Milt Schmidt

Milton Conrad Schmidt (March 5, 1918 – January 4, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre, coach and general manager, mostly for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL), where he was a member of the Kraut Line. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961. In 2017, Schmidt was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.[1]

Milt Schmidt
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1961
Born (1918-03-05)March 5, 1918
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Died January 4, 2017(2017-01-04) (aged 98)
Westwood, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Boston Bruins
Playing career 1936–1942
1945–1955

Early years

Schmidt's early years were spent in Kitchener, where he attended King Edward Public School. In high school, he briefly attended Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School, but dropped out at age 14 in order to work to support his family (his father had become too ill to work regularly), and took a job at a shoe factory. He made 18 cents per hour ($3.40 per hour in 2021 dollars[2]) while working there and claimed that he knew the value of the dollar.[3] He continued playing junior hockey with the Kitchener Empires and Kitchener Greenshirts. Schmidt was a childhood friend of fellow Hall of Famers Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer. At the age of 20, while playing for the Boston Bruins' AHL farm team, the Providence Reds, Schmidt was invited to try out for the St. Louis Cardinals pro baseball team, but knew himself well enough from his youth baseball experience that while he could hit the ball out of the park, he would strike out many more times than hitting home runs.[4]

Playing career

Playing

Schmidt played junior hockey with Dumart and Bauer in Kitchener, Ontario, before their rights were all acquired by the Bruins in 1935.[5] After playing a final year of junior hockey in Kitchener, Ontario, and half a year with the Providence Reds, Schmidt was called up to the Bruins during the 1937 season. He quickly proved himself to be a hardnosed centre, a skilled stickhandler and smooth playmaker.[6]

Schmidt and his childhood friends Bauer and Dumart were teamed up together in the NHL as well. They formed the Kraut Line, and were a strong and dependable line for the Bruins for most of the following fifteen seasons. They were a key ingredient to the Bruins' success as they rampaged to the regular season title and a hard-fought Stanley Cup victory in 1939.[6] The following season Schmidt became a star, as he led the league in scoring and guided the Bruins to another first-place finish and the third-most goals in team history to date.

Schmidt, circa 1942

The 1941 season saw Schmidt spearhead the Bruins to their second Cup win in three years. However, the powerhouse Brown and Gold were decimated by World War II the following year as Schmidt, Bauer and Dumart enlisted in the Canadian military and superstar American goaltender Frank Brimsek enlisted with the United States Coast Guard. The Kraut Line found success playing hockey for the Ottawa RCAF team by winning the Allan Cup before heading overseas. Schmidt, Bauer and Dumart ultimately missed three productive NHL seasons due to their service in the War.

Schmidt returned for the beginning of the 1946 season. He resumed his starring ways and finished fourth in league scoring in 1947. Named captain in 1951, Schmidt won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player that year.

In the later part of his career, Schmidt became friends with journalist Leo Monahan who travelled with the team on overnight train rides. One train ride Schmidt recalled that, "Leo was in the berth above me and I was down below. Throughout the night, he told me, he did not move for fear he would do something that would keep me awake".[7]

Schmidt retired as a player partway through the 1954–1955 season to take over head coaching duties, replacing Lynn Patrick.

Coaching

Schmidt coached the Bruins up to the 1966 season with a year and a half hiatus, leading them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1957 and 1958. He also was Boston's assistant general manager.

After coaching the Bruins for 11 seasons Schmidt was promoted to the general manager position in 1967 just as the league ushered in six new franchises, doubling in size.[6] Schmidt proved to be a great architect in the new era of the NHL, acquiring and drafting several key players to build a Bruins team that won two more Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972. His biggest deal was a blockbuster as he acquired Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield from the Chicago Black Hawks in exchange for Pit Martin, Gilles Marotte and Jack Norris.

After his long and loyal career in the Bruins organization, Schmidt left the team to become the first General Manager of the expansion Washington Capitals on April 20, 1973.[8] Unfortunately for Schmidt, the Capitals set a benchmark in futility that still stands as an NHL record today, as the new franchise finished the year with a minuscule 21 points with the worst record in the 18-team league (8–67–5).[6]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
  • Bold indicates led league
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1933–34Kitchener EmpiresOHA-Jr.7246242350
1933–34Kitchener GreenshirtsOHA-Jr.17206261432240
1935–36Kitchener GreenshirtsOHA-Jr.54372441511
1936–37Boston BruinsNHL2628101530000
1936–37Providence RedsIAHL2381912—————
1937–38Boston BruinsNHL441314271530000
1938–39Boston BruinsNHL4115173213123362
1939–40Boston BruinsNHL482230523760004
1940–41Boston BruinsNHL45132538231156119
1941–42Boston BruinsNHL3614213534—————
1941–42Ottawa RCAF FlyersOCHL—————6471110
1941–42Ottawa RCAF FlyersAl-Cup—————136172319
1944–45Middleton RCAFExhib.——————————
1945–46Boston BruinsNHL4813183121103582
1946–47Boston BruinsNHL592735624053144
1947–48Boston BruinsNHL33917262852572
1948–49Boston BruinsNHL441022322540228
1949–50Boston BruinsNHL6819224141—————
1950–51Boston BruinsNHL622239613360117
1951–52Boston BruinsNHL692129505772130
1952–53Boston BruinsNHL6811233430105166
1953–54Boston BruinsNHL6214183228410120
1954–55Boston BruinsNHL23481226—————
NHL totals 776 229 346 575 466 86 24 25 49 64

