Stanley Carl "Bulldog" Jonathan (born September 5, 1955) is a
Canadian
Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...
former
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) 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. Tw ...
left winger, most notably 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 t ...
of the
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 ...
, for whom he played for parts of eight seasons, and featured in two
Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...
(1977, 1978).
Playing career
Stan Jonathan was drafted in the fifth round (86th overall) of the 1975 NHL entry draft by the Bruins. Ignored by most other scouts and by Bruins general manager
Harry Sinden, Jonathan was picked up thanks to the shrewdness of
Don Cherry, who had seen him play with the
Peterborough Petes earlier that season, Jonathan's third season in Peterborough.
Cherry stated later that the proudest discovery of his hockey career was Stan Jonathan.
While Jonathan played with Peterborough, they represented Canada well as they placed third at the first unofficial world junior championship in 1973–1974.
Jonathan started his NHL career with one game in the
1975–76 NHL season
The 1975–76 NHL season was the 59th season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, defeating the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Flyers in the final.
Amateur draft
The 1975 NHL amateur draft wa ...
, before being called up permanently for the 1976–77 season. He typified Bruins hockey, displaying both outstanding offensive ability and toughness. Jonathan was adept at knocking in rebounds, and Cherry, his coach at the time, stated that he had the most accurate shot in the league. As a rookie, he led all
NHL
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 ...
players in shooting percentage, putting goals in at a clip of 23.9%.
That year,
1977–78, was his most productive season as he scored 27 goals with 25 assists. He also had 116 penalty minutes that year.
his second season, he was again among the top-ten players in shooting percentage, at 22.3%.
That year he won the Bruins' "7th Player Award" voted on by the fans for the player who exceeded expectations.
Besides his scoring touch, Jonathan was also a capable enforcer, having fought
Keith Magnuson, Dave "The Hammer" Schultz, and Andre "Moose" Dupont. Arguably Jonathan's most famous moment was his savage beating of
Pierre Bouchard in a brawl during Game 4 of the
1978 Stanley Cup Finals. Challenged by Bouchard, who outweighed Jonathan by thirty pounds and stood six inches taller, Jonathan held his own, breaking Bouchard's nose and cheekbone and knocking him to the ice.
His 1978–79 season was shortened by an injury, but Jonathan played in all 11 playoff games of 1979. Jonathan scored a hat-trick in Game #6 of Boston's semifinal series versus Montreal, contributing to a 5–2 win in game 6 of the semi-finals against the Montreal Canadiens, which forced a game 7. He returned the following year and scored 21 goals and 19 assists. He also added 208 penalty minutes.
The Bruins traded him to the
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 ...
on November 8, 1982, in exchange for cash. Jonathan played 19 games for Pittsburgh and retired after the
1983
1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
season. He finished his NHL career with 91 goals and 110 assists in 411 games.
He is a full-blooded Tuscarora, born in Ohsweken, Ontario, a Six Nations reserve near Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
Stan Jonathan was charged with criminal negligence in a hunting accident on the Six Nations reserve that killed Peter Kosid of Hamilton, Ontario, on Sunday, November 11, 2012. The criminal charges against Jonathan in the hunting death of Peter Kosid have been withdrawn.
In 2023 he would be named one of the top 100 Bruins players of all time.
[ Bruins Announce “Historic 100” Ahead of All-Centennial Team Reveal https://www.nhl.com/bruins/news/bruins-announce-historic-100-ahead-of-all-centennial-team-reveal ]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
References
External links
*
1975 NHL Amateur Draft: Stan Jonathan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonathan, Stan
1955 births
Living people
20th-century Canadian sportsmen
20th-century First Nations people
Baltimore Skipjacks players
Boston Bruins draft picks
Boston Bruins players
Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
Canadian ice hockey left wingers
Dayton Gems players
First Nations sportspeople
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Indianapolis Racers draft picks
Sportspeople from the County of Brant
Peterborough Petes (ice hockey) players
Pittsburgh Penguins players
Rochester Americans players
Six Nations of the Grand River people
Sportspeople from Haldimand County
Tuscarora people