| Terry O'Reilly | |
| |
| Position | Right Wing |
| Nickname(s) | Terry, Tazmanian Devil |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 01 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Teams | Boston Bruins |
| Nationality |  } Canadian
|
| Born | June 7,1951, Niagara Falls, Ontario |
| NHL Draft | Rnd 1, 14th overall, 1971 Bruins |
| Pro Career | 1971 – 1985 |
Joseph James Terrence (Terry) O'Reilly (born June 7, 1951 in Niagara Falls, Ontario) is a retired right-winger.
Playing Career[]
O’Reilly was born to his parents Audrey and Jim O’Reilly. He grew up in Oshawa, Ontario and started playing hockey at very young age.[1]
O’Reilly would play 3 years of junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals from 1968 to 1971. Having his best year with the team During the 1970–71 season scoring 23 goals and 42 assists in 54 games.
O'Reilly was picked by the Boston Bruins in the first round as the 14th pick overall in the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft. O'Reilly spent his entire career in Boston, serving as the captain of the Bruins during the 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons before his retirement. The Bruins retired his No. 24 on October 24, 2002.[2]
After being drafted he would play a season with the Boston Braves during the 1971–72 season.
O'Reilly made his NHL debut in the Bruins' final game of the 1971–72 regular season on April 2, 1972. He scored a goal in Boston's 6–4 victory over Toronto at Boston Garden.
O'Reilly charges into the stands during an incident at Madison Square Garden in 1979
O'Reilly was known for being a tough player, racking up over 200 penalty minutes in five consecutive seasons, and earning for himself the nickname "Bloody O'Reilly" in the press. His teammate, Phil Esposito, dubbed O'Reilly "Taz" in reference to the Tasmanian Devil cartoon character for O'Reilly's reckless, hard driving style of play. He was very protective of his teammates. When the Bruins retired O'Reilly's No. 24, Ray Bourque noted that O'Reilly's banner "hangs next to mine, protecting me again."[3]
During the 1973-74 season O’Reilly would play in 76 games helping lead the Bruins all the way to the Stanley cup finals. The following year in the 1974-75 season O’Reilly would be invited to the NHL all star game for the first time he would go on to score 1 goal and tally 1 assist in the game.
On top of his physical presence, he also had a decent scoring touch, highlighted by his 29-goal, 90-point season in 1977–78. This would lead to him being invited to the NHL all star game for a second time and once again helping lead the bruins to the Stanley cup finals. He would add to that with 77 and 61 point seasons the next to campaigns. He had 211 and 205 minutes in penalties in those seasons respectively, displaying an excellent balance of grit and scoring. He finished his 13-year career with 204 goals, 402 assists for 606 points, a +212 plus/minus and 2,095 minutes in penalties. As of January 1, 2022, O'Reilly was ranked 20th in career goals scored by a Boston Bruin in regular-season play.
In the infamous December 23, 1979, incident at Madison Square Garden, during a post-game scrum, a New York Rangers fan rolled up a program tightly and smacked Stan Jonathan in the face drawing blood, then stole his stick and wielded it like a weapon. O'Reilly scaled the glass and charged into the stands. His teammates followed when other fans tried to intervene. O'Reilly was suspended eight games for his part in the brawl.[4] After the fact O’Reilly was quoted stating “There was no way he was going to strike one of my teammates and steal his stick, wield it like a weapon and then disappear into the crowd and go to a local bar with a souvenir and a great story.”[5]
During his career O'Reilly was one of the most feared men of the ice. He wasn’t afraid to go at his opponents full speed crashing into them with fists swinging. O’Reilly was also known for his hard work always being the first to skate onto the ice and the last to skate off of the ice.
Former Bruins coach Don Cherry was quoted as saying, “Terry typifies our team. He’s tough, really tough, and that’s the way I like ‘em.”