Career coaching record
TeamYearRegular seasonPost season
GWLTPtsDivision RankResult
Boston Bruins1954–55 40131215(41)4th in NHLLost in semi-finals
1955–56 70233417595th in NHLMissed Playoffs
1956–57 70343412803rd in NHLLost in Cup Finals
1957–58 70343412803rd in NHLLost in Cup Finals
1958–59 7032299732nd in NHLLost in semi-finals
1959–60 7028348645th in NHLMissed Playoffs
1960–61 70154213436th in NHLMissed Playoffs
1962–63 56133112(38)6th in NHLMissed Playoffs
1963–64 70184012486th in NHLMissed Playoffs
1964–65 7021436436th in NHLMissed Playoffs
1965–66 7021436485th in NHLMissed Playoffs
Washington Capitals1974–75 8260(4)5th in NorrisMissed Playoffs
1975–76 363285(11)5th in Norris(fired)
Total770257410127
Milt Schmidt at a public autograph signing on March 6, 2011

Retirement and death

Schmidt was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961 and his #15 jersey retired by the Bruins. After his retirement from hockey management, Schmidt remained involved with the Bruins through their alumni team and as manager of the Boards and Blades Club at the Boston Garden. On October 6, 2010, the Bruins celebrated Schmidt's 75 years with the team during Milt Schmidt Night. On this night he received 2 commemorative Stanley Cup miniatures to represent the two cups he had brought to the club, plus he personally raised his number to the rafters inside TD Garden. He was the last surviving member of both the Bruins' 1939 and 1941 Stanley Cup teams. Schmidt was also the last living NHL player to play in the 1930s and the last to have played against the Montreal Maroons (a team that folded in 1938).

On October 20, 2016, Schmidt along with Bobby Orr dropped the ceremonial puck at the Boston Bruins' first home game of the season.[9]

Schmidt died after a stroke on January 4, 2017, in a retirement facility in Westwood, Massachusetts;[10] at the age of 98; at the time of his death he was the oldest living former NHL player, and the last living player from the AHL's inaugural season.[11][12][13] Following Schmidt's death, Chick Webster became the oldest living NHL player. Schmidt is buried alongside his wife at the Highland Cemetery in Dover, Massachusetts.

Tribute

Upon hearing of Schmidt's death, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman issued the following statement: "It would be a challenge to find anyone who took greater pride in being a Boston Bruin than Milt Schmidt did--be it as a player, an executive or an ambassador over the 80-plus years he served the franchise, the city of Boston and the National Hockey League. Milt's respect for the game was matched by his humility and was mirrored by the great respect with which his opponents, and generations of Bruins players, treated him through the years."[14]

Awards and achievements

References
  1. "100 Greatest NHL Players". National Hockey League. January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  2. 1688 to 1923: Geloso, Vincent, A Price Index for Canada, 1688 to 1850 (December 6, 2016). Afterwards, Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada tables 18-10-0005-01 (formerly CANSIM 326-0021) "Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted". Statistics Canada. Retrieved April 17, 2021. and table 18-10-0004-13 "Consumer Price Index by product group, monthly, percentage change, not seasonally adjusted, Canada, provinces, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit". Statistics Canada. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  3. Hicks, Jeff (November 4, 2006). "Kitchener's Great One". The Record, Kitchener, Ontario. p. A1, A8, A9.
  4. Bailey, Arnold (September 10, 2008). "Pesky, Schmidt share a Boston bond for life". sportscollectorsdigest.com. Retrieved January 17, 2017. "It was around 1938 that I was invited to a tryout by the St. Louis Cardinals," Schmidt recalled. "I had been an outfielder, and at bat, I'd either hit the ball out of the park or end up walking back to the dugout (after a strikeout). Unfortunately, I ended up walking back to the dugout more than I ended up running around the bases." Schmidt never followed up on the Cardinals invitation. "In Boston, we were in a fight for the Stanley Cup, anyway, and I was just too busy with that to give baseball much thought," he said.
  5. Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000) [1998]. Total Hockey: Second Edition. Total Sports Publishing, Kingston, New York. pp. 655, 698, 802.
  6. Скончался член Зала славы НХЛ Милт Шмидт
  7. Marquard, Bryan (April 2, 2013). "D. Leo Monahan, 86; Boston sports reporter, columnist". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts.
  8. "'Express' Enters Indy 500," Daytona Beach (FL) Sunday News-Journal, Sunday, April 22, 1973. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  9. Goss, Nicholas (October 20, 2016). "Bruins Legends Bobby Orr, Milt Schmidt Take Part In Special Puck Drop Ceremony". NESN.com. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  10. "MILTON CONRAD SCHMIDT Obituary (1918-2017) Boston Globe". Legacy.com.
  11. "Bruins legend Milt Schmidt dies at 98". Boston Globe.
  12. jreiser (January 4, 2017). "Milt Schmidt Passes Away at 98". Stanley Cup of Chowder. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  13. Shinzawa, Fluto (January 7, 2017). "The state of the NHL leaves much to be desired. Here are 7 fixes to improve it". Boston Globe.
  14. "Bruins great Milt Schmidt dies at 98". bangordailynews.com. Bangor Daily News. January 4, 2017. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  15. "What Joe Sakic Means to the Avalanche". July 7, 2022.

NESN October 28, 2010

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