The Boston Bruins are a storied franchise with so many great players that have come and gone over their 90 year existence.
Throughout those years the Bruins have created a brand of hockey that will forever be remembered in Black and Gold. Bruins hockey. Tough, big, bad and sometimes ugly.
In this Two Pad Stack mini series, we will be looking at Bruins players who were at the forefront of establishing the ‘Big Bad Bruins’ style of hockey and those who were deemed the Boston Bruins toughest players. Believe me, categorising those guys into a Top 10 is hard. Really hard. There will be a whole group of players who will miss out that could have easily made it in – we could easily have done a Top 30.
So without further ado, at No.4 of our toughest Bruins is…
STAN JONATHAN
Stanley Carl Jonathan, or ‘Bulldog’ is next on our countdown. Another player who was renowned for embodying that Boston Bruins style of hockey.
Drafted by the Bruins in 1975 at 86th overall, Jonathan was another one of those talented tough guys, who had the ability to put puck in net as well as put fist to face. As displayed in his seven seasons in Boston where the left winger totalled 60 fights whilst wearing Black and Gold, along with 875 penalty minutes. All of those tough guy statistics came hand in hand with Jonathan’s 91 Boston Bruins goals.
When mentioning Stan Jonathan, it’s easy to forget that he had more than that one really bloody fight with Montreal Canadiens’ Pierre Bouchard. But he did. Many more in fact. However, that epic battle is one of the primary reasons why Jonathan lands at no.4 on this Top 10 Toughest Bruins list.
Most Memorable Season
Jonathan’s second season for the Bruins (1977-78) saw the winger reach a career high in goals (27) and assists (25) along with reaching over 100 penalty minutes. Again, showing that he was capable of helping the team out in more ways than one.
During that same year, Jonathan was given the Boston Bruins “7th Player Award” voted by the fans for players who have exceeded expectations that season.
Toughest Season
The 1979-80 regular and post seasons saw Stan Jonathan amass 26 fights that year, on the way to racking up 208 penalty minutes, both career highs. Including three times when Jonathan fought the same person twice in the same game. The first being Terry Ruskowski of the Chicago Blackhawks (Oct 28th), Kim Clarkson of the Pittsburgh Penguins was the second (Jan 27th) and the final opponent being Bob Lorimer from the New York Islanders (Apr 17th).
Biggest Rival
The 1977-78 season saw Stan Jonathan prove to everyone why he was called ‘Bulldog’. As mentioned above, he took on Montreal Canadiens’ Pierre Bouchard, despite being more of a fighter than his rival, Bouchard had a reach and a size advantage. Yet Jonathan made quick and bloody work of the Habs Defenseman, proving that those Canadiens really do ‘bleed red’.
There we’re players that Jonathan dropped the gloves with more than once, including the likes of Chris Nilan and Kim Clarkson. But none had the power and fame of the Jonathan vs Bouchard bout.
In 1982, the Bruins traded Stan Jonathan to the Pittsburg Penguins, where he only played 19 games before retiring at seasons end. Like many tough guys, niggling injuries occur and stop players being able to do what made them who they were and that was the case with the Bruins Stan Jonathan. He played the Bruins way and was effective. ‘Bulldog’ will always remain one of the Boston Bruins toughest.
Be sure to keep it here for no.3 of the Boston Bruins Top 10 Toughest Players.
