He is generally overshadowed these days by his flamboyant and out spoken brother Don but Dick Cherry lasted 144 games longer in the NHL than his older brother. Dick was in his second year of junior with the Barrie Flyers in 1956-57 and was enjoying another strong offensive year from the blueline. In his rookie season he recorded 50 points in 49 games and followed that with 45 points in 52 games. That earned him a 6 game session with the Bruins during which he was held scoreless. He would have to wait another 12 years before he scored his first NHL point. In between he retired once to teach high school for 2 years, played 428 pro games in 4 different leagues, played senior hockey for a year going to the Allan Cup finals and retired again after the '66-67 season. However his NHL career was just beginning, the Philadelphia Flyers claimed Dick from Boston in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft and he would play 139 games with them over the next 2 seasons. He followed that with a year in the CHL with the Oklahoma Blazers and 2 more years playing senior hockey with the Kingston Aces before retiring for the third time !! But wait, he wasn't done yet, he made his third and final comeback in 1974 playing his final season with the Napanee Comets senior team. During 145 regular season NHL games, Cherry collected 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points. Dick had his official rookie card issued in the 1969-70 OPC set as a Flyer, here is his 1957-58 Topps Bruins Missing Link. |
Although he entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builders Category, Murray Costello sports an impressive resume as a player also. After three years of junior with St. Michael's College in Toronto, Murray was signed by the Chicago Blackhawks making his NHL debut during the 1953-54 season. The 6'3", 190 pound forward was traded to the Boston Bruins prior to the 1954-55 season. Midway through the 1955-56 campaign, the Bruins sent Costello and Lorne Ferguson to Detroit in exchange for Real Chevrefils and Jerry Toppazzini. After being sent to Edmonton of the Western Hockey League to finish the 1956-57 season, Murray was reinstated as an amateur and completed his playing career with the Windsor Bulldogs of the OHA Senior loop. During 162 regular season NHL games, Costello collected 13 goals and 19 assists for 32 points. He never had a hockey card issued until the 1994 Parkhurst Missing Link set which pictures him as a Detroit Red Wing. Here is his Boston Bruins card, stay tuned for his Blackhawks rookie. |
Goalie Norm DeFelice made ten appearances for the Boston Bruins in 1956-57 as a temporary replacement for Terry Sawchuk who was hospitalized for nervous exhaustion. DeFelice posted a 3.00 goals against average and a 3-5-2 won/lost record during his brief and only appearance in the NHL. He spent nearly two decades in the minors and enjoyed his greatest success in the Eastern League. Along the way he led the EHL in shutouts five times, including 15 in 1964-65 and was a six-time winner of the George L. Davis trophy for allowing the fewest goals in the league. DeFelice was also named to the EHL First All-Star Team four times, the Second All-Star Team once and led the Washington Presidents (1959) and Clinton Comets (1964) to league championships. Before retiring in 1970 he played a couple of years of senior hockey in the OHA where his best season was 1967-68 when he led all goalies with a 2.14 goals against average while playing for the Galt Hornets. He would never have a regular issued hockey card, here is his '57-58 Bruins Missing Link. |
Floyd Hillman, the older brother of NHLers Wayne and Larry, had a much shorter big league career than his siblings. Floyd played 4 years of junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals and Kitchener Greenshirts before joining the senior Windsor Bulldogs in 1954-55. The next year he split his rookie pro season between the WHL's Victoria Cougars and the Hershey Bears of the AHL. He was traded to Boston by Victoria for Arnott Whitney in December, 1955 and played six games for the Bruins in 1956-57, his only NHL experience. After his brief spell with Boston he spent most of the next two years with the Quebec Aces of the QHL. In 1957 he was a key member of the club when it finished at the top of the Quebec League standings and won the playoff championship. Over the next four years he worked chiefly in the AHL where he was known as one of the hardest hitters in the league. The veteran rearguard spent his final two years with the Windsor Bulldogs before retiring in 1964. He would never have a regular issued hockey card, here is his '57-58 Bruins Missing Link. |
Left-winger Al Nicholson played 14 games with the Bruins in 1955-56 and another 5 in 1956-57 for his total NHL career. He was a fine scorer and playmaker who played junior with the SJHL's Humboldt Indians scoring 37 goals in 38 games during the 1954-55 season. He signed as a free agent with Boston on August 23, 1955 but ended up spending most of the next 2 years with the AHL's Hershey Bears. Beginning in 1958-59, Nicholson was a regular for 14 years in the WHL. He scored 36 goals and 87 points for the Victoria Cougars that first year. Although he never topped that performance, he managed to reach the 20-goal mark twelve times including eleven straight years from 1962 to 1972. Nicholson played five years with the San Francisco Seals and helped the team win consecutive league championships in 1963 and 1964. He finished his pro career playing six years with the San Diego Gulls before retiring in 1972. He would never have a regular issued hockey card, here is his '57-58 Bruins Missing Link. |