O’Reilly is looked back on fondly by Bruins fans being referred to as the Ultimate Bruin giving everything he could to the team.[5]
When the Boston Garden closed, O'Reilly received one of the penalty boxes. Former Canadien John Ferguson got the other one.
Coaching career[]
Two years after retirement, O’Reily became the head coach of the Bruins by replacing Harry Sinden in the middle of the 1986–87 NHL season. After finishing that year 34-27-6 overall and bringing the Bruins to the playoffs he got the permanent head coaching spot. He went 44–30–6 in his second year, During the playoffs O’Reilly and the bruins would end the Canadiens streak of having beaten the Bruins in 18 consecutive playoff series, dating back to 1946. Eventually taking the Bruins all the way to the 1988 Stanley Cup finals and winning the conference championship. However they would fall to the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers in the finals. He would keep his job until 1989, when he left to care for, and spend more time with his son, Evan, who was seriously ill with liver disease. O'Reilly later became an assistant coach for the Rangers from 2002 to the end of 2003–04 NHL season.
Other[]
O'Reilly in 2012
In the Adam Sandler movie Happy Gilmore, O'Reilly is mentioned as Happy Gilmore's favorite hockey player when growing up due to his tough style of play.
O'Reilly has stated his favorite player who plays for the Bruins is Milan Lucic, also born on June 7.
He was inducted into the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.
On August 24, 2015, O'Reilly threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Portland Sea dogs game.
He now resides in Salisbury Massachusetts. He still remains active with the Bruins alumni organization and local community.[6]
O'Reilly has been married twice. Having 2 sons Evan and Conor. His son Evan would be the youngest person to ever be elected as a select man in Georgetown. However O’Reilly would lose him to liver disease in 2018.[7][8]
He was part of the TD gardens sports museum class of 2005 and given the hockey legacy award.[9]
Awards, honours and records[]
- NHL All-Star Game — 1975, 1978
- Won the Seventh Player Award — 1975
- Won the Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy — 1978
- Bruins Three Stars Awards — 1978, 1979, 1980
- Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame (Class of 1990)
- His #24 Jersey was retired by the Boston Bruins on October 24, 2002.
- Named One of the Top 100 Best Bruins Players of all Time.[10]
- Boston Bruins All-Centennial Team[11]
- His #17 was retired by the Oshawa Generals on September 28th 2025
Records[]
Most Penalty Minutes in Boston Bruins franchise history.
Career Statistics[]
--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1968-69 Oshawa Generals OHA 46 5 15 20 87 -- -- -- -- --
1969-70 Oshawa Generals OHA 54 13 36 49 60 -- -- -- -- --
1970-71 Oshawa Generals OHA 54 23 42 65 151 -- -- -- -- --
1971-72 Boston Braves AHL 60 9 8 17 134 9 2 2 4 31
1971-72 Boston Bruins NHL 1 1 0 1 0 -- -- -- -- --
1972-73 Boston Bruins NHL 72 5 22 27 109 5 0 0 0 2
1973-74 Boston Bruins NHL 76 11 24 35 94 16 2 5 7 38
1974-75 Boston Bruins NHL 68 15 20 35 146 3 0 0 0 17
1975-76 Boston Bruins NHL 80 23 27 50 150 12 3 1 4 25
1976-77 Boston Bruins NHL 79 14 41 55 147 14 5 6 11 28
1977-78 Boston Bruins NHL 77 29 61 90 211 15 5 10 15 40
1978-79 Boston Bruins NHL 80 26 51 77 205 11 0 6 6 25
