Fred Stanfield-RIP

jaytftwofive

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Jan 20, 2013
1,182
Drexel Hill Pa.
I didn't see if this was posted or not but one of my favorite Bruins has left us. Freddy was 77. The cause of death was not listed. He played on my favorite all time line. Stanfield, Bucyk, McKenzie. Helped the B's win two Cups and was very underrated. Was traded for Gil Gilbert of course right after the 73 season after they lost to the Rangers in 5. Cheevers was gone so they really needed goalie help. I didn't like the trade but I understood it. He was also involved in the one of the most one sided trades in NHL history. Espo, Freddy and Hodge for Gil Marotte, Pit Martin and Jack Norris. Worked out for us obviously. Averaged 20 or more goals for the Bruins for 6 seasons. RIP Freddy.
 
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E5 Yaz

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Really an unsung hero of those teams
 
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mwonow

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Sep 4, 2005
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I didn't see if this was posted or not but one of my favorite Bruins has left us. Freddy was 77. The cause of death was not listed. He played on my favorite all time line. Stanfield, Bucyk, McKenzie. Helped the B's win two Cups and was very underrated. Was traded for Gil Gilbert of course right after the 73 season after they lost to the Rangers in 5. Cheevers was gone so they really needed goalie help. I didn't like the trade but I understood it. He was also involved in the one of the most one sided trades in NHL history. Espo, Freddy and Hodge for Gil Marotte, Pit Martin and Jack Norris. Worked out for us obviously. Averaged 20 or more goals for the Bruins for 6 seasons. RIP Freddy.
Great player, sad loss. Those Bs teams could score a ton, but he and Westfall and Marcotte provided a lot of D savvy as well.

Re the trade, I once got a chance to talk about it with Dave Dryden, who was with Chicago at the time. Dryden said that the next year, he was with the team, waiting for a flight, when another Blackhawks trade was announced. Dryden said to no one in particular, "screwed again!" - and then realized that he was sitting with Martin and Marotte.
 

LoweTek

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Number 17. I recall his 7th Player Award. IIRC, they drove a Toyota Celica, then a hot new sports car model, onto the Garden ice. I recall wondering why it didn't slide all over the rink.

Very likeable and solid all around contributor to the Bruins teams of the era.
 

fenwaypaul

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Jul 21, 2005
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I liked having a forward at the point on the PP. That is how I remember Stanfield. God speed.
Just coming here to post this. He was left point on the most devastating power play unit I've ever seen. Orr played right point. Up front, Espo centered Bucyk and McKenzie.

I kept stats back in those days. I made up a score sheet form and photocopied it at work. Watched or listened to every game, even if it meant excusing myself from company at inopportune moments, and entered every scoring-related detail on that game's sheet. Wary of jeopardizing my job by writing a computer program on company time, I used my trusty slide rule to generate my own set of statistics from the raw data I'd compiled. One such stat was power play conversion percentage, not a common metric then (although it occurred to me that "mean time between PPG" would be a more meaningful number). Those handwritten documents are long-lost, but I was prepared to assert from memory that the PP conversion rate for the 1971 Bruins was north of 30%--until I checked hockey-reference.com and learned that it was actually 27.7%, which is still a formidable accomplishment, considering that league average was 18.8% that year.

Stanfield's line accounted for 106 goals in 1971 (24 for him, 51 for Bucyk, 31 for McKenzie), not bad for a second line, behind Esposito-Hodge-Cashman's 140 goals.

He came to the Bruins with Esposito and Hodge from the Black Hawks in 1967 for Pit Martin, Gilles Marotte, and Jack Norris, in a trade still considered one of the most magnificent heists ever. He was a steady, unassuming player who maybe didn't fit into the Big Bad Bruins stereotype, but nonetheless fit perfectly into the role designated for him. I hated to see him go Minnesota in 1973, even though the Bruins likely got the better of the deal; Gilbert was a solid goalie and the Stars probably overvalued Stanfield because of his affiliation with the short-lived Bruins dynasty.

RIP Fred. You were part of something wonderful.
 

ColdSoxPack

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Jul 14, 2005
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Simi Valley, CA
Just coming here to post this. He was left point on the most devastating power play unit I've ever seen. Orr played right point. Up front, Espo centered Bucyk and McKenzie.

I kept stats back in those days. I made up a score sheet form and photocopied it at work. Watched or listened to every game, even if it meant excusing myself from company at inopportune moments, and entered every scoring-related detail on that game's sheet. Wary of jeopardizing my job by writing a computer program on company time, I used my trusty slide rule to generate my own set of statistics from the raw data I'd compiled. One such stat was power play conversion percentage, not a common metric then (although it occurred to me that "mean time between PPG" would be a more meaningful number). Those handwritten documents are long-lost, but I was prepared to assert from memory that the PP conversion rate for the 1971 Bruins was north of 30%--until I checked hockey-reference.com and learned that it was actually 27.7%, which is still a formidable accomplishment, considering that league average was 18.8% that year.

Stanfield's line accounted for 106 goals in 1971 (24 for him, 51 for Bucyk, 31 for McKenzie), not bad for a second line, behind Esposito-Hodge-Cashman's 140 goals.

He came to the Bruins with Esposito and Hodge from the Black Hawks in 1967 for Pit Martin, Gilles Marotte, and Jack Norris, in a trade still considered one of the most magnificent heists ever. He was a steady, unassuming player who maybe didn't fit into the Big Bad Bruins stereotype, but nonetheless fit perfectly into the role designated for him. I hated to see him go Minnesota in 1973, even though the Bruins likely got the better of the deal; Gilbert was a solid goalie and the Stars probably overvalued Stanfield because of his affiliation with the short-lived Bruins dynasty.

RIP Fred. You were part of something wonderful.
Excellent. I kept Cheever's and Johnston's GAA myself on pencil and paper. I'm sure I did it wrong but it was fun.
 

LoweTek

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<Snip>Those handwritten documents are long-lost, but I was prepared to assert from memory that the PP conversion rate for the 1971 Bruins was north of 30%--until I checked hockey-reference.com and learned that it was actually 27.7%, which is still a formidable accomplishment, considering that league average was 18.8% that year.<Snip>
Sometimes it seemed like 97%!! A B's PP back then seemed like a guaranteed goal.

I remember watching Orr behind his own goal, scanning the movement in front of him, 15 or 18 seconds left on the PP. "Plenty of time," I'd think to myself.

Oftentimes it was true.
 

Saints Rest

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Stanfield was one of those really solid 2-way centers that the Bruins have often had thru the years, guys who would play strong D and still manage 20-25 goals:
Stanfield, Gregg Shepard, Steve Kasper, and finally, in its perfect form, Patrice Bergeron.