Another Leaf gone. RIP Bobby Baun

[Mess]

Some my best memories growing up as a young Leafs fan in the 1960's,

 

[Gary Nylund]

Agree 100% to legends row.
Brian Glennie one of best students

Yes! Glennie was perhaps even the last NHL player who regularly threw the hip check.

Amen.
Even at a young age we knew what it took to be the backbone of a team. Guys like Bobby Baun showed us. When playing road hockey, a hip check into the snow bank or in the warm weather, onto the grass was called a Baun. We cut the palm of our gloves out like his partner Brewer.

I'm too young to remember Brewer in his prime but I do remember calling a hip check a Bobby Baun check. Such a likeable player!!

 

[Wiseguys]

Today we say goodbye to Bobby Boomer Baun who was an anchor on defense for the Maple Leafs. He was part of 4 Leaf Stanley Cup champs. I remembered him playing on a broken leg on the last maple leaf Stanley cup win. True warrior. RIP

 

[scotian1]

Dropping in to send my condolences to one of the Leafs legends of the game.

Bob Baun will always be cemented in NHL lore. Down 3-2 in the 1964 Final series against the Detroit, Baun sustained a broken ankle in Game 6 from a Gordie Howe shot and would leave the game just briefly. Baun returned on the broken ankle when overtime began and scored just his third career playoff goal. Toronto would win the series thanks to Baun’s heroics in game 6.

Rest in piece Boomer

One of my favourite Leaf memories.

 

[fireantz]

Only 7 left from ‘67. Pulford, Mahovlich, Keon, Conacher,Stemkowski, Walton and Ellis.

 

[alliuk12]

wow another great toronto maple leaf gone may he rest in peace and condolences to his family and friends and to the leafs fans

 

[ktownhockey]

Legend! RIP Bobby!

 

[Niagara Bill]

Didn't realize not only 4 Stanley's, but also 2 Memorial Cups with Marlies. WOW. Did Bobby know what it took to win.

 

[Mess]

Didn't realize not only 4 Stanley's, but also 2 Memorial Cups with Marlies. WOW. Did Bobby know what it took to win.

Bobby Baun = 4 Stanley Cups vs. Bobby Orr = 2 Stanley Cups.

Its not always about just the talent. !!

 

[notDatsyuk]

From an interview with Brian McFarlane about after the GWG in game 6:

"Two nights later we won the Stanley Cup on home ice by a 4-0 score. I had my leg iced before that game and took shots of Novacain every 10 minutes. Only after the Cup was won did I go for X-rays, and they found a broken bone just above the ankle. I was in a cast for the next six weeks. Was it worth it? Sure, it was. That's how much winning the Stanley Cup meant to me. Most hockey players would tell you they'd do the very same thing."

 

[Ben Grimm]

Baun 'did anything he could' to help Maple Leafs win, Keon says | NHL.com

Defenseman famous for Stanley Cup Final OT goal on broken ankle dies at 86

www.nhl.com

 

[Mess]

Bobby Baun, wearing a favorite plaid jacket, with fellow Toronto Maple Leafs alumnus Johnny Bower at the 2017 NHL Alumni Gala in Toronto.

Former great in Johnny Bower talked joked about Baun back in 2017:

"I loved having Bobby clearing my crease, even if I couldn't see around him," late Toronto goaltending legend Johnny Bower joked in 2017, laughing about his dear friend "who was as wide as he was tall."

"Anyone foolish enough to plant their skates in front of me knew he probably wasn't going to be standing for long."

Bobby Baun mixes it up with Montreal Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau in front of Toronto goalie Johnny Bower at Maple Leaf Gardens during a 1964 game.

 

[Camille the Eel]

I saw him play at the old Madison Square Garden against the Rangers when I started watching towards the end of the original six era. Win Eliot was opening broadcasts. “Hello hockey fans, from Canada to the Carolinas.” Great, tough checking player, the definition of old school, a winner and an original character. Here’s to him and those like him. Few of them left. More’s the pity.

 

[Habs10Habs]

I have a quick story to share. Years ago, I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Baun at a Eddie Shack book signing.

Bobby was sitting at a table with a few other retired Leafs greats. Myself and my two friends, nervously decided to go over and introduce ourselves. The players were amazing. Not only did they sign a few autographs for us. They asked if we'd like to sit with them. It cost us a few rounds of drinks , but it was well worth it. We sat there for hours, with these amazing men. Hearing first hand stories of their glorious past.

After some time, the subject of Bobby's heroic feat came up. To this day, probably 30 years later. I still remember his response. "It wasn't a big deal, it's just what we did back then."

RIP Mr. Baun, thank you for your kindness.

 

[Da Cool Rula]

Amen.
Even at a young age we knew what it took to be the backbone of a team. Guys like Bobby Baun showed us. When playing road hockey, a hip check into the snow bank or in the warm weather, onto the grass was called a Baun. We cut the palm of our gloves out like his partner Brewer.

Wow now that's some memories. I was always the tallest biggest going to school but was more of a gentle ben. My brother hated that. He was shorter and a scraper. So was always on me about using my size. So one day I surprised him with a Baun hip check. Unfortunately he flipped over and hit his head on the concrete. Had to go to the hospital with a concussion. He was proud of me though but had to get me back lol.