1979-80 Boston Bruins NHL 71 19 42 61 265 10 3 6 9 69
1980-81 Boston Bruins NHL 77 8 35 43 223 3 1 2 3 12
1981-82 Boston Bruins NHL 70 22 30 52 213 11 5 4 9 56
1982-83 Boston Bruins NHL 19 6 14 20 40 -- -- -- -- --
1983-84 Boston Bruins NHL 58 12 18 30 124 3 0 0 0 14
1984-85 Boston Bruins NHL 63 13 17 30 168 5 1 2 3 9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NHL Totals 891 204 402 606 2095 108 25 42 67 335
Coaching Statistics[]
Season Team Lge Type GP W L T OTL Pct Result 1986-87 Boston Bruins NHL Head Coach 67 32 29 6 0 0.522 Lost in round 1 1987-88 Boston Bruins NHL Head Coach 80 44 30 6 0 0.588 Lost in Finals 1988-89 Boston Bruins NHL Head Coach 80 37 29 14 0 0.550 Lost in round 2 2002-03 New York Rangers NHL Assistant Coach 2003-04 New York Rangers NHL Assistant Coach
Gallery[]
External Links[]
| Preceded by Wayne Cashman |
Boston Bruins captains 1983–85 |
Succeeded by Ray Bourque Rick Middleton |
| Preceded by Butch Goring |
Head coaches of the Boston Bruins 1986–1989 |
Succeeded by Mike Milbury |
| Boston Bruins Head Coaches | |
|---|---|
| Ross • Denneny • F. Patrick • Ross • Weiland • Ross • Clapper • Boucher • L. Patrick • Schmidt • Watson • Schmidt • Sinden • Johnson • Guidolin • Cherry • Creighton • Sinden • Cheevers • Sinden • Goring • O'Reilly • Milbury • Bowness • Sutter • Kasper • Burns • Keenan • Ftorek • O'Connell • Sullivan • Lewis • Julien • Cassidy • Montgomery | |
| Boston Bruins First Round Draft Picks | |
|---|---|
| Romashyna • Campbell • Bailey • Gibbs • Bonnar • Schock • Tannahill • Spring • Boldirev • Leach • MacLeish • Plumb • Stewart • Jones • O'Reilly • Bloom • Savard • Larway • Halward • Pachal • Foster • Secord • Bourque • McCrimmon • Pederson • Leveille • Kluzak • Markwart • Pasin • Janney • Wesley • Quintal • Cimetta • Stevenson • Smolinski • Murray • Kvartalnov • Adams • Ryabchikov • McLaren • Brown • Aitken • Thornton • Samsonov • Boynton • Jonsson • Samuelsson • Morrisonn • Toivonen • Stuart • Lashoff • Kessel • Hamill • Colborne • Caron • Seguin • Hamilton • Subban • Pastrnak • Zboril • DeBrusk • Senyshyn | |
| Boston Bruins Captains | |
| Cleghorn | Hitchman | Owen | Clapper | Barry | Stewart | Shore | Weiland | Clapper | Cowley | Crawford | Bauer | Schmidt | Sandford | Flaman | McKenney | Boivin | Bucyk | Cashman | O'Reilly | Middleton | Bourque | Allison | Thornton | Chára | Bergeron | |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Terry O'Reilly. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |
- ↑ O'Reilly had some stories to tell (en-US).
- ↑ Bruce Allen (October 24, 2002). Terry O'Reilly gets his number. Boston Sports Media Watch. Archived from the original on December 14, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-07-18.
- ↑ ESPN.com: NHL - Bruins retire former great O'Reilly's number.
- ↑ 1971 NHL Amateur Draft — Terry O'Reilly. Retrieved on 2006-07-18.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 A Trip Down Memory Lane: Terry O’Reilly “Taz” (en-us) (2012-10-19).
- ↑ Terry O’Reilly (en-US).
- ↑ https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/record-citizen/2018/05/29/former-selectman-passes-away-at/64874207007/
- ↑ Evan James O'Reilly - August 7, 1983 to May 22, 2018 (en).
- ↑ The Tradition - The Sports Museum (en-US) (2022-01-10).
- ↑ Bruins Announce “Historic 100” Ahead of All-Centennial Team Reveal | Boston Bruins (en) (2023-09-12).
- ↑ Bruins Announce All-Centennial Team | Boston Bruins (en) (2023-10-13).