Fred Stanfield, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Big, Bad Bruins in 1970 and ’72, died on Monday at the age of 77.
Stanfield was part of the transformative trade with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1967 that brought the crafty centerman along with future record-breaker Phil Esposito and Ken Hodge to Boston in exchange for Pit Martin, Gilles Marotte and Jack Norris, giving the B’s half of their top six in the most glorious era of the club’s existence.
At 5-foot-10, 177 pounds, Stanfield many not have been the biggest or baddest of those Bruins, but he was very, very good at his job. He centered the second line for wings Johnny Bucyk and the late Johnny McKenzie and also played point on the Bruins’ potent power play.
“He was my centerman for many years during the glory years of the ’70s. He was a good player, a tough player. He knew how to handle the puck,” said the 86-year-old Bucyk, reached on Tuesday while making his annual trek east to Boston from his home in British Columbia.
With Stanfield, Bucyk enjoyed the best season of his Hall of Fame career in 1970-71 when he scored 51 goals and notched 116 points.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Bucyk. “To have two lines like that on the team, there was the Esposito line (with Hodge and Wayne Cashman), then there was our line and we had two other lines that could score, too, it took a lot of pressure off. Freddy was a good skater and he had one heck of a shot. He played on the power play. He and Bobby (Orr) ran the power play and it was terrific. We knew we had a good line and he was a great player. He wasn’t a selfish player. He just wanted to win.”
In 448 games over six seasons with the Bruins, the Toronto native notched 135-274-409 points, good for 28th on the B’s all-time list while he sits at 20th for assists. From that ’70-71 season to his last season in Boston in ’72-73, Stanfield had no fewer than 76 points in each season. In the two Cup years, Stanfield had a combined 32 points in 29 playoff games.
Stanfield was traded after the ’72-’73 season to the Minnesota North Stars for goalie Gilles Gilbert. He finished his career in 1977-78 after three-plus season with the Buffalo Sabres.
