ore Derick Sanderson and thier Hockey Team"

I guess that we'll have to forgive the person who wrote it since he/she hung out at bars since the 60s...
Someone else said, "Newburyport"

Here's the link:
http://nbptma.com/?p=29

 

[Fenway]

Came up with this;" There was a bar I believe it was on RT1 called E.J.’s..alot of the Boston Bruins and others hung out there in the 70’s..Bobby Ore Derick Sanderson and thier Hockey Team"

I guess that we'll have to forgive the person who wrote it since he/she hung out at bars since the 60s...
Someone else said, "Newburyport"

Here's the link:
http://nbptma.com/?p=29

If my memory is correct - EJ's was next to the Agawam Diner on Rte 1. Most of the Bruins of that era lived in Essex County

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_County,_Massachusetts#Cities

 

[incidental otter]

Eddie Johnston certainly saw good times with the Bruins after a lot of bad times in the mid 60's. The Bruins protected EJ in the 1967 expansion draft as they felt he deserved a chance to play for a better Bruins team so they let the promising Bernie Parent be exposed and he was claimed by Philadelphia.

ESPN sat down with him.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/1...ston-more-pittsburgh-penguins-good-luck-charm

Thanks for posting this.

My favorite bit is how Orr was his designated driver.