aguineapig
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Watching Par Lindholm this season I have seemingly had a sense of Deja Vu all over again as Yogi would say. Could not pin it down but looking at some old photos the other day there it was. I came across a picture of Matti Hagman. He and Par could of been brothers. Maybe its the Nordic thing as Par is a Swede, Matti a Finn.
Matti was drafted in 1975 and came over to the Bruins in 1976 after a strong showing in the Canada Cup. He was the first Finnish born and Finnish trained player to play in the NHL. But he was not the first Finn as Johnny would point out several times. The first was Pentti Lund who Johnny played with in the early fifties. Pentti moved to Canada with his family at six years old. He signed with the B's and played a couple of seasons with the Boston Olympics before he was traded to the Rangers. He went on to win the Calder as rookie of the year with a gaudy 14 goals and thirty points. Got traded back to the B's in 1951 but after a few games almost lost an eye to a high stick. He played the next year with one eye netting 17 pts for the B's but that was the end of his NHL career.
Johnny wove many stories of the like through his years with Fred. I learned of the legends such as Art Ross, Dit Clapper, the Krauts, Hap Emms, King Clancy, Punch Imlach, the Gondola at Maple Leaf Gardens and so much more, all through the eyes and voice of Johnny Peirson. He was a teacher, Pierson's Pointers for all you youngsters out there work on the release of your wrist shot, an Historian, and an unrivaled story teller.
Before Google and Wikipedia we had our own Bruins and NHL encyclopedia. Johnny Peirson. Thanks for the history. The games have stopped for now. The memories will have to do.
Matti was drafted in 1975 and came over to the Bruins in 1976 after a strong showing in the Canada Cup. He was the first Finnish born and Finnish trained player to play in the NHL. But he was not the first Finn as Johnny would point out several times. The first was Pentti Lund who Johnny played with in the early fifties. Pentti moved to Canada with his family at six years old. He signed with the B's and played a couple of seasons with the Boston Olympics before he was traded to the Rangers. He went on to win the Calder as rookie of the year with a gaudy 14 goals and thirty points. Got traded back to the B's in 1951 but after a few games almost lost an eye to a high stick. He played the next year with one eye netting 17 pts for the B's but that was the end of his NHL career.
Johnny wove many stories of the like through his years with Fred. I learned of the legends such as Art Ross, Dit Clapper, the Krauts, Hap Emms, King Clancy, Punch Imlach, the Gondola at Maple Leaf Gardens and so much more, all through the eyes and voice of Johnny Peirson. He was a teacher, Pierson's Pointers for all you youngsters out there work on the release of your wrist shot, an Historian, and an unrivaled story teller.
Before Google and Wikipedia we had our own Bruins and NHL encyclopedia. Johnny Peirson. Thanks for the history. The games have stopped for now. The memories will have to do.
