Big Bad Bruins

HOCKEY

Hockey is one sport in which nice guys really do finish last -- and for six out of the past seven years, last place in the National Hockey League has be longed to the Boston Bruins, a team of such pluckless pandas that they could not have thrown a scare into Goldi locks. This season, the Bruins have turned into terrors. They lead the league in fist flinging, stick swinging, penalties and scoring. Last week they won their third game in a row, humiliating the Chicago Black Hawks 7-2, to tie the De fending Champion Black Hawks for the N.H.L.'s East Division lead. "We are the victims of circumstances," cracks Coach Harry Sinden, 35, who in only 32 games (out of 74) has already seen his Bruins involved in three free-for-alls, fined a total of $2,000 and penalized 476 minutes. General Manager Milt Schmidt, 49, is a bit more forthright. "In past years," he says, "we got pushed around. Now we're doing the pushing."

Bobby & the Blaze. The Bruins are the same team of creaking veterans and callow kids whom experts condemned to the East Division cellar before the season started. What they've got now is ebullience. "The spirit of this club is unbelievable," says Center Phil Esposito, 25, a castoff from the Black Hawks who got his revenge by scoring three goals against his former teammates last week. "We've really caught fire," says Left Wing Johnny Bucyk, 32, a twelve-year veteran who is well on his way to his finest season --with 19 goals and 18 assists so far, making him the No. 3 scorer in the league. Borrowing pro-football lingo, Defenseman Ted Green says that "this year we're blitzing. Last year, we'd drop back 15 yards and punt." The man who lit the blaze in Boston is a baby-faced 19-year-old named Bobby Orr, who in only his second big-league season is already regarded as one of pro hockey's most talented defensemen and a budding superstar. "Bobby," says Coach Sinden, "does it all. He's the only player I've ever seen who can operate at top speed--wide-open, breakneck speed--and still execute all the fundamentals of the game." When Orr first arrived in Boston, he respectfully addressed other players as "mister" and "sir." This year he has shown little respect for his elders--stealing the puck away from Detroit's Gordie Howe, say, or slamming Chicago's Bobby Hull into the boards with a vicious body check.

110 Percent. Rough, tough hockey has its price, and the Bruins have paid it--in injuries as well as penalties and fines. Defenseman Green missed two games with a badly bruised knee. Orr earlier this season had his nose broken twice within a week, and he was sidelined for half of December with a fractured collarbone. Both regular Boston goalies, Eddie Johnston and Gerry Cheevers, are laid up with injuries, and the Bruins had to make do last week with Andre Gill, a 5-ft. 7-in. 155-pounder who was hurriedly called up from the minors. Like everybody else who has seen them play this year, Gill was mightily impressed with his new teammates. "They really want to win," he said. "They all give 110 percent." That being the case, Rookie Gill himself could do no less. Last week against Chicago, he blocked 20 shots and held Bobby Hull scoreless as the Bruins handed the Black Hawks their first loss in eleven games.

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