Terry O'Reilly

Terry O'Reilly
Terry O'Reilly
	O'Reilly with the Boston Bruins in 1978
Born	June 7, 1951 (age 73); Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Right wing
Shot	Right
Played for	Boston Bruins
NHL draft	14th overall, 1971; Boston Bruins
Playing career	1971–1985

Terence Joseph James O'Reilly (born June 7, 1951) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. He played for the NHL's Boston Bruins and featured in three Stanley Cup Finals. He was one of the most effective enforcers in NHL history. For this reason he was called "Bloody O'Reilly." O'Reilly was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Playing career

O'Reilly was picked by the Boston Bruins in the first 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 No. 24 on October 24, 2002.^[1]

O'Reilly made his NHL debut in the Bruins' final game of the 1971–72 regular season. He scored a goal in Boston's 6–4 victory over Toronto at Boston Garden.

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 No. 24, Ray 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. He finished his 13-year career with 204 goals, 402 assists for 606 points, a +212 plus/minus and 2,095 minutes in penalties. As of January 1, 2022, O'Reilly was ranked 20th in career goals scored by a Boston Bruin in regular-season play.

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, then stole his stick and wielded it like a weapon. O'Reilly scaled the glass 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 permanent head coach of the Bruins during the 1986–87 NHL season^[4]^[5] and kept his job until 1989, when he left to care for, and spend more time with his son, Evan, who was seriously ill with liver disease.^[6]^[7]^[8] 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

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

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

He was inducted into the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

Awards, honours and records

NHL All-Star Game — 1975, 1978
Won the Seventh Player Award — 1975
Won the Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy — 1978
Bruins Three Stars Awards — 1978, 1979, 1980
His #24 Jersey was retired by the Boston Bruins on October 24, 2002.

Records

Most Penalty Minutes in Boston Bruins franchise history.

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	2,095	108	25	42	67	335

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 first round
	1987–88	80	44	30	6	94	2nd in Adams	Lost in finals
	1988–89	80	37	29	14	88	2nd in Adams	Lost in second round
Total		227	115	86	26

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.
^ "ESPN.com: NHL - Bruins retire former great O'Reilly's number".
^ "1971 NHL Amateur Draft — Terry O'Reilly". Retrieved 2006-07-18.
^ Content, Contributed (1986-11-15). "Terry O`Reilly, the former captain of the…". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
^ Waterman, Fredrick (November 14, 1986). "Former Boston Bruins captain Terry O'Reilly, who came out... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
^ Waterman, Frederick (May 1, 1989). "O'Reilly resigns as Bruins coach - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
^ "Boston Bruins hockey star Terry O'Reilly Wednesday said his... - UPI Archives". UPI. November 30, 1983. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
^ Archives, L. A. Times (1989-05-02). "O'Reilly Quits as Boston Bruin Coach to Spend More Time With His Family". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-02-12.

External links

Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
Article about number retirement and achievements at bostonbruins.com

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Ron Jones	Boston Bruins first round draft pick 1971	Succeeded by Mike Bloom
Sporting positions
Preceded by Wayne Cashman	Boston Bruins captain 1983–1985	Succeeded by Ray Bourque Rick Middleton
Preceded by Butch Goring	Head coach of the Boston Bruins 1986–1989	Succeeded by Mike Milbury

[1] 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.

[2] "ESPN.com: NHL - Bruins retire former great O'Reilly's number".

[3] "1971 NHL Amateur Draft — Terry O'Reilly". Retrieved 2006-07-18.

[4] Content, Contributed (1986-11-15). "Terry O`Reilly, the former captain of the…". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2024-02-12.

[5] Waterman, Fredrick (November 14, 1986). "Former Boston Bruins captain Terry O'Reilly, who came out... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2024-02-12.

[6] Waterman, Frederick (May 1, 1989). "O'Reilly resigns as Bruins coach - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2024-02-12.

[7] "Boston Bruins hockey star Terry O'Reilly Wednesday said his... - UPI Archives". UPI. November 30, 1983. Retrieved 2024-02-12.

[8] Archives, L. A. Times (1989-05-02). "O'Reilly Quits as Boston Bruin Coach to Spend More Time With His Family". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-02-12.

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