Tuesday, March 14th. Again, nervous. Why, oh why? I was working on the phone doing surveys before...it’s the same now, just using more open-ended questions! But there’s nothing I can do about it. This adrenaline that keeps me awake and shaking. Getting to contact my last player was harder than expected, as a few e-mails and even phone calls were exchanged, but I was finally able to get him at 11h AM on that special Tuesday. Just to make sure, I called one minute early....and guess what the guy actually answered? ‘’ You’re a minute early! ‘’
Yeah thanks! That makes me a lot calmer, Bob! ;)
‘’ Just kidding! ‘’ he said when he noticed I was silenced and didn’t know what to say. Too late Bob, the damage is done!
Here is my interview / bio with former Boston Bruins centre Bob Sweeney!
Robert Sweeney, was born on January 25th, 1964 in Boxborough, Massachusetts. It’s a small town of about 5300 people about an hour away from Boston. Young Robert got into hockey at an early age...
"The main reason was definitely the Boston Bruins, they won the Cup when I was six in 1970 and again in 1972. They were on top of the world at that time, so to speak. Hockey was big at the time in the Boston area."
There was always action in the Sweeney house, as Bob had one brother and five sisters! But when he wanted to cool off, he had a pond near his house that he could skate on in the winter...and he was not the only one...
"My older brother played hockey and three of my sisters were figure skaters. My father is a builder by trade, the last two things he built two arenas in 1972. So you could say I’m from an athletic family," said a proud Sweeney.
Like many players from Massachusetts, the former Boston College forward had the opportunity to play alongside a least one future NHLer...
"At a young age and for a long time, my goalie was Tom Barrasso. I also played three years with him in High School."
And the best memories he has from his younger hockey years?
"The bus trips we had to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal. I played with pretty good teams, and we won what is now known as the Bell Cup back in the day. Getting on the bus and being with the team was a lot of fun back then..."
Robert Sweeney was drafted out of high school by the Boston Bruins in 1982 in the 6th round. He was noticed in a tournament and thought his chances of going soon enough in the draft to come were good...
"Scotty Bowman, who was the coach for the Buffalo Sabres, came to look at me during an all-star tournament when I was in High School. I didn’t have a good tournament and I think I probably would’ve been drafted higher, but things happen for a reason. Scotty finally got a bigger look at Tom (Barrasso) and the Sabres drafted him the next year," said the former Bruins center, who ended up being drafted by the team of his dreams after all...
After being drafted, Bob went to study and play hockey at Boston College for four years. He studied in marketing management there and played with the College’s hockey team, the Eagles. He won the Beanpot tournament in 1983 ( for those who don’t know, the Beanpot is a tournament organized each year between four college team rivals from the Boston area ) and played alongside players such as Ken Hodge Jr., Doug Brown and Kevin Stevens...
"Winning the Beanpot and being named MVP of the Tournament as a Freshmen was something I’ll always remember. We had great players at BC but we didn’t win anything significant for my last three years there. I had fun there and having an education to fall back on...it’s priceless. I’m using it as we speak ," said the former Bruins number 20.
After Sweeney completed his scholarship, he joined the Boston Bruins organization, and got to divide his time between the AHL Moncton Golden Flames and the NHL during his first pro season. He even got to play the first 14 games of his career with the Bruins. When asked about the circumstances of his first game, here’s what he had to say...
"It was a Saturday afternoon game against the Calgary Flames, which was kind of ironic because it’s the team we shared our farm club with in Moncton. Played with Brett Hull and Gary Roberts there and Gary was up for the Flames at that time. The game was played on Januray 24th, a day before my birthday. The day before, I was in Maine to play the Mariners and the assistant coach came in the room as said ‘’ Someone is going to Boston and it’s you! ‘’ It was a dream come true. Playing in your hometown for your first game was quite the experience. "
Ironically, Bob scored his first goal in the NHL on former high-school teammate Tom Barrasso on January 26th, 1987...
"I was playing with Cam (Neely) and Rick Middleton. I started with Dwight Frost and Jay Miller in my first game. Don’t know if there were injuries, but I got some more ice time the next game playing with Cam and Ricky. It was great to get the opportunity to get some quality ice time. I received a pass and went to a two on one with Cam. Mike Ramsey was the defenceman for the Sabres and I knew he loved to try and slide to block the pass so I faked the pass and he went down, so I cut to the net and took a shot and it went past Barrasso."
The former Beanpot winner played six seasons for the Boston Bruins and he had the chance of playing alongside tremendous players such as Raymond Bourque and Cam Neely, amongst others. He went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1988 and 1990, only to lose to an Edmonton team that just had too much talent in its ranks. Many hockey players describe their appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals as the best moments of their careers...
"Actually, the road to getting there would be a better memory....the second time we felt was our opportunity. But we had eight day off between before the Finals because we swept the Capitals before facing the Oilers. We were rusty...you can say we were rested, but it was too much time. Losing that first game in triple overtime...that was just devastating," said a disappointed Sweeney, referring to Petr Klima’s brutal overtime killer against the Bruins at the Gardens in the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals opener.
