“Mr. Bruin” or Milt Schmidt, who played for the Boston Bruins from 1936 – 1955, has passed away at age 98. If you’re a Boston Bruins fan or a hockey fan in general, you’ve probably heard this already. Number 15 was the reason I fell in love with hockey, but I’m sure this applies to many hockey fans around the world, too. Well, while everyone else is reporting his passing away, I’d like to celebrate his life.
Schmidt was acquired by the Boston Bruins in 1935 along with his two childhood friends Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer. Together they would join the Bruins in 1936 and make up the most remembered line in the league; the Kraut Line. After winning a Stanley Cup in 1941 Schmidt and his line-mates would go on to miss the next three NHL seasons, 1942 – 1946, to enlist in the Canadian Military in order to fight in World War II.
Schmidt returned for the beginning of the 1946 season. He resumed his starring ways and finished fourth in league scoring in 1947. Named captain in 1951, Schmidt won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player that year. He retired as a player partway through the 1954–1955 season to take over head coaching duties.
He’d go on to coach 11 seasons for the Bruins before being promoted to General Manager. During his tenure in senior management, Milt helped guide the ascendancy of the Boston Bruins, watching Bobby Orr's career take flight and engineering the trade that brought Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield to Boston. The Bruins won the Stanley Cup twice more (1970 and 1972); the first times since Schmidt helped lead the Bruins to the Cup as a player in 1941.
Milt Schmidt was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961 and his #15 jersey was retired by the Bruins in the old Boston Garden on March 13, 1980. On October 6, 2010 the Bruins celebrated Schmidt's 75 years with the team during Milt Schmidt Night. On this night he received 2 commemorative Stanley Cup miniatures to represent the two cups he had brought to the club, plus he personally raised his number to the rafters inside TD Garden.
On October 20, 2016, Schmidt along with Bobby Orr dropped the ceremonial puck at the Boston Bruins' first home game of the season. "I've known Milt longer than 50 years," Orr, 68, said. "Milty scouted me when I was 12 years old. He's been a great friend, he's been my coach, my general manager, and most importantly my very good friend. I'm thrilled to be with him here tonight on the opening of the Bruins season."
A few days ago, Schmidt was also named one of the first 33 players included in the top 100 players of all time compiled by the league to commemorate the NHL’s Centennial Anniversary.
"When he played, I didn't see Milty play. I've seen a little video, heard a lot about him. He wasn't very big but he had a (big) heart on the ice. That's how he played. He was a great player. He's a wonderful individual. He's a great man and a great friend to all of us." Bobby Orr said when asked about his fellow alumni.
In a statement made by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, he said, “It would be a challenge to find anyone who took greater pride in being a Boston Bruin than Milt Schmidt did – be it as a player, an executive or an ambassador over the 80-plus years he served the franchise, the City of Boston and the National Hockey League,”
“Milt’s respect for the game was matched by his humility and was mirrored by the great respect with which his opponents, and generations of Bruins players, treated him through the years."
“An ultimate competitor, a mainstay of two Bruins Stanley Cups as a player and architect of two more as the Bruins’ General Manager, Milt was a landmark presence in Boston’s sports landscape. The NHL family cherishes his contribution to our history and sends deepest condolences to his family, fans and all whose lives he touched.”
It is an understatement to say that Milt Schmidt left his mark on the hockey community. He will be remembered for eternity.
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