I want to start and ask what does everyone think about Rick Middleton.
(From vecens24 ATD Bio)
Voting overall:
2nd Team All Star at RW (Post Season) 1982.
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner 1982.
Hart: 4, 8
All-Star voting: 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 7,
Lady Byng: 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 9
Selke: 4, 9, token voting two years
Member of Team Canada for the 1981 and 1984 Canada Cup series.
Co-Captain (for home games) of the Boston Bruins with Raymond Bourque 1985-1988.
Tied with Ken Hodge for the Bruins points record by a RW with 105.
Holds the Bruins record for most points in a playoff year with 33.
Boston Three-Stars Leader: 1978-79, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84
Regular Season:
Finished top 10 in goals three times and in points twice.
12 times scored 20+ goals, 8 times 30+ goals, 5 times 40+ goals.
Recorded 5 consecutive 40+ goal and 90+ point seasons during his prime, twice reaching 100 points.
Hit the magical 50 goal mark in 1982 with his career high of 51 goals.
Career shooting percentage of 19.7 ranks 6th all time.
Playoffs:
Has 100 points in 114 career playoff games, including a monstrous 33 points in 17 games during 82-83.
During his big 1983 run, Middleton set the record for most points in a single playoff series with 19 against Buffalo.
His Bruins reached the Stanley Cup finals 3 times (77,78,88) but ran up against dynasty teams in the finals each time.
Quotes:
"You just continue to talk in superlatives," said Boston coach Gerry Cheevers of Middleton. "He's unbelievable. It's not just the goals he scores. He should be the cinch winner of the Selke Trophy for the best defensive forward."
- Calgary Herald (AP) Apr 21, 1983
Middleton credits much of his success in hockey to Cherry, who very early in his career encouraged him to work on his defense. Without a doubt, Middleton was one of very few players in the NHL who was strong on both the power-play and as a penalty killer.
- Legends of Hockey
"He's the best player in the league at his position," Brad Park said. "I've seen all the forwards and I can't see one who can compare with him right now."
- The Windsor Star (CP), Feb 2, 1981 (Park reacting to an all-star game snub of Middleton)
Gretzky praised his line-mate Rick Middleton for the work he did in the corners. In fact, it was Middleton's diligence that setup Perreault for the key goal of the final period.
- Ottawa Citizen (CP) Aug 25, 1981 (Canada Cup Series)
"Rick Middleton is a superstar of the brightest magnitude. He and Wayne Gretzky (of Edmonton) have been our two best players" said coach Scotty Bowman
- Boston Globe Aug 30, 1981 (Canada Cup Series)
Sports Illustrated article on Middleton, March 30, 1981:
Defenseman Brad Park, a five-time All-Star who is now in his 14th NHL season, says, "I've seen them all, and Nifty's the best one-on-one player in hockey. Take anyone in the league, give Nifty the puck, and 90% of the time he'll turn the other guy inside out."
Combining superb quickness and stickhandling with unusual balance and instinct, Middleton, a forward, not only is one of the league's most stylish players, but also is emerging, in his seventh season, as a scorer.
Middleton logs more ice time than any Bruin except defense-men Park and Ray Bourque. He works the power play, kills penalties and protects late leads. The opposition keys on Middleton, too, because he's Boston's only genuine threat to "create" a goal: for the most part the other Bruins qualify as muckers, members of the so-called Lunchpail A.C., who score on goal-mouth tip-ins, rebounds or unintentional deflections.
Jim Craig, the U.S. Olympic hero who's now Boston's No. 3 goal-tender, says that of all the scorers he has faced, Middleton's the most talented at giving the puck, taking it away and then sliding it into the net—right between the goalie's legs.
The Pittsbrugh Press, January 23, 1979, Don Cherry:
This guy is starting to come on like Guy Lafleur. He’s not as good as Lafleur, but he’s as exciting. He’s our spark right now and he must be a defenseman’s nightmare.