 

[Da Cool Rula]

Yes! Glennie was perhaps even the last NHL player who regularly threw the hip check.

I'm going to say little Davie Farrish surprised us with nice hipcheck now and then.

Bobby Baun = 4 Stanley Cups vs. Bobby Orr = 2 Stanley Cups.

Its not always about just the talent. !!

Those Marlies teams were dominant

 

[Da Cool Rula]

I have a quick story to share. Years ago, I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Baun at a Eddie Shack book signing.

Bobby was sitting at a table with a few other retired Leafs greats. Myself and my two friends, nervously decided to go over and introduce ourselves. The players were amazing. Not only did they sign a few autographs for us. They asked if we'd like to sit with them. It cost us a few rounds of drinks , but it was well worth it. We sat there for hours, with these amazing men. Hearing first hand stories of their glorious past.

After some time, the subject of Bobby's heroic feat came up. To this day, probably 30 years later. I still remember his response. "It wasn't a big deal, it's just what we did back then."

RIP Mr. Baun, thank you for your kindness.

Thanks for sharing. Those old timers were all heart and genuine. They loved the fans and took their responsibility as role models seriously.

Man I miss those days.

 

[PromisedLand]

#RIP

 

[Niagara Bill]

I have a quick story to share. Years ago, I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Baun at a Eddie Shack book signing.

Bobby was sitting at a table with a few other retired Leafs greats. Myself and my two friends, nervously decided to go over and introduce ourselves. The players were amazing. Not only did they sign a few autographs for us. They asked if we'd like to sit with them. It cost us a few rounds of drinks , but it was well worth it. We sat there for hours, with these amazing men. Hearing first hand stories of their glorious past.

After some time, the subject of Bobby's heroic feat came up. To this day, probably 30 years later. I still remember his response. "It wasn't a big deal, it's just what we did back then."

RIP Mr. Baun, thank you for your kindness.

This made my day. Thank you.
For those who remember Armstrongs goal, Baun, Hillman, Pappin, Duff, Stemmer, Pulford, Kelly, Bathgate, Bower, Sawchuck, Ehman, Gamble, etc etc...56 yrs of loving these guys and remembering what commitment and effort means I think allows us to fairly judge this Leaf teams effort.

 

[Mess]

Thanks for sharing. Those old timers were all heart and genuine. They loved the fans and took their responsibility as role models seriously.

Man I miss those days.

"Defense Wins Championships"

Officially, Bobby Baun was listed as 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds. How then, many of the defenseman's opponents would ask, could Baun hit like he was six inches taller and 50 pounds heavier?

Baun, a four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Toronto Maple Leafs and one of the cleanest hitters of his or any generation, died Tuesday at age 86.

"Bobby was hitting but a lot of the time he was taking the worst of it," former Maple Leafs captain Dave Keon said Tuesday from his home in Florida, high with praise for a rugged defenseman with whom he played on Toronto champions in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1967.

"Bobby and Carl Brewer were a pair on defense and Tim Horton and Allan Stanley were another pair. Bobby was fearless. He wore his heart on his sleeve, played as hard as possible every game, blocked shots and did anything that he could for us to win."

 

[Cournoyer12]

One of the GOATs

What a Warrior!!!

 

[Obo]

RIP to a Leaf legend.

 

[garce]

As I posted in another thread about encountering Leaf players in regular life was my childhood meeting of Bobby Baun. Mid sixties it become known that BB had a cottage on a local lake Charleston, he was said to have a place on a isolated bay and had a most unusual steam boat that was either powered by coal or wood I can’t remember. There were hardly any NHL players from this area (Leo Boivin, Noel price) so it was big news that a Maple Leaf could actually be encountered. At the public dock in the village egged on by older brothers 6 or 7 year old me approached BB for an autograph he looked at me grabbed ahold and pretended to heave me in the lake. RIP,Bobby Baun

 

[therealkoho]

Baun and Brewer, Horton and Stanley. Bobby was part of the greatest defensive group of Leafs all time.
Strong,tough, competitive, proof you can do what is necessary to win without fighting nightly.
RIP Bob. You brought so much enjoyment and pride to Leaf fans of that day. You and your mates are the reason why so many of us still wait for a cup to return. When it does you will be remembered.

Pronovost, McKenney and the Hillman Brothers were a fairly big part of that corps as well

Bobby Baun RIP boomer

 

[Da Cool Rula]

As I posted in another thread about encountering Leaf players in regular life was my childhood meeting of Bobby Baun. Mid sixties it become known that BB had a cottage on a local lake Charleston, he was said to have a place on a isolated bay and had a most unusual steam boat that was either powered by coal or wood I can’t remember. There were hardly any NHL players from this area (Leo Boivin, Noel price) so it was big news that a Maple Leaf could actually be encountered. At the public dock in the village egged on by older brothers 6 or 7 year old me approached BB for an autograph he looked at me grabbed ahold and pretended to heave me in the lake. RIP,Bobby Baun

Thats an awesome story. Thx for sharing.