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

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

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

. He played 979 career

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The 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 (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

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

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

, and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

. He overcame a

back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), 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 c ...

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, Awrey would play 3 seasons 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. B ...

of the OHA. During the 1962–63 season Awrey would play in 50 games accumulating 30 points, helping lead the flyers to the

J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, an ...

before eventually losing in

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

. Awrey would then be signed by the Bruins for the 1963–64 season. 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 15, 1964 in Boston's 3-1 home win over Montreal. Awrey would go on to spend a majority of his career with the

. During his time with the Bruins Awrey was a stay-at-home defenseman often paired with

Bobby Orr Robert Gordon Orr (born March 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time. Orr used his skating speed, scoring, and play-making abilities to revolutionize the ...

. He was best known for his skating, shot-blocking and the bone-crushing hits he delivered cruising the blue line. Despite his formidable reputation on the ice, he's a perfect gentleman with an easy smile and a quick sense of humour. He would have his best statistical season in 1970–71 scoring 4 goals and tallying 21 assists. He was also a part of two

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

winning teams with the Bruins, in 1970 and 1972. In 1972 Awrey was named to Team Canada for the

Summit Series The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (), or Series of the Century (), was an eight-game ice hockey series between the Soviet Union and Canada, held in September 1972. It was the first competition between the Soviet nation ...

, playing in two of the eight games. After his 10 year stint with the bruins came to an end he would play two seasons with the

. In his first season with the Blues he would play in the 1974 all star game. Awrey was then acquired by the

Canadiens French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the provi ...

from the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

for

Chuck Lefley Charles Thomas Lefley (born January 20, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens and St. Louis Blues from 1970 to 1980. With the Canadiens he won the Stanley Cu ...

on November 28, 1974. He was a part of the

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. He was dealt from the Canadiens to the

Penguins Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

for a third-round selection in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft (42nd overall–

Richard David Richard David (born April 8, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played for the Quebec Nordiques in the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association between 1978 and 1983. As a youth, he played in the 197 ...

) and cash on August 11, 1976. His last season in the NHL was 1978–79, when he played for the Colorado Rockies. He now lives in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...

. In 2005 he was inducted into the Canada’s sports Hall of Fame for his time with team Canada in 1972. In 2023 he would be named one of the top 100 Bruins players of all time.

Retirement

After retiring and moving to Florida Awrey stayed connected to the Bruins fan base. Since 2013 he has chartered buses full of Boston fans to attend Bruins games whenever the team travels south to play the Lightning or the Florida Panthers. In 2017 he coached an Alumni game between the Bruins and lightning. He and his wife also became members of the

Florida Everblades The Florida Everblades are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Estero, Florida, in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area. They play in the ECHL and are affiliat ...

. Both severing as off ice officials.youtube Awrey continues his career with the Florida Everblades https://youtube.com/V9Z3fcOccSI?si=5oXD_tgkpimMjh_P

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 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Ice hockey people 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 National Hockey League All-Stars