Ted Green - What Might Have Been?

[Canadiens1958]

Ted Green, the forgotten Bruin from the 1960's. Started his NHL career with the Bruins when they were in the midst of their worst stretch ever. Initially brought a physical presence but developed over the next four seasons into a very solid NHL defenseman. Injuries during the 1965-66 and 1966-67 seasons sidetracked his progress but by the 1968-69 season had regained career momentum and was named to his first AST -2nd team.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/greente01.html

Then came the fateful exhibition game in Ottawa September 21, 1969 against St. Louis. Stick-swinging incident with Wayne Maki of the Blues resulting in a near fatal head injury, surgery rehab and a return to the NHL with the Bruins after a season away from the game.

The numbers remained reasonable, the performance stable with certain elements of physicality but on balance Ted Green was slightly below his previous level. He contributed to the 1972 Bruins Stanley Cup team then left to continue his career in the WHA, New England and Winnipeg, turning to coaching when the WHA ended.

Was Ted Green on a HHOF path before the events of September 21, 1969?

Click to read more...

 

[Dark Shadows]

I do not believe so. He had become a solid defenseman by the time he got his first all star selection, but unless he did something magnificent within the next 5 years of that selection and continue to win all star selections, I do not see it.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I drafted him in the last All-Time Draft. When I looked at his career, I thought that maybe Vladimir Konstantinov was s a pretty good modern comparison? A nasty defenseman who really put it all together in becoming a Second-Team All Star, then had his career cut short by a life-threatening injury before he could put together more good season. (Ted Green recovered enough to play again at a lower level than before, Vlad unfortunately did not).

 

[Big Phil]

I doubt it, but who knows? This was 1969, he came off a 2nd team all-star, the Bruins were clearly on the rise. He would have been there and perhaps been a key cog in all that fun. Ironically Green had a pretty good ironman streak going earlier in the 1960s. He was solid no doubt about that. But even healthy would he be regarded any better all-time than Adam Foote?

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

This is the profile I put together for Ted Green in the ATD if anyone feels liek reading it:

“Terrible†Ted Green, D

Green was one of the toughest players ever in league history.

- NHL Second All-Star Team (1969)

- 3rd in Norris voting in 1969 (behind Bobby Orr and Tim Horton)

- 10th in Norris voting in 1967

- Stanley Cup Championship as a player on the Boston Bruins (1972)

- Avco Cup Championship (WHA) as captain of the Hartford Whalers (1973)

- Two Avco Cup Championships with the Winnipeg Jets (1976, 1978)

- Right handed shot

- While he’s best known as a nasty, stay at home guy, he finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 9th in points among defensemen.

- Stanley Cup Championships as Assistant Coach (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988) Co-Coach (1990) of the Edmonton Oilers show that he had a mind for the game.

Pound for pound, Ted Green was the toughest of the Post-World War II Bruins and – with the exception of Eddie Shore – the meanest player to ever don the black, gold, and white.

Like the immortal Shore, Green would do anything to win a hockey game.

I had one philosophy… and that was this – the corners were mine. Any man who tried to take a corner away from me was stealing from me. I get mad when a man tries to steal from me.

One thing in my favor – when you played the way I did then – was reputation. Players on the other teams knew that I was going to get them. They had to be thinking about it. I got a lesson from (Leo) Boivin. He’d crack an arm when they tried to get around him. That was my style.

When the term “Bobby Orr, and the Big, Bad Bruins' was heard, Ted Green was still regarded as the baddest of the bad. Yet the respect with which he was held by teammates had reached such a high level that Teddy wore the captain’s ‘C’ on his jersey and was considered the team leader both on and off the ice.

-from Boston Bruins: Greatest Moments and Players by Stan Fischler

In Green, the Bruins got a solid enforcer who provided the club with crease-clearing spine and leadership during the lean years of the early sixties. He put in eight seasons in Boston, watching the team accumulate an increasing number of Stanley Cup pieces when he suffered one of the more serious injuries in NHL history. Green's skull was fractured as the result of a stick-swinging duel with Wayne Maki of the St. Louis Blues during a pre-season match in 1969. Green was left paralyzed and close to death with no expectations of ever resuming his career on ice. But a year of convalescence and conditioning brought on an impressive recovery. With a metal plate in his head, Green returned to the Bruins line-up to finally savor a Stanley Cup victory in 1972, having missed the first win in 1970.

Though he was brought in initially for his physicality and intimidation, Green developed into a good NHLer through sheer determination. A monster in his own zone, Green kept the other team honest. A hard hitting and willing fighter with a short fuse, Green became an integral part of the Bruins. An excellent shot blocker, Green saw time as a forward on penalty kills. His puck skills improved to the point where in 1969 he was named to the NHL Second All Star team when scored 8 goals and 46 points, a far cry from his 11 point rookie season.
…
Green opened the 1961-62 season in Boston and led the team with 116 PIM. He gained instant respect around the league that season, dropping the gloves with any and all comers, including a memorable fight with Frank Mahovlich in which Green broke his hand. Green playing hurt would quickly become a regular occurrence. Never a true offensive threat, Green developed into a decent d-man with the puck. He became very good at making the first pass to clear the zone, and his assist totals eventually reached the mid- 30s on a consistent basis. He scored a career high 8 goals on 2 occasions.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I do not believe so. He had become a solid defenseman by the time he got his first all star selection, but unless he did something magnificent within the next 5 years of that selection and continue to win all star selections, I do not see it.

