Terry O'Reilly

This article is about the ice hockey player. For the radio broadcaster, see Terry O'Reilly (broadcaster).

Terry O'Reilly
O'Reilly in 1978
Born	(1951-06-07) June 7, 1951 Niagara Falls, ON, CAN
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Right Wing
Shot	Right
Played for	NHL Boston Bruins AHL Boston Braves
NHL Draft	14th overall, 1971 Boston Bruins
Playing career	1971–1985

Terence Joseph James O'Reilly (born June 7, 1951) is a retired ice hockey right winger, who played for the NHL's Boston Bruins, and one of the most effective enforcers in NHL history. O'Reilly was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, but grew up in Oshawa, Ontario.

Playing career

O'Reilly was picked by the Boston Bruins in the 1st round as the 14th pick overall in the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft. O'Reilly spent his entire career in Boston, serving as the captain of the Bruins during the 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons before his retirement. The Bruins retired his #24 on October 24, 2002.^[1]

O'Reilly was known for being a tough player, racking up over 200 penalty minutes in five consecutive seasons, and earning for himself the nickname "Bloody O'Reilly" in the press. His teammate, Phil Esposito, dubbed O'Reilly "Taz" in reference to the Tasmanian Devil cartoon character for O'Reilly's reckless, hard driving style of play. He was very protective of his teammates. When the Bruins retired O'Reilly's #24, Bourque noted that O'Reilly's banner "hangs next to mine, protecting me again."^[2]

On top of his physical presence, he also had a decent scoring touch, highlighted by his 29-goal, 90-point season in 1977–78. He added to that with a 77 point effort the following campaign. He had 211 and 205 minutes in penalties in those seasons respectively, displaying an excellent balance of grit and scoring that any hockey GM would cherish. He finished his 13 year career with 204 goals, 402 assists for 606 points, a +212 plus/minus (a tribute to his good defensive skills) and 2,095 minutes in penalties.

In the infamous December 23, 1979 incident at Madison Square Garden, during a post-game scrum, a New York Rangers fan rolled up a program tightly and smacked Stan Jonathan in the face drawing blood, and then stole his stick and wielded it like a weapon. O'Reilly scaled the glass boards and charged into the stands. His teammates followed when other fans tried to intervene. O'Reilly was suspended eight games for his part in the brawl.^[3]

He became the replacement head coach of the Bruins during the 1986–87 NHL season and kept his job until 1989, when he left to care for, and spend more time with, his son who was seriously ill with liver disease. In that time, he took the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1988, where they were defeated by the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers. O'Reilly also was an assistant coach for the Rangers for the two seasons prior to the lockout.

Other

O'Reilly in 2012

In the Adam Sandler movie Happy Gilmore, O'Reilly is mentioned as Happy Gilmore's favorite hockey player growing up because of his tough style.

O'Reilly has stated his favorite player currently on the Bruins is Milan Lucic, also born on June 7.

Career statistics

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1968–69	Oshawa Generals	OHA-Jr.	46	5	15	20	87	—	—	—	—	—
1969–70	Oshawa Generals	OHA-Jr.	54	13	36	49	60	6	1	5	6	22
1970–71	Oshawa Generals	OHA-Jr.	54	23	42	65	151	—	—	—	—	—
1971–72	Boston Braves	AHL	60	9	8	17	134	9	2	2	4	31
1971–72	Boston Bruins	NHL	1	1	0	1	0	—	—	—	—	—
1972–73	Boston Bruins	NHL	72	5	22	27	109	5	0	0	0	2
1973–74	Boston Bruins	NHL	76	11	24	35	94	16	2	5	7	38
1974–75	Boston Bruins	NHL	68	15	20	35	146	3	0	0	0	17
1975–76	Boston Bruins	NHL	80	23	27	50	150	12	3	1	4	25
1976–77	Boston Bruins	NHL	79	14	41	55	147	14	5	6	11	28
1977–78	Boston Bruins	NHL	77	29	61	90	211	15	5	10	15	40
1978–79	Boston Bruins	NHL	80	26	51	77	205	11	0	6	6	25
1979–80	Boston Bruins	NHL	71	19	42	61	265	10	3	6	9	69
1980–81	Boston Bruins	NHL	77	8	35	43	233	3	1	2	3	12
1981–82	Boston Bruins	NHL	70	22	30	52	213	11	5	4	9	56
1982–83	Boston Bruins	NHL	19	6	14	20	40	—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Boston Bruins	NHL	58	12	18	30	124	3	0	0	0	14
1984–85	Boston Bruins	NHL	63	13	17	30	168	5	1	2	3	9
NHL totals			891	204	402	606	2095	108	25	42	67	335

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Coaching statistics

Team	Year	Regular season						Post season
Team	Year	G	W	L	T	Pts	Division Rank	Result
Boston Bruins	1986–87	67	34	27	6	(74)	3rd in Adams	Lost in 1st Rd
	1987–88	80	44	30	6	94	2nd in Adams	Lost in Cup Finals
	1988–89	80	37	29	14	88	2nd in Adams	Lost in Second Round
Total		227	115	86	26

Preceded by Gerry Cheevers	Head coach of the Boston Bruins 1986–89	Succeeded by Mike Milbury

References

↑ Bruce Allen (October 24, 2002). "Terry O'Reilly gets his number". Boston Sports Media Watch. Archived from the original on December 14, 2004. Retrieved 2006-07-18.
↑ http://static.espn.go.com/nhl/news/2002/1024/1450686.html
↑ "1971 NHL Amateur Draft — Terry O'Reilly". Retrieved 2006-07-18.

External links

Preceded by Ron Jones	Boston Bruins first round draft pick 1971	Succeeded by Mike Bloom
Preceded by Wayne Cashman	Boston Bruins captain 1983–85	Succeeded by Ray Bourque Rick Middleton
Preceded by Butch Goring	Head coach of the Boston Bruins 1986–1989	Succeeded by Mike Milbury

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