Battlefords local, Sheppard reflects on selection to Bruins ‘Historic 100’

Gregg Sheppard in action donning his #19 for the Bruins. (submitted photo/Steve Babineau)

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Joining the Bruins in the fall of 1972, fresh off their second Stanley Cup win in three years, and coming into a locker room featuring Hall of Famers such as Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and Johnny Bucyk, Sheppard said right from his earliest days with the team, it was clear the expectations in Boston.

“Really the expectations of winning all the time is what stands out with me,” he said, reflecting back on his earliest years in the league.

“When you went into games you knew you were going to win or you were playing a really competitive team, so that was really rewarding, and we made everyone responsible at that time to try to play their best every night. It was a real team effort – we did have stars – but at the same time everyone else needs to contribute too and it was expected for me to contribute and other players in all their roles they played.”

Despite being a bit on the smaller side at just 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds, Sheppard quickly established himself as an integral piece of the ‘Big Bad Bruins’ of the ’70s, hitting the ground running with a hat trick performance in just his second career game, scoring three of his team’s nine goals in a 9-1 win over the Islanders, all three against future Hall of Fame goaltender Billy Smith.

It was a sign of things to come for the 23-year-old, as he would finish his rookie season with 50 points (24 goals, 26 assists) in 64 games to finish sixth in Calder Trophy voting, awarded annually to the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.

Flash forward just two years and by 1974-75, Sheppard was finishing fourth in team scoring with his 78 points (30 goals, 48 assists) in 76 games trailing only the aforementioned Hall of Fame trio of Orr (who won the scoring title with 135 points), Esposito (127 points) and Bucyk (81 points).

Gregg Sheppard (foreground, #19) pictured out for a shift with Phil Esposito (background, #7) during their time as teammates with the Bruins. (Submitted photo/Boston Bruins)

The following season, in 1975-76, with Orr limited to just 10 games and following the blockbuster trade of Esposito to the New York Rangers for a return headlined by fellow Hall of Famers Brad Park and Jean Ratelle, Sheppard would continue to play a prominent role in the Bruins’ success. His 74 points (31 goals, 43 assists) in 70 games were third in team scoring, trailing only Ratelle (90 points) and Bucyk (83 points).

Sheppard again finished tied for third in team scoring in ’76-77 with 67 points (31 goals, 36 assists) in 77 games, before being limited to just 54 games in ’77-78. Despite the missed time, he would put up his best point-per-game numbers that season, with 59 points (23 goals, 36 assists) in 54 games to finish seventh on the team before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins that offseason in exchange for former 100-point scorer Jean Pronovost, where Sheppard would play the final four years of his career.

As he thinks back on his early years with the Bruins, Sheppard can still vividly recall his first ‘welcome to the NHL’ moment. It was when he came right off the bat in his league debut just 10 games into the season in the fall of ’72 in a late-October game at Maple Leaf Gardens against his childhood favourite team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“We got to the building there and I walked all around to see all the legends [on the walls],” Sheppard recalled. “When I saw all their pictures hanging on the wall I remember thinking, ‘OK, well I finally made it here’ …. Then they couldn’t get me out of the lineup after that because I was pretty excited to play,” he concluded with a laugh.

But the names and faces on the walls were just the beginning. That same night, Sheppard also made sure to cross paths with a fellow Saskatchewan standout, in Maple Leafs’ legend and – at the time recently retired – goaltending icon, Johnny Bower.

“Johnny Bower was still associated with the team and he was on their bench during warmups, so I remember I went over and introduced myself and shook his hand, meeting one of the legends there from P.A,” he said with a joyful reverence in his tone.

That Saskatchewan pride is something that never left Sheppard as he climbed the hockey ranks, and in fact, remains a key piece of why he believes he was able to make it to the highest level in the first place.

“I thought I had a real advantage because growing up in the old Town of Battleford, what’s now Battlefords Furniture was our old municipal hockey rink and I had access to it courtesy of the manager,” he said.

“Because of that, I had lots of ice time individually and it gave me a chance to develop at that level, and then through playing with the North Stars – who at that time were called the Beaver Bruins – then playing in Estevan (with the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins). Again I got good coaching and I had a really good coach in Oklahoma City, so it gave me a chance to really develop.”

As part of the Bruins’ Centennial Celebration festivities, Sheppard will be making a trip to Boston next month for a reunion weekend with a number of his fellow Bruins’ teammates named to the team’s Historic 100, highlighted with a game at T.D. Garden against the Montreal Canadiens, Nov. 18.

“You go to a home game, they’re inviting all the players back, and it’s a weekend of meeting with some of the old guys I played with so it’s very interesting, a lot of fun and certainly a humbling experience for the Bruins to call me to come back and watch them play,” Sheppard said.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1

by Martin Martinson

Battlefords local, Sheppard reflects on selection to Bruins ‘Historic 100’

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