As a nine-year-old in the spring of 1969, the first time I heard about the Boston Bruins’ 7th Player Award was when the team’s TV partner, WSBK Ch. 38, promoted it on a game broadcast. It was something new, and the words they used for criteria — “the player who has performed above and beyond expectations” — were quite clear. What I didn’t get at the time was why they called it the 7th Player.
I had heard about the sixth man in basketball — the first man off the bench and into the game. But hockey didn’t have anything similar. A few years later, I finally realized that the 7th Player signified that the deserving awardee is not meant to be in the “starting” six, and, more to the point but left unstated — not a star.
According to the website of the Bruins’ TV partner now, NESN.com, an underdog type of player who works hard and doesn’t expect recognition are also desired traits. The team plans to give out the award for the 55th time in April, and fans are welcome to cast their vote.
Looking back on the list of winners since that 1968-69 season, you’ll find a bunch of stars who won it before they went on to become Bruins legends, including future Hall of Famers Ray Bourque, Joe Thornton and Cam Neely.
In most years, the “above and beyond” and “underdog” instructions to the voting fans were carried out, but not always. When he won it in 1979-80, Bourque was a rookie and finished fourth on the team in scoring with 17 goals and 48 assists for 65 points.
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For 1997 No. 1 overall draft pick Thornton, the award came in his third year with the Bruins, 1999-00, when he put up 60 points with 23 goals and 37 assists.
Neely earned the 7th Player in 1986-87 (36-36-72), his first year with Boston after three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks to start his career. He won it again in 1993-94 (50-24-74), when he returned from a knee injury.
Now the Bruins’ president, Neely is not the only 7th Player winner who is now part of the front office. General manager Don Sweeney (7-20-27) won it in 1992-93.
Among the Bruins who eventually achieved legendary status in Beantown and also took home the award are Derek Sanderson (1971-72, 25-33-58), Terry O’Reilly (1974-75, 15-20-35), Rick Middleton (1978-79, 38-48-86), Tim Thomas (2005-06 and 2006-07), Tuukka Rask (2009-10) and David Krejci (2008-09, 22-51-73).
2 Current Bruins Earned the Award Twice
Seven players on the current Bruins roster, including potential Hall of Famers David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, have won 7th Player honors. As a matter of fact, Pastrnak (2014-15, 10-17-27; and 2016-17, 34-36-70) and Marchand (2011-12, 21-20-41; and 2015-16, 37-24-61) have won it twice — once early on in their careers and then a few years later when they made more of an impact.
The other five current Bruins to be named 7th Player are Milan Lucic (2007-08, 8-19-27), who is on indefinite leave, Charlie McAvoy (2017-18, 7-25-32), Charlie Coyle (2019-20, 16-21-37), Jeremy Swayman (2021-22) and Pavel Zacha (2022-23, 21-36-57).
Aside from Neely, Thomas, Pastrnak and Marchand, two others were two-time 7th Player honorees — Randy Burridge (1985-86, 17-25-42; and 1988-89, 31-30-61) and Bill Guerin (2000-01, 28-35-63; and 2001-02, 41-25-66).
Interestingly, Guerin, who played 22 years in the NHL and is now the Minnesota Wild’s general manager, played in Boston for only those two seasons.
In the eighth season of his 18-year NHL career, Ed Westfall (1968-69, 18-24-42) was the first to be named the 7th Player.
Boston Bruins 7th Player Award Winners
(From IceHockeyFandom.com)
>> 1968-69: Ed Westfall
>> 1969-70: John McKenzie
>> 1970-71: Fred Stanfield
>> 1971-72: Derek Sanderson
>> 1972-73: Dallas Smith
>> 1973-74: Carol Vadnais and Don Marcotte
>> 1974-75: Terry O’Reilly
>> 1975-76: Gregg Sheppard
>> 1976-77: Gary Doak
>> 1977-78: Stan Jonathan
>> 1978-79: Rick Middleton
>> 1979-80: Ray Bourque
>> 1980-81: Steve Kasper
>> 1981-82: Barry Pederson
>> 1982-83: Pete Peeters
>> 1983-84: Mike O’Connell
>> 1984-85: Keith Crowder
>> 1985-86: Randy Burridge
>> 1986-87: Cam Neely
>> 1987-88: Glen Wesley
>> 1988-89: Randy Burridge
>> 1989-90: John Carter
>> 1990-91: Ken D. Hodge
>> 1991-92: Vladimir Ruzicka
>> 1992-93: Don Sweeney
>> 1993-94: Cam Neely
>> 1994-95: Blaine Lacher
>> 1995-96: Kyle McLaren
>> 1996-97: Ted Donato
>> 1997-98: Jason Allison
>> 1998-99: Byron Dafoe
>> 1999-2000: Joe Thornton
>> 2000-01: Bill Guerin
>> 2001-02: Bill Guerin
>> 2002-03: Mike Knuble
>> 2003-04: Andrew Raycroft
>> 2004-05: No season (NHL lockout)
>> 2005-06: Tim Thomas
>> 2006-07: Tim Thomas
>> 2007-08: Milan Lucic
>> 2008-09: David Krejci
>> 2009-10: Tuuka Rask
>> 2010-11: Brad Marchand
>> 2011-12: Tyler Seguin
>> 2012-13: Dougie Hamilton
>> 2013-14: Reilly Smith
>> 2014-15: David Pastrnak
>> 2015-16: Brad Marchand
>> 2016-17: David Pastrnak
>> 2017-18: Charlie McAvoy
>> 2018-19: Chris Wagner
>> 2019-20: Charlie Coyle
>> 2020-21: Nick Ritchie
>> 2021-22: Jeremy Swayman
>> 2022-23: Pavel Zacha