Cheevers' coaching career with Bruins began as substitute in equipment

As unofficial records go, this one is hard to top:

Gerry Cheevers, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and named to the Boston Bruins All-Centennial Team on Oct. 12, 2023, is in the books as the only man in history to coach his first NHL victory wearing full goaltending equipment while subbing for his ejected coach in what would be the first and only NHL shutout of a rookie nicknamed Seaweed who had been a training-camp roommate of author George Plimpton.

On this July 7 in 1980, Cheevers was named the 14th of 31 different coaches the Bruins have had in their history.

His first official victory came that Oct. 9, 7-2 against the visiting New York Rangers at Boston Garden. But surely worthy of note is Cheevers' role for the final 16 minutes of a game played March 3, 1979, lumbering back and forth behind the bench wearing his Bruins sweater and pads with Boston coach Don Cherry having been ejected for arguing with referee Greg Madill.

Bruins goalie Jim "Seaweed" Pettie (left) and Gerry Cheevers in 1970s game action.

Cheevers was backup that afternoon, watching his team run up a 4-0 third-period lead on the visiting Minnesota North Stars with popular rookie goalie Jim "Seaweed" Pettie kicking out everything coming his way.

Four minutes into the third, Boston forward Dwight Foster was given a charging penalty, the Bruins immediately handed a bench minor for Cherry's vehement disagreement.

"I was thrown out probably because of the general appearance when I climbed up on top of the boards in front of the bench," Cherry told reporters, the game summary listing his penalty as Boston having had too many men on the ice.

Bruins captain Wayne Cashman was given a misconduct and a gross misconduct in the same sequence.

Gerry Cheevers with the 1961-62 Toronto Maple Leafs and later as a member of the Boston Bruins.

"That's great, isn't it?" Cherry said. "I put the kid (Foster) out for a shift, he does exactly what I want him to do, and I get a $200 fine," which was automatically assessed for his ejection.

As Cherry exited, he told Cheevers, "You take over," so his veteran goalie did just that with only one thing in mind: protecting the shutout for Pettie, which would prove to be the first and only one in the latter's 21-game NHL career.

"Everybody loved Seaweed (nicknamed because his wild hair looked like something washed up in the surf), including me," Cheevers said during a talk last week from his home in Boca Raton, Florida.

Pettie, who died of cancer at the age of 65 on Aug. 31, 2019, had a rambunctious, fun-loving side that was right up Cheevers' alley. He had played one NHL game when he was assigned to room with George Plimpton during the Bruins' 1977 training camp to help the author prepare for a five-minute "controlled game" stint in Boston's preseason net.

Author George Plimpton (right) with Bruins goalie Jim Pettie.

Wearing No. 00 in Philadelphia on Oct. 6, 1977, Plimpton surrendered one goal, made three saves and stopped Philadelphia Flyers forward Reggie Leach on a penalty shot. He first wrote about the experience for Sports Illustrated, then in "Open Net," his 1985 book.

"Poor Donnie Marcotte, who was our best checker -- I think I played him 14 of the final 16 minutes to make sure we got the shutout," Cheevers said of trying to protect Pettie. "That's all I had in my mind; I didn't care about scoring goals. The guys were blocking shots, they did everything they could to help Seaweed get the shutout."

Center Peter McNab scored at 10:12 of the third to seal the Bruins' 5-0 victory. Cheevers played the historic moment to the hilt postgame, sitting at Cherry's desk, still wearing his equipment, his feet up on the desk.

Gerry Cheevers as he appears in a 2020 NHL Network original documentary "Big, Bad and Bobby," on the 50th anniversary of the Boston Bruins' 1970 Stanley Cup championship.

To reporters, he said: "My dog has ulcers," referencing the fact that Cherry's dog, Blue, had two days earlier had surgery for the removal of gall stones.

Upon entering his office, Cherry looked at Cheevers and said, "Now there's another guy after my job. I knew they were grooming him, but this is ridiculous."

Cheevers was proud of both Pettie's shutout and the win, unknowingly having auditioned for the coaching job in Boston he never imagined. The Bruins took 19 penalty minutes on his watch that afternoon, 17 of them charged to Mike Milbury.

The goalie nicknamed "Cheesy" would play 418 regular-season NHL games from his 1961 debut, two for the Toronto Maple Leafs, with whom his NHL career began, then 416 for the Bruins from 1965-80, with 88 Stanley Cup Playoff games that would see him win championships in 1970 and 1972.

Boston Bruins goalies Gerry Cheevers (right) and Eddie Johnston in a March 1970 photo taken at the Montreal Forum.

Along the way, Cheevers played 191 games for the Cleveland Crusaders in the World Hockey Association from 1972-76, returning to the Bruins for the final 15 games and playoffs of the 1975-76 season.

Cheevers was one of hockey's best so-called "money" players, a goalie who performed his finest when the stakes were highest.

In 10 NHL playoff seasons between 1968-80, all for the free-wheeling, offense-minded, let-the-defense-worry-about-itself Bruins, Cheevers won 53 games and lost 34 with a 2.70 goals-against average, .902 save percentage and eight shutouts. He won 227 regular-season games, losing 104 and tying 76 with a 2.89 GAA, .901 save percentage and 26 shutouts.

Cheevers never won the Vezina Trophy; his only individual accolade was being voted to the 1969 All-Star Game. Other goalies of his day had better statistics, but to Cheevers then and still today, individual recognition meant nothing. A goalie's work, in his opinion, is best gauged simply by whether he stops one more puck than the man 180 feet away in the other net.