Playing on the next 5 Bruin's teams healthy & in his prime, he may have done just that.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Comparables

I drafted him in the last All-Time Draft. When I looked at his career, I thought that maybe Vladimir Konstantinov was s a pretty good modern comparison? A nasty defenseman who really put it all together in becoming a Second-Team All Star, then had his career cut short by a life-threatening injury before he could put together more good season. (Ted Green recovered enough to play again at a lower level than before, Vlad unfortunately did not).

Vladimir Konstantinov is an excellent comparable from an individual and team perspective.Both were poised the be the second defenseman on potential dynasty teams when injury impacted their career and possibly changed the direction of a potential dynasty team.

Tom Johnson had a career trajectory that was similar, showing the ability to step-up when Doug Harvey had an injury plagued 1958-59 season.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/j/johnsto01.html

Ted Green after two injury plagued seasons did step-up during the 1967-68 season when Bobby Orr was hurt. A healthy Ted Green maturing as projected might have contributed immensely during the first half of the 1970's during Orr's brief absences and might have been a factor in 1974 against the Flyers.

 

[Axxellien]

Mean Ted Green:

Teddy Green was one tough Hombre, no doubt about that!..He broke in with the Bruins in 1961-62, alongside a slew of other young Defensive rookies, Pat Stapleton, Dallas Smith, Ed Westfall...They would all, in time, mature into outstanding players...But in 1961, they were all too young...The Bruins had, almost overnight, lost so much talent thru retirements, bad trades, demotions, & outright giveaways, they resembled what We now know as an expansion team!..An awful reconstruction period that was both preventable & unnecessary,,,..But thru it all, this stock Big Bad Bruin bled Black & Gold..

 

[Axxellien]

BTW, I disagree with the above Stan Fischler citation, [Nothing New There! LOL] claiming that Green was the toughest Bruin since Eddie Shore...That honour would go to Mister Ferdinand Flaman, hands down, no question!!...Boivin & Bob Armstrong were no slouches in that category either....Larry Hillman.. By 1961,Ted Green had big skates to fill....

 

[BobbyAwe]

Ted Green, the forgotten Bruin from the 1960's. Started his NHL career with the Bruins when they were in the midst of their worst stretch ever. Initially brought a physical presence but developed over the next four seasons into a very solid NHL defenseman. Injuries during the 1965-66 and 1966-67 seasons sidetracked his progress but by the 1968-69 season had regained career momentum and was named to his first AST -2nd team.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/greente01.html

Then came the fateful exhibition game in Ottawa September 21, 1969 against St. Louis. Stick-swinging incident with Wayne Maki of the Blues resulting in a near fatal head injury, surgery rehab and a return to the NHL with the Bruins after a season away from the game.

The numbers remained reasonable, the performance stable with certain elements of physicality but on balance Ted Green was slightly below his previous level. He contributed to the 1972 Bruins Stanley Cup team then left to continue his career in the WHA, New England and Winnipeg, turning to coaching when the WHA ended.

Was Ted Green on a HHOF path before the events of September 21, 1969?

No, he was not HHOF bound but he was a better player than he is remembered for. He was the 2nd best defenseman on the team. In particular, he was one of the fastest skating D-men in the league at the time and very smart and consistent positionally. It's just that he will always be remembered more for the mean stuff and the stick-fight.

 

[BobbyAwe]

BTW, I disagree with the above Stan Fischler citation, [Nothing New There! LOL] claiming that Green was the toughest Bruin since Eddie Shore...That honour would go to Mister Ferdinand Flaman, hands down, no question!!...Boivin & Bob Armstrong were no slouches in that category either....Larry Hillman.. By 1961,Ted Green had big skates to fill....

Green's first season 1960-61 (although he only appeared in one game) was Flaman's last. "On paper", though, that was one tough defense at the time. Besides Flaman and Green, there was Mohns, Armstrong, Boivin and Dallas Smith who were not exactly crybabies either.

 

[Axxellien]

Orland Kurtenbach, Heavyweight Champ:

Aut Erickson frequently played Defense in 59-60, 60-61, as Doug Mohns would be up on Left Wing with Don McKenney & Topper....Had the Bruins retained the services Of stalwarts Allan Stanley & Larry Hillman, not to mention Donnie Simmons & perhaps, for an extra, final season, Harry Lumley in Goal , [the list is indeed long], the transition phase would not have been so painful nor as arduous