Douglas Bradford (Brad) Park (born July 6, 1948 in Toronto, Ontario) is a retired defenceman in the National Hockey League (NHL) and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He played for the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings.
Playing career
Park was drafted by the New York Rangers in the first round (2nd overall) in the 1966 NHL Amateur Draft and, after a brief stint with the minor-league Buffalo Bisons of the AHL, began playing for the Rangers in 1968. He quickly became the Rangers' best defenceman and drew comparisons with the great Bobby Orr. His offensive skill, stickhandling and pugnacity attracted much attention from fans.
Park was made the alternate captain of the Rangers and briefly served as their captain. In 1972 Park led his team to the Stanley Cup finals but lost to Orr and the Boston Bruins. That same year he was the runner-up for the Norris Trophy and was named Best Defenceman in the 1972 Summit Series. In 1975–76, the Rangers got off to their worst start in ten years and the team began getting rid of their high-priced veterans. On November 7, 1975, one of the biggest trades of the era was made. Park, star centre Jean Ratelle and minor-leaguer Joe Zanussi were traded to Boston for superstar scoring champion Phil Esposito and defenceman Carol Vadnais.
While Esposito and Vadnais remained effective players for the Rangers, the Bruins had struck gold. In Boston Park served under coach Don Cherry and continued his great success. He came second in the Norris Trophy race twice in a Bruins' uniform. In 1977 and 1978 Park went with Boston to the Eastern Conference finals but lost to Montreal both times. His last hurrah with Boston was in the 1983 playoffs, when he scored a long-remembered overtime goal to beat the Buffalo Sabres in the seventh game of their playoff series.
The following season Park signed with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent and won the Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance that same year, having set a record for assists by a Red Wings' defenceman. After the 1985 season, still an effective player but hobbled by repeated knee injuries, he announced his retirement. The next year he briefly served as Detroit's coach.
In 1988 Park was elected in his first year of eligibility to the Hockey Hall of Fame in his hometown of Toronto. Park has resided in Massachusetts for almost 30 years, with his wife Gerry. He has five children and at current four grandchildren.
Honors and achievements
- Named to the First All-Star Team in 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976 and 1978.
- Named to the Second All-Star Team in 1971 and 1973.
- Runner up in Norris Trophy voting in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976 and 1978
- Received both the most First Team All-Star nominations (other than Earl Seibert, who retired before the trophy was awarded) and was runner-up for the Norris more times without winning the Norris than any other defenceman in NHL history.
- Played in the All-Star Game in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978.
- Retired as the all time Assists leader among defenceman- 683, later surpassed by Denis Potvin and currently held by Ray Bourque (1169)
- Retired as the all time Assists leader among defenceman (including playoffs) - 773 (683 regular season and 90 playoffs), surpassed by Denis Potvin and currently held by Ray Bourque- 1308 (1169 regular season & 139 playoffs)
- Retired as the leading defence scorer in Rangers' history and the second leading defence scorer in Bruins' (and NHL) history to Bobby Orr.
- At the time of his retirement, had played the most seasons in league history for a player never missing the playoffs.
- Currently 11th all-time in NHL history in defence scoring.
- Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.
- Along with Butch Goring, one of the last two active players who had played in the 1960s.
- In 1998, he was ranked number 49 on List of 100 greatest hockey players by The Hockey News.
Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1968–69 | New York Rangers | NHL | 54 | 3 | 23 | 26 | 70 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 1969–70 | New York Rangers | NHL | 60 | 11 | 26 | 37 | 98 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 | ||
| 1970–71 | New York Rangers | NHL | 68 | 7 | 37 | 44 | 114 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 42 | ||
| 1971–72 | New York Rangers | NHL | 75 | 24 | 49 | 73 | 130 | 16 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 21 | ||
| 1972–73 | New York Rangers | NHL | 52 | 10 | 43 | 53 | 51 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 | ||
| 1973–74 | New York Rangers | NHL | 78 | 25 | 57 | 82 | 148 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 38 | ||
| 1974–75 | New York Rangers | NHL | 65 | 13 | 44 | 57 | 104 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1975–76 | New York Rangers | NHL | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 23 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1975–76 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 43 | 16 | 37 | 53 | 95 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 14 | ||
| 1976–77 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 77 | 12 | 55 | 67 | 67 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 4 | ||
| 1977–78 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 80 | 22 | 57 | 79 | 79 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 14 | ||
| 1978–79 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 40 | 7 | 32 | 39 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | ||
| 1979–80 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 32 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 | ||
| 1980–81 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 78 | 14 | 52 | 66 | 111 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | ||
| 1981–82 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 75 | 14 | 42 | 56 | 82 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 1982–83 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 76 | 10 | 26 | 36 | 82 | 16 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 18 | ||
| 1983–84 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 80 | 5 | 53 | 58 | 85 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1984–85 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 67 | 13 | 30 | 43 | 53 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 18 Seasons | NHL Total | 1113 | 213 | 683 | 896 | 1429 | 161 | 35 | 90 | 125 | 217 | |||
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lanny McDonald |
Bill Masterton Trophy Winner 1984 |
Succeeded by Anders Hedberg |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by Vic Hadfield |
New York Rangers captains 1974-75 |
Succeeded by Phil Esposito |
| Preceded by Harry Neale |
Detroit Red Wings head coach 1985–1986 |
Succeeded by Jacques Demers |