In October of 1992, the Boxborough, Massachusetts native leaves Boston and goes to Buffalo through the waivers. There again, he gets to play with great stars like Alexander Mogilny, Pat Lafontaine and Dominik Hasek. He stayed there for three years, enjoying little, but unforgettable, playoff success...
"One of my best memories there has to be beating the Bruins in the first round the first year after I left Boston. We were heavy underdogs against Boston...they finished 30 points ahead of us in the regular season and they had beaten us eight times in a row during the season against them. We were well prepared by coach John Muckler. I scored the game winner in overtime in game 1...in Boston. It was very special," said the former Buffalo forward, who would see his team beaten despite fighting very hard against the Canadiens in the second round.
Sweeney’s NHL career ended with short stints with the Flames and the Islanders, as he played his last NHL game in 1996 with the Isles. But he was not done with hockey, as he played pro for another five years after that. In his first ‘’Post-NHL’’ season, he joined the Quebec Rafales for a year.
"There was a Boston connection there, believe it or not. Joe Bocchino was the GM there and Scott Gordon, a former classmate of mine at Boston College, was the assistant coach. I didn’t know what I was gonna do...I went to Pittsburgh at the end of the training camp in September for five days but it didn’t work out. Scott called me and he invited me to play for the Rafales. Quebec was always one of my favourite cities of the NHL...I went there often during my career. I like the downtown area...the restaurants...the fans were very passionate there."
After his season in the IHL, he played four years in Germany, for three different teams. Back in the 90’s, Europe was not as popular a choice as it is today for North-American hockey players.
"There was a guy on the Quebec team, Chris Kontos, who had a connection over there. He put me in touch with the guy...making the decision of doing it was not easy. But I still wanted to play, no matter what level it would be. I still felt I could play. First year was rough, I started with a team with financial difficulties. Went to Frankfurt after, which was a good experience. Lots of North Americans like John Chabot, Len Barrie and guys I played against in the NHL. It was a great atmosphere for me and my wife and kids there. They went to an English speaking school. My last two years in Munich were great...I ended up winning my only championship as a pro there...and I used to kid Raymond Bourque about that before he won the Cup...but he finally did it. There were a lot of players in Germany and it was a good place to continue your career... Robert retired from Pro Hockey in 2001 after 639 NHL games and about 200 more in the IHL and DEL. I asked him what he missed the most about his playing days.
"Any player will tell you the same thing...the camaraderie in the locker room...just being a kid. Doing what you love to do, go to the rink everyday and skate. That’s the hardest part when you leave the game. You have to find another passion, so to speak. That for me, was becoming the President of the Boston Bruins Alumni Association when Johnny Bucyk retired (in 2003). And I had a tragedy in my life...I lost my sister-in-law on 9/11 and that’s what transcended into the position I’m at today...with all the interest and passion to help out my brother and his kids, and the people of Massachusetts. I did that on and off for a couple of years and raised money for 9/11 to help out the spouses and children from the people affected from September 11th. Kept going on with the Alumni, and got this opportunity to come back full circle by coming back with the Bruins and run their Foundation. It’s something I enjoy, helping kids, working with all children’s charities throughout New England."
Sweeney has been the President of the Boston Bruins Alumni Association since 2003 and he was named Director of Development for the Boston Bruins Foundation in 2007. With both these organisations, he participated in numerous charitable events over the years, even winning the Ace Bailey Good Guy Award in 2009 for his great actions towards the children of his community.
"It was something very dear to me because my family and Ace Bailey’s are tied together by 9/11 ( Bailey and Sweeney’s sister in law were in the planes that crashed on that infamous day of September 2001 ). I’m very honoured to have won it. It’s something I look at everyday in my office...I’m looking at it now. I’m happy that they recognized me and I enjoy helping out people."
I had one last question for Mr. Sweeney, as I wanted to know how the family was since his sister-in-law’s death almost ten years ago...
"Her children are now 15 and 13. It’s hard to believe that this will be ten years already. It’s an everyday struggles, but my sisters have been around and one of my sisters helps my brother two days a week for different activities with the kids. But my brother Michael is a survivor, and he’s been doing better and he’s been dating a woman for a couple of years now."
Bob Sweeney is now 47 years old, is married and he has three boys who all play hockey. They are respectively aged 16, 14 and 10, and they play lacrosse as well. They were all coached by their father along the way...the athletics in the family are not to die anytime soon!
I would like to thank Bob Sweeney for his time and honesty.
Frederick LaVallee is a 30 year-old Quebecer from Montreal who has loved hockey since the 1988-89 season. He is a Habs fan, but a hockey fan first and foremost. Most of his work is written in French, but he wanted to share his passion with more English readers. One day he hopes to become a hockey historian/journalist and travel around the world to write about the coolest sport on earth!
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