Fogghorn wrote:
Are you saying Cheever's has not been retired? If Cheever's isn't good enough to make the grade in Boston then I have my doubts about Chara
It has not. They have now retired 11 numbers.
#2 Eddie Shore (1949)
#3 Lionel Hitchman (1934)
#4 Robert Gordon Orr (1979)
#5 Aubrey Clapper (1947)
#7 Phil Esposito (1987)
#8 Cam Neely (2004)
#9 Johnny Bucyk (1980)
#15 Milt Schmidt (1957)
#16 Rick Middleton (2018)
#24 Terry O'Reilly (2002)
#77 Ray Bourque (2001)
Fun fact, only 2 single-digit numbers remain available: 1 and 6.
I think they'll retire 33 and 37 for sure, and I won't be surprised if they retire 63 as well, especially of all three players play out their respective careers in Boston. The Bruins appear to rank length of tenure very highly, I mean, it's not like Terry O'Reilly was some elite scoring talent (though he did put up some surprisingly good numbers for an enforcer) but dude played a VERY long time for Boston. Same with Chara who is in his 13th season with the club. I'm too lazy to see how long other guys up in the rafters served (Espo played 9 years in Boston) and Cheevers played around 8-9 seasons total for the B's, but he also jumped ship in the middle there to play for the Cleveland Crusaders of the WHA for over three years. I wonder if Harry Sinden and others in the organization who remember might have held a grudge. I don't think even the old-school types would ever try and get in the way of those newer guys. This is all speculation of course.