Working The Red Line EP.2

Hockey was at its peak in the 90s, that's why I wanted to start with Joey Kocur and his illustrious tough guy career. Now while hockey was at its best in the 90s, to really understand where the tough guy role was created I think it's best to shoot back a few decades and into the 70s.

The 70s were the first decade of the newest expansion teams, 1967 brought us the California Seals, the Los Angeles Kings, the Minnesota North Stars, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues. 

New teams introduced more players and also introduced more lines, allowing more players to find their way into the lineup. It's possible that no team took this more into consideration than the Boston Bruins. The Bruins won 2 cups in this decade (70, 72) but also introduced us to one of the greatest fighters the league has ever seen - Stan Jonathan. Don Cherry, who drafted and played Jonathan, said he found him by mistake. Cherry was scouting Doug Halward (who Boston Drafted in the 1st round the same year) who was Jonathan's teammate in Peterborough. Jonathan caught Cherry's eye, by the relentless type of effort and speed that he played with. 

Stan Jonathan doesn't get the love he deserves. Standing at just 5’8 and 175 pounds, the tough environment was not something Jonathan had to adapt himself too. Born and raised on the Ohsweken native reserve, Jonathan was embedded in the tough realities of life. 

Jonathan's days for Peterborough in the OHA were promising. 176 points (69 goals) in 203 games was enough to be selected in the 5th round by the Bruins in 1975. He only eclipsed 100 PIMS 3 times in his 9 year career, but the results of his fighting were the things that caught people's eyes. In Don Cherry's Autobiography he explained Jonathan as a little bulldog type of player "One day Stanley's father was visiting Boston and was introduced to me in my office. 'You've got a great son there, Mr. Jonathan,' I said. 'He reminds me of my dog, Blue.' Old man Jonathan was aghast. Comparing his son to a dog. Well, this big Indian stared at me until I thought I was going to get scalped.” (Cherry, 1982)

Jonathan accounted for many memorable fights in his career, but none more than his tilt with Pierre Bouchard in game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals on May 21st 1978.

Very shocking the Bruins and Canadiens were testy the whole first period. With just under 6:30 left the Bruins were called offside, and Bouchard butt-ended Jonathan and right then in there punches started to fly. Gilles Lupien squared off with John Wensink but the eyes were on Jonathan and Bouchard. The two exchanged 11 punches each before Jonathan caught Bouchard with a heavy left that dropped him. Bouchard was leaking bad all over the ice, and gave us the famous photo of the referee holding the towel over Bouchard's face, just covered in Bouchard's blood. 

In what is likely one of the greatest fights of all time, Jonathan delivered and brought down the much bigger 6 '2 Bouchard. Check out the full fight below, it's actually age-restricted on YouTube, which makes it all the more better. wo exchanged 11 punches each before Jonathan caught Bouchard with a heavy left that dropped him. Bouchard was leaking bad all over the ice, and gave us the famous photo of the referee holding the towel over Bouchard's face, just covered in Bouchard's blood. 

Stan Jonathan vs Pierre Bouchard

Stay Tuned for next week's episode where I'll bring us back into hockey's heyday and explore the ever so inviting career of Tie Domi.