Donald William Awrey (born July 18, 1943) is a Canadian former professional

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

. He played 979 career

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) games with the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

, and Colorado Rockies. He overcame a

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column runs ...

injury while attending high school after surgery to fuse three vertebrae and being confined to a Stryker frame for three weeks.Stubbs, Dave. "Awrey symbol of grit for Bruins alumni at Stanley Cup Final," NHL.com, Monday, May 27, 2019.
Retrieved October 15, 2022. A defensive defenceman, known for his superb shot-blocking and bone-jarring bodychecks, Awrey played for the

Niagara Falls Flyers The Niagara Falls Flyers were two junior ice hockey franchises that played in the top tier in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first, a Junior "A" team existed from 1960 until 1972, and the second in Tier I Junior "A" from 1976 until 1982. ...

of the OHA before being signed by the Bruins. Despite being an exceptionally fast skater, he rarely scored goals. He made his NHL debut in 1963–64 for the Bruins, his first of 16 seasons in the league. Awrey scored his first NHL goal on March 16, 1964 in Boston's 3-1 home win over Montreal. Awrey was part of two Stanley Cup winning teams with the Bruins, in 1970 and 1972. He was also part of the Montreal Canadiens team that won the Stanley Cup in 1976, but did not play in any playoff games that season, and so does not have his name engraved on the cup for that year even though he qualified. Awrey was named to Team Canada for the Summit Series, playing in two of the eight games. Awrey was acquired by the

Canadiens French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

from the Blues for Chuck Lefley on November 28, 1974.Bergson, Perry. "Alumni Spotlight: Chuck Lefley," ''The Brandon'' (MB) ''Sun'', Saturday, January 18, 2020.
Retrieved October 15, 2022. His last season in the NHL was 1978–79, when he played for the Colorado Rockies. He now lives in Fort Myers, Florida.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Awrey, Don 1943 births Living people Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Colorado Rockies (NHL) players Ice hockey people from Ontario Sportspeople from Kitchener, Ontario Montreal Canadiens players Niagara Falls Flyers (1960–1972) players New York Rangers players Pittsburgh Penguins players St. Louis Blues players Stanley Cup champions