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Brad Park

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He gets a little overrated occasionally but he was legit the 2nd or 3rd best dman in the league for years. If Bobby Orr was not around he would have a fair share of trophies. The thing that is weird is that as a kid I thought of him as old when he was on Boston but he really wasn't. He was still in his late 20's and early 30's.
 
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TominNC said:
How does he get overrated. If not for Orr he would have been considered the best Dman ever for at least 15 years. Eventually new guys and styles catch up, but he was much like Orr, though not at his level
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I think Brad was great for his time. Not nearly as good as Orr but arguably the second best after Orr until Potvin. Now since then you have guys like Leetch that have passed Brad but that isn't a slight on Brad. For Brads era he was as good as they came outside of Orr. Nobody was touching Orr. Orr was winning scoring crowns.
 
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I was always watching for his hip checks. To my eye, they were clean, and amazingly well timed. Few did them as well as Brad.
Of course, he was a crafty player with loads of skill and made so many great plays. He was always a huge threat offensively. I didn't sit there watching comparing him to Orr, just enjoyed his play on its own merit.
 
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Park was a terrific player but even when he was the NHL’s second best defenseman there was a significant gap between him and Bobby Orr. Like a Gretzky to Trottier, Clarke, Yzerman whoever gap. Orr was just the best…..no ifs, ands or buts. Looking at that era then as Orr was going out because of injuries Potvin and Robinson were coming in and both of them fairly quickly supplanted Park as better players. I don’t think there was ever a time when Park was the best D in the league. He was always in the top 10 and often in the top 2 to 5 throughout his career. That makes for an easy call on putting him in the Hall of Fame but it also kind of explains why he never won a Stanley Cup when you consider Orr, Potvin and that Montreal had the best goalie Ken Dryden and regularly dressed 3 future HOF’ers (Robinson, Lapointe, Savard) night after night, year after year on their D.
 
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trilobyte said:
I was always watching for his hip checks. To my eye, they were clean, and amazingly well timed. Few did them as well as Brad.
Of course, he was a crafty player with loads of skill and made so many great plays. He was always a huge threat offensively. I didn't sit there watching comparing him to Orr, just enjoyed his play on its own merit.
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Few players are that complete. Who are the best hip checkers of modern times? Kronwall and Ballard? And how many of us will be talking about those two years from now? Brad Park was special.

Kinda like how people talk about Brian McCabe’s slap shot … but he was a poor skater with little defensive acumen. All around excellence, like Park’s, is generational.
 
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eco's bones said:
Park was a terrific player but even when he was the NHL’s second best defenseman there was a significant gap between him and Bobby Orr. Like a Gretzky to Trottier, Clarke, Yzerman whoever gap. Orr was just the best…..no ifs, ands or buts. Looking at that era then as Orr was going out because of injuries Potvin and Robinson were coming in and both of them fairly quickly supplanted Park as better players. I don’t think there was ever a time when Park was the best D in the league. He was always in the top 10 and often in the top 2 to 5 throughout his career. That makes for an easy call on putting him in the Hall of Fame but it also kind of explains why he never won a Stanley Cup when you consider Orr, Potvin and that Montreal had the best goalie Ken Dryden and regularly dressed 3 future HOF’ers (Robinson, Lapointe, Savard) night after night, year after year on their D.
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Rangers had some real talent in Brad's years but may not have been tough enough in some ways. The GAG line had an amazing year and we did make the cup finals vs the big bad Bruins. We lost 4 games to 2 but most the games were very close.
 
NickyFotiu said:
Rangers had some real talent in Brad's years but may not have been tough enough in some ways. The GAG line had an amazing year and we did make the cup finals vs the big bad Bruins. We lost 4 games to 2 but most the games were very close.
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Yeah 1971-72 was my first season as a Rangers fan. Towards the end of the year Jean Ratelle breaks his ankle against the Golden Seals. That wasn’t good. He was arguably our best forward. The Rangers had vets like Bobby Rousseau and Phil Goyette that they could move up to his spot which allowed Emile Francis to keep his second line Walt Tkachuk/Billy Fairbairn/Gene Carr and third line Pete Stemkowski/Bruce MacGregor/Ted Irvine intact. Rousseau was a pretty good player. He very often paired with Park on the blueline on the Rangers power play. Still losing Ratelle was a big blow. I also remember Glen Sather who was a small, very feisty player on our fourth line. I think Ron Stewart was another forward.

Anyway it was three rounds then. Rangers got past Montreal and Chicago. The Bruins Toronto and St. Louis. The other day I saw some video footage that Al Trautwig had pulled up out of nowhere of game 6 with Dan Kelly doing the video footage. I was a little bit surprised that it was Gilles Villemure in net and there was no Jim Neilson. I didn’t see Ab DeMarco (who was the Rangers 6th D) either. Maybe 15 minutes of game action. The only four D I saw for us were Park, Rod Seiling, Dale Rolfe and Gary Doak. Ratelle made it back for the Bruins series too.

The Bruins won the Cup that night at MSG 3-0. Bobby Orr with the first two goals and Wayne Cashman got the last one.
 
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eco's bones said:
Yeah 1971-72 was my first season as a Rangers fan. Towards the end of the year Jean Ratelle breaks his ankle against the Golden Seals. That wasn’t good. He was arguably our best forward. The Rangers had vets like Bobby Rousseau and Phil Goyette that they could move up to his spot which allowed Emile Francis to keep his second line Walt Tkachuk/Billy Fairbairn/Gene Carr and third line Pete Stemkowski/Bruce MacGregor/Ted Irvine intact. Rousseau was a pretty good player. He very often paired with Park on the blueline on the Rangers power play. Still losing Ratelle was a big blow. I also remember Glen Sather who was a small, very feisty player on our fourth line. I think Ron Stewart was another forward.

