2. Terry O’Reilly – 1971 – 14th Overall
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Fans of the Boston Bruins fell in love with Terry O’Reilly almost instantly upon being drafted with the 14th overall draft pick in the 1971. The hard-nosed Bruin will go down as one of the best enforcers to ever lace up a pair of skates, not only as a member of the Boston Bruins, but in NHL history. In true enforcer fashion, O’Reilly registered over 200 penalty minutes in five consecutive seasons.
In his thirteen NHL seasons, all spent as a member of the Boston Bruins, he accounted for over two thousand penalty minutes. One of O’Reilly’s most infamous moments came in 1979 in New York City at Madison Square Garden. The Boston Bruins and New York Rangers had a very serious rivalry, and O’Reilly took it upon himself to climb over the glass and engage spectators in a brawl that led to an eight game suspension. He was captain of the team for his final two seasons in Boston.
O’Reilly was an efficient point scorer, as well as an enforcer, and was able to post a total of 606 points, including 202 goals, in his 891 career games.
After retiring, he became the Boston Bruins head coach for two seasons, taking the Bruins to the Stanley Cup final in 1988. His time as the coach of the Bruins may have been short, but the fact that he was the head coach of a team that played in the Stanley Cup Finals speaks for itself. The Bruins honored O’Reilly by retiring his number in 2002 and his #24 can be seen hanging in the rafters in TD Garden to this day.
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