The Boston Globe reporting in their July 8, 1970, edition on the naming of Gerry Cheevers as coach of the Bruins.

By 1980, the wear and tear of the position had reduced his knees to gravel, at least two doctors telling him that the joints were past the point of arthroscopic repair. Cheevers met with Bruins general manager Harry Sinden at the end of June and told him he was hanging up his pads.

"I decided to retire," Cheevers recalled. "I'd need major surgery to get through the year, but I'd had enough of that. I was almost 40 at the time. 

"I was going to take some time at the end of the (1979-80) season, see whether I could play another year with just a scope to clean the knee up. but they said they needed to surgically repair it. I'd miss the first quarter of the season, so I said, 'I've been through enough, it's not worth it. I can concentrate on my family and other things.'

"I went into Harry's office and we talked. I told him, 'I think I'll retire. I don't know what I'm going to do but something will pop up.'"

Sinden fired coach Fred Creighton on March 22, taking over for the balance of the 1979-80 season to go along with his GM duties.

Boston Bruins coach Gerry Cheevers behind his team's bench during a 1980s game.

Little did Cheevers expect what he'd hear from Sinden, who didn't try to talk him out of retirement.

"Harry said, 'Come back and see me next week, I want you to coach the team,'" Cheevers said. "I talked to my family and friends who I trusted, and they thought it was a good idea. It was a chance to stay in hockey, so I came back to Harry a week later and took the job. I had no idea why I took it and I had no idea what to do with it, either."

Forever one of the best quotes in hockey, Cheevers was in midseason form during his July 7 introductory news conference.

Among his gems reported in the next day's papers:

The biggest problem Cheevers expected as coach would be conducting practices, "Since I didn't attend one in 19 years as a player."

He'd had a game plan, but it wouldn't be too complicated "because we might have some players who don't understand the X's and O's."

Boston Bruins coach Gerry Cheevers (left) with assistant Gary Doak during a 1980s game at Boston Garden.

He wouldn't have accepted an offer to coach any other team, "except possibly (baseball's) New York Yankees."  

And he hoped that his relationship wouldn't change with players with whom he'd been an enormously popular teammate.

"If I walk into a bar and four Bruins are sitting there, I don't want them to scatter just because the coach has shown up," Cheevers said. "I want to sit down and have a beer with them, same as always. … especially if they pick up the check." 

He laughs about the quotes as they're read back to him 46 years later.

Coach Gerry Cheevers (right) and Bruins goalie Rogie Vachon in an early 1980s photo.

"I don't remember saying all that, but I never wanted them to practice like I did. That wouldn't be right," he said, forever having sharply prepared for games while having treated practice like a plague. "It was a tough adjustment from player to coach. More and more as the season went on I was thinking, 'Why didn't I play one more year? I wouldn't have to go through this.' But it worked out. I figured it out a little bit. I don't think anyone can ever figure out all of it."

The biggest laugh might have been when he declared, "I think I've just taken the biggest pay cut in hockey history."

Cheevers recalled making about $250,000 on late-career Bruins contracts he'd sign annually if he chose to play. He was paid $80,000 to coach the 1980-81 team.

"I had coaches like Don Cherry and Harry Sinden," he said. "I had a very good coach in Rochester (of the American Hockey League), Joe Crozier, and I leaned on them not for their advice but more for their coaching philosophy. I think it helped me.

Gerry Cheevers during a break in a 1970s game.

"I had no idea what to do at training camp, I just was trying to get my point across. The only person I could I lean on at training camp was me. My approach to hockey was a lot different than a lot of guys -- I was laid back and let things take care of themselves. We had a horrible start that year because basically I had no idea what I was doing."

After defeating the Rangers to open the season, the Bruins lost 5-2 on the road to the New York Islanders, defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 at home then lost eight with a tie before winning again.

"I got lucky," Cheevers said. "I got appendicitis (the Bruins on Dec. 20 were 11-15 with seven ties) and it gave me a chance to sit back and figure things out."

Hospitalized for emergency surgery, Cheevers was sidelined for five games with assistant Gary Doak filling in. The Bruins won four straight upon his return, going 7-2 with one tie in their first 10, and finished the season 37-30 with 13 ties before being swept 3-0 by the North Stars in the 1981 NHL Preliminary Round.

Goalie Gerry Cheevers in action with the Boston Bruins against the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum on Dec. 28, 1966. He's joined by Ed Westfall (18), Claude Larose (11) and Ted Green.

The Bruins qualified for the playoffs in Cheevers' next three seasons, their best run to the 1983 Eastern Conference Final, a six-game loss to the Islanders. He was fired 56 games into 1984-85, his GM stepping in before hiring Butch Goring, who went 37-31 with 12 ties in 1985-86 and was fired 12 games into 1986-87 (5-7, one tie).

Today in Boca Raton, Florida, Cheevers admits that he'll see more of the Florida Panthers, who play a half hour from his home, than he will his Bruins. He good-naturedly declines the opportunity to offer any advice to Marco Sturm, who finished his first season as Bruins coach and played part of his career wearing the spoked-B crest.

"I met Marco at a golf tournament last year and I was quite impressed with him," Cheevers said. "He was positive, upbeat and I think he's going to be a great coach for the Bruins. I like his attitude and he was a good player, too. 

"I'd hesitate to offer advice to any coach. It's so different than it was nearly 50 years ago when I coached."

And then, with a chuckle: "Best I can say is just try to win, then get out of town."

Top photo: Boston Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers in action during a 1970s game at Boston Garden.