Defenceman Ellard O'Brien was a gifted offensive player who put up impressive numbers in junior and the minors. Born in St. Catharines, Ontario he played with the local Teepees of the OHA where he scored 58 goals in 48 games during the 1949-50 season. He began his pro career with the Boston Olympics of the EHL and the USHL's Tulsa Oilers before joining the Hershey Bears of the AHL. He signed as a free agent with Boston on October 3, 1950 and played two games for the Bruins in 1955-56. "Obie" spent eight years with the Bears and helped the team win the Calder Cup in 1958 and 1959. He finished his career with two seasons in the AHL with the Quebec Aces and then a year with the Philadelphia Ramblers of the EHL before retiring in 1962. He would never have a regular issued hockey card, here is his '57-58 Bruins Missing Link. |
Left winger Ed Panagabko was a graduate of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Humboldt Indians. He also spent time with the Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League's Melville Millionaires and the Western Hockey League's Seattle Bombers. In 1954-55, the Norquay, Saskatchewan native joined the International Hockey League's Grand Rapids Rockets for one season before making his NHL debut with the Bruins the following year. Panagabko would play 28 games with Boston during the 1955-56 season while spending the other half of the season with the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears. Unable to land a roster spot with the Bruins over the next two seasons, Ed returned to Hershey before landing in Providence in 1958-59. He spent three seasons in Providence before joining the WHL's Portland Buckaroos-Los Angeles Blades in 1961-62. In the summer of 1962 the Bruins traded Panagabko to San Francisco of the WHL, where he played three seasons before taking the 1965-66 season off. After one year away from the game he returned to the ice in 1966-67 as a member of the WHL's San Diego Gulls playing two another seasons before calling it a career following the 1967-68 season. He would never have a regular issued hockey card, here is his '57-58 Bruins Missing Link. |
George Ranieri could hardly have expected the news he received in February 1957. The Victoria Cougars left wing was in his first full season of professional hockey when he received word the Boston Bruins required his services. The only problem was that he was needed for a game in Boston against the Canadiens on February 11. It took 19 hours, by air, to make the trek across country but he made his NHL debut on time at the Boston Gardens. Ranieri played his off-wing in the game, which ended knotted at 2. He lined up the next night against the Toronto Maple Leafs but made little impact on the game as the Bruins dressed Ranieri but he did not see any ice time. George would not play another game in the NHL as the Bruins farmed him out to the Hershey Bears in an attempt to make the playoffs. The 1957-58 season was a lackluster one for him as he bounced from Hershey to Quebec and on to Louisville before rediscovering his scoring touch. 1958-59 was a career season for George Ranieri when he lined up with centre Ron Spong and right wing Moe Bartoli to form the most potent unit in the International Hockey League. On March 18, 1959, Louisville celebrated George Ranieri Night and he didn't disappoint the 2,050 fans. Ranieri broke Don Hall's 1953 single season scoring record ending the year with 60 goals and 64 assists in 59 games. In the post-season the Louisville Rebels went on to capture the Turner Cup with Ranieri collecting 24 points in 11 playoff contests. The next season saw George move on to the New York Rovers scoring 92 points on the season. He finished out his playing career with five solid seasons with the Providence Reds of the AHL retiring in 1965. He would never have a regular issued hockey card, here is his '57-58 Bruins Missing Link. |
Floyd Smith spent 13 years in the NHL as a player and another 4 as a coach appearing with 5 different teams. He began his junior hockey career in the OHA with the Galt Black Hawks and was signed to a three-game amateur tryout contract by Boston during the 1954-55 season. He then signed as a free agent with Boston on August 23, 1955 and spent the next season with their AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears. He split the '56-57 season between the AHL and NHL playing another 23 NHL games in Boston before being traded to the New York Rangers AHL team the Springfield Indians. After three seasons in the minors, Smith was called up to Broadway to play 29 games for the Rangers, but he was sent back to the AHL after this stint. He was claimed by the Red Wings in the Intra-League Draft of 1962 but once again split time in both leagues before playing his first full season in the NHL in 1964-65. Smith spent two more seasons in Detroit before being traded to the Leafs during the 1967-68 season. Two more seasons would go by before he was dealt one last time, to the Sabres in 1970. He finished his playing career in the next season. He had his official rookie card issued, as a Red Wing, in the '63-64 Parkhurst series, here is his '57-58 Bruins Missing Link. |
Orval Tessier had a 12 year pro hockey career punctuated with 3 stops, for a total of 59 games, in the NHL. He played his junior hockey with the Kitchener Greenshirts and the Barrie Flyers. In 1952 he led the OHA with 62 goals and the next year he notched 20 points in 15 playoff games helping the Flyers win the Memorial Cup. He made his NHL debut in 1954-55 playing 4 games with the Canadiens. The Bruins acquired Tessier from Montreal in the 1955 Intra-League Draft. He played 23 games for them in 1955-56 and another 32 games in 1960-61. In between he was a dominant scorer in the QHL and the EPHL leading the Quebec league in scoring in 1957. Orval was also a two time selection to the QHL First All-Star Team. Two years later he led all EPHL scorers with 59 goals and 126 points in 70 games with the Kingston Frontenacs. In 1961-62 Tessier won his second EPHL scoring title before enjoying success with another 2 years in the WHL. He retired in 1965 after scoring 60 goals and 58 assists in 66 games with the Clinton Comets of the EHL. He would never have a regular issued hockey card, we previously created his Habs rookie card, here is his '57-58 Bruins Missing Link. |
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