#79 - Brad Park

Brad Park (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #79)

Adjusted Stats

1968-1969   NYR         58 GP   3 goals     26 assists   29 points     0.50 PPG
1969-1970   NYR         65 GP   13 goals   30 assists   42 points     0.65 PPG
1970-1971   NYR         71 GP   7 goals     38 assists   46 points     0.64 PPG
1971-1972   NYR         79 GP   25 goals   52 assists   77 points     0.98 PPG
1972-1973   NYR         55 GP   10 goals   42 assists   52 points     0.96 PPG
1973-1974   NYR         82 GP   25 goals   58 assists   83 points     1.01 PPG
1974-1975   NYR         67 GP   12 goals   40 assists   52 points     0.79 PPG
1975-1976   NYR/Bos    57 GP   17 goals   38 assists   55 points     0.95 PPG
1976-1977   Bos           79 GP   11 goals   52 assists   64 points     0.81 PPG
1977-1978   Bos           82 GP   21 goals   55 assists   76 points     0.92 PPG
1978-1979   Bos           41 GP   6 goals     29 assists   35 points     0.86 PPG
1979-1980   Bos           33 GP   4 goals     14 assists   19 points     0.57 PPG
1980-1981   Bos           80 GP   11 goals   43 assists   54 points     0.68 PPG
1981-1982   Bos           77 GP   11 goals   33 assists   44 points     0.57 PPG
1982-1983   Bos           78 GP   8 goals     21 assists   29 points     0.38 PPG
1983-1984   Det            82 GP   4 goals     42 assists   46 points    0.57 PPG
1984-1985   Det            69 GP   11 goals   24 assists   35 points    0.51 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1968-1969   NYR         4 GP     0 goals      2 assists     2 points     0.50 PPG
1969-1970   NYR         5 GP     1 goal        2 assists     3 points    0.56 PPG
1970-1971   NYR         13 GP   0 goals      4 assists     4 points     0.28 PPG
1971-1972   NYR         16 GP   4 goals      7 assists     10 points   0.64 PPG
1972-1973   NYR         10 GP   2 goals      4 assists     6 points     0.62 PPG
1973-1974   NYR         13 GP   4 goals      8 assists     12 points   0.90 PPG
1974-1975   NYR         3 GP     1 goal        4 assists     5 points    1.53 PPG
1975-1976   Bos         11 GP    3 goals     8 assists     11 points   0.97 PPG
1976-1977   Bos         14 GP    2 goals     9 assists     11 points   0.75 PPG
1977-1978   Bos         15 GP    9 goals     11 assists   19 points   1.30 PPG
1978-1979   Bos         11 GP    1 goal       4 assists     5 points     0.41 PPG
1979-1980   Bos         10 GP    3 goals     5 assists     8 points     0.77 PPG
1980-1981   Bos         3 GP      1 goal       2 assists     3 points    0.94 PPG
1981-1982   Bos         11 GP    1 goal       3 assists     4 points    0.35 PPG
1982-1983   Bos         16 GP    2 goals     7 assists     9 points    0.59 PPG
1983-1984   Det          3 GP      0 goals     3 assists     3 points    0.89 PPG
1984-1985   Det          3 GP      0 goals     0 assists     0 points    0.00 PPG

Career - 1155 GP, 199 goals, 637 assists, 838 points, 0.73 PPG
Career-Highs - 25 goals (71-72); 58 assists (73-74); 83 points (73-74); 1.01 PPG (73-74)
Avg. (17 seasons) - 68 GP, 12 goals, 37 assists, 49 points, 0.73 PPG
Peak Avg. (70-78) - 72 GP, 16 goals, 47 assists, 63 points, 0.88 PPG, 0 Cups

Playoff Career - 161 GP, 34 goals, 83 assists, 115 points, 0.71 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 9 goals (77-78); 11 assists (77-78); 19 points (77-78); 1.53 PPG (74-75)

Accolades - None
All-Star Teams - 5-time 1st-team, 2-time 2nd-team
Never Won Stanley Cup

Brad Park remains the forgotten defenceman to today's generation of hockey fans. Those who watched hockey regularly in the 1970s feel that he was one of the best defencemen of his era, but because of his lack of team success, and the fact that he perenially played in the shadow of Bobby Orr, means that his legacy has faded as time has gone by.

He's one of the starting defencemen on the Greatest To Never Win a Cup all-star team, a dubious honour. The Rangers were very good when Park was at his best, perenially getting 90-110 points, but they always fell short in the postseason, being bested by Orr's Bruins and then later by the Montreal Canadiens' dynasties. Park's playoff numbers were quite good with the Rangers, and he certainly wasn't the main reason they fell short.

When injuries caught up to Orr, the Bruins needed a puck-moving, dominant defenceman, so they turned to Park, acquiring him in a trade along with Jean Ratelle for Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais. In what would be the theme of his career, Park was excellent with the Bruins, but couldn't ever escape the aura of Orr (that's hard to say out loud). He had back-to-back seasons in which he put up 64 points, then 76, and in those two seasons he was +47 and +68 respectively. Excellent, but not Orr, and not even good enough for the Norris in either season (this was the golden era of defencemen...Larry Robinson won the award in 1977, Denis Potvin took it home in 1978).

Despite the lack of Norris trophies, the five first-team all-star selections are a testament to the way Park was revered at the time. Sadly, he was a perennial second-best: on teams that lost in the finals, and a five-time runner-up for the Norris trophy. There's a case to be made that he was the one of the most successful defenceman of the 1970s...but when the best is Orr, and other guys like Robinson and Potvin are also around, it's easy to get lost in history.