- Jun 30, 2014
- 1,899
- 109
Very sorry to read that Carol passed away.
When I was a youngster I used to get autographs of NHL players and I remember when I asked Carol for his I asked him why he shaved his mustache off, he smiled at me and said he had to because he cut it crooked.
R.I.P. Carol.
![]()
I'm so sorry to hear this actually, my stomach turned a little as I saw his name.
so sad.....I remember going to Fours Restaurant after a Bruins game and walking in and seeing a table inside with a bunch of scouts sitting their smoking cigars and having a few- and right in the middle was Vadnais.
He won a Cup with Boston but was never as good as I thought he'd be but he was in one of the biggest trades in sports history - maybe the biggest that didn't have a money angle,
his first game as a Bruins may have been one of the greatest of all time and would be my pick to represent who and what the Big Bad Bruins were all about.
Boston was down 5-1 (actually just looked it up the Bruins were down 5 goals) on the road in the West Coast vs Seals and came back and won 8-6 on a hat trick by Fred Stanfield and 5 points by Bobby Orr. If memory serves correct Vadnais swapped dressing rooms and played his first game against former team- and was pretty brutal.
I heard later they were so hung over from partying and staying out they were more concerned not puking on the ice during a shift.
Needless to say Orr and Espo just went off on the ice and the rest is history.
If Mick reads this tell me if I am right on this but pretty sure this may have been correct (maybe it was the Schmautz first game, but I do think it was when they got Vad-a-nayz as Johnny Piersson called him)
Carol always seemed to belong on Montreal though- that is how I felt once we got him, but he was pretty good
Yes I remember that game. It wasn't Bobby Schmautz's first for sure since that (trade) happened a couple of years after the Vadnais trade. That game sticks in my memory because I woke up my parents by screaming and jumping up and down so many times lol. Pretty sure it was Carol's first game as a B though.
after I posted I typed in something like Bruins comeback against Seals Fred Stanfield hat trick and got the story- Feb 23, 1972 and that was the day they traded for Vadnais, so he did swap teams.
If I could acquire one entire video of a game from that era I think that would be the game....they would win a Cup that year and had most of the guys in that game. It showed how damn good the Bruins were when they wanted to be. I just wish Harry Sinden coached that team and the 1971. Sinden would have never, ever let the Bruins screw up that first round series against Montreal. I see Harry every now and then, even last year as I was leaving one game, and have always wanted to ask him if he would have started EJ in game 2 of that 1971 series or go with the superior Cheevers. let go, I know.
I read they were down 6 goals and it was the biggest come back in the history of the NHL at that time.....not sure if its been eclipsed or not but would not surprise me if no team has ever come back down 6-0.
Mick will somehow drop the tennis racked and stumble into this thread at some point and will set me straight on the details![]()