Gregory Wayne Sheppard (born April 23, 1949) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

forward who most notably played for 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 ...

of the

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

. He played in three Stanley Cup Finals with the Bruins (1974, 1977, 1978).

Career

Sheppard was born in

North Battleford North Battleford is a city in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the seventh largest city in the province and is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the Town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as "The B ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

. Playing in the waning days of the period where teenagers were signed to junior league contracts by NHL teams, Sheppard played his junior hockey for the

Estevan Bruins Estevan is the eighth-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5. History The ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...

, competing for the

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

in two seasons and being the star of his team's Memorial Cup drive in 1968. In

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

Sheppard began a three-year pro apprenticeship with the Oklahoma City Blazers of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

, becoming a Second Team All-Star in 1971. The following season, he was named the league's most valuable player and remains the all-time leading career scorer of the franchise. Joining the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

as a result of the parent club losing players to expansion and the new

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

, Sheppard – showing both scoring prowess and exemplary defensive and penalty killing skills – had a fine rookie season, finishing sixth in balloting for rookie of the year honors. The following season Sheppard made his true mark in the playoffs, scoring eleven goals in sixteen playoff games as the Bruins went to the Cup finals. He was a mainstay in Boston for six seasons in all, scoring thirty or more goals three straight years—and only a serious injury costing him much of the 1978 season cost him a fourth—as well as proving himself as one of the league's premier faceoff men and penalty killers. He was named to play in the All-Star Game in 1976, during which he won the Bruins' Seventh Player Award as the team's unsung hero and the Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy for the player judged best in home games. His best statistical season was

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, in which he scored 78 points and finished with a plus/minus rating of +45. Before the 1978–79 season began, Sheppard was dealt to the

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 play ...

in a three-way deal. At first holding out due to dissatisfaction at the deal, he eventually joined the team in late November 1978, although his days as a scorer were behind him. He played four seasons in all for Pittsburgh before retiring in 1982. Sheppard played in 657 NHL games in all over ten seasons, finishing with 205 goals and 293 assists for 498 points. A notably clean player for some rough teams, he finished with 243 penalty minutes.

Career statistics

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Gregg 1949 births Living people Boston Braves (AHL) players Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey centres Estevan Bruins players Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Oklahoma City Blazers (1965–1977) players Sportspeople from North Battleford Pittsburgh Penguins players Salt Lake Golden Eagles (WHL) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States