Anyway it was three rounds then. Rangers got past Montreal and Chicago. The Bruins Toronto and St. Louis. The other day I saw some video footage that Al Trautwig had pulled up out of nowhere of game 6 with Dan Kelly doing the video footage. I was a little bit surprised that it was Gilles Villemure in net and there was no Jim Neilson. I didn’t see Ab DeMarco (who was the Rangers 6th D) either. Maybe 15 minutes of game action. The only four D I saw for us were Park, Rod Seiling, Dale Rolfe and Gary Doak. Ratelle made it back for the Bruins series too.

The Bruins won the Cup that night at MSG 3-0. Bobby Orr with the first two goals and Wayne Cashman got the last one.
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That Ratelle injury may have made a significant difference. I thought he played in the finals but just was not his usual self. Kind of like Ulfie in 1978-79.
 
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eco's bones said:
Yeah 1971-72 was my first season as a Rangers fan. Towards the end of the year Jean Ratelle breaks his ankle against the Golden Seals. That wasn’t good. He was arguably our best forward. The Rangers had vets like Bobby Rousseau and Phil Goyette that they could move up to his spot which allowed Emile Francis to keep his second line Walt Tkachuk/Billy Fairbairn/Gene Carr and third line Pete Stemkowski/Bruce MacGregor/Ted Irvine intact. Rousseau was a pretty good player. He very often paired with Park on the blueline on the Rangers power play. Still losing Ratelle was a big blow. I also remember Glen Sather who was a small, very feisty player on our fourth line. I think Ron Stewart was another forward.

Anyway it was three rounds then. Rangers got past Montreal and Chicago. The Bruins Toronto and St. Louis. The other day I saw some video footage that Al Trautwig had pulled up out of nowhere of game 6 with Dan Kelly doing the video footage. I was a little bit surprised that it was Gilles Villemure in net and there was no Jim Neilson. I didn’t see Ab DeMarco (who was the Rangers 6th D) either. Maybe 15 minutes of game action. The only four D I saw for us were Park, Rod Seiling, Dale Rolfe and Gary Doak. Ratelle made it back for the Bruins series too.

The Bruins won the Cup that night at MSG 3-0. Bobby Orr with the first two goals and Wayne Cashman got the last one.
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Ratelle's ankle was broken off of a Dale Rolfe shot.....never forgave Dale for that. Ratelle was leading the league in scoring at that point, and the GAG line was having a historic season.

Park dominated game 3 of that series....he had 2 PPG in the first period and 4 points in that game. He could definitely hold his own against anyone.

The reason why Villemure was playing more in the finals that year was due to Giacomin having a knee issue....but I will say that unfortunately....for as good as Eddie was....he never really shined in the playoffs. Game one of those finals....we were down 5-1...in Boston....and came roaring back to tie it. The Eddie let in a bad goal from Ace Bailey (RIP) with less then 3 minutes to go to put a dagger in our hearts.
 
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Call me crazy but, from what I remember Brad was nominally better on defense than Orr. Offensively, well thats what really separated the 2. Not that Brad wasn't -good, but Orr was amazing. The early version of Gretzky on defense.
Obviously didn't see Orr as many games as Brad's so.....there's that.
Call me a homer, I guess. Maybe would be better served asking a Bruins fan, then again......I wouldn't dare. Kind of loathe/abhor/despise them. Take your pick.
 
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Larrybiv said:
Call me crazy but, from what I remember Brad was nominally better on defense than Orr. Offensively, well thats what really separated the 2. Not that Brad wasn't -good, but Orr was amazing. The early version of Gretzky on defense.
Obviously didn't see Orr as many games as Brad's so.....there's that.
Call me a homer, I guess. Maybe would be better served asking a Bruins fan, then again......I wouldn't dare. Kind of loathe/abhor/despise them. Take your pick.
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i think there is some revisionist history, folks see Orr's scoring and want to paint him like a Gretzky or Coffey
He was a very good defender and even decent body-checker,
I am not a fan of ranking/comparing players, just glad NYR had a very effective D for all those years

Orr was the most unforgettable, unstoppable, unable-to-not-notice opponent in my ~>55 years bleeding blue

but Park was great - his hip checks not only broke up plays, but got the attention of everyone in the building, including opponents
 
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cwede said:
i think there is some revisionist history, folks see Orr's scoring and want to paint him like a Gretzky or Coffey
He was a very good defender and even decent body-checker,
I am not a fan of ranking/comparing players, just glad NYR had a very effective D for all those years

Orr was the most unforgettable, unstoppable, unable-to-not-notice opponent in my ~>55 years bleeding blue

but Park was great - his hip checks not only broke up plays, but got the attention of everyone in the building, including opponents
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. Was expecting many to say I were crazy, but was dead serious in thinking he was a better defender. Back in those days, it was "the dawning of a new era" in that a defenseman could be that offensively talented on the back end. (I mean, still wondered why he wasn't a winger, but I digress). The Bruins broke all the rules there, and rightly so. Again, Brad was far behind offensively (albeit much better than many) but I believe(d) Orr, was a semi-close 2nd to Brad and dare I say Larry Robinson.
 
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