tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28355714.post6055639300003486838..comments2024-02-17T11:38:57.952-08:00Comments on Boston Bruins Legends: Jack PortlandJoe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28355714.post-15659904417916816612014-12-06T21:54:53.922-08:002014-12-06T21:54:53.922-08:00I met Jack Portland iin the 80"s . I was a go...I met Jack Portland iin the 80"s . I was a good friend of his Granddaughter. Such a nice man,my friend commented that he had played in the NHL many years ago. After hearing some of his hockey stories he showed us his permanently bruised chins! No hockey pads,helmets back then. Very cool to meet him,Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28355714.post-36032476261364512152012-02-02T11:24:41.823-08:002012-02-02T11:24:41.823-08:00If, and when, Eddie Shore returns to the Boston Br...If, and when, Eddie Shore returns to the Boston Bruins line-up for their National Hockey league battles, the happiest member of Art Ross's troupe of stick-handlers will be Jack Portland, familiarly known to his mates as Tarzan, the 24-year-old, 200 pound 6 feet 2 inch giant who has been stamped one of the best major league defense prospects in years.<br /> Ex-Olympian<br /> The former Olympic high-jumper and all-round athlete has been a Shore hero-worshipper for years. In the first professional hockey game Portland ever saw, Shore was an outstanding figure and right then and there, the big Canadian youngster decided he was going to turn his massive frame to hockey, be a defense man like Shore and play as much like Shore as he could.<br /> When athlete fate placed him on the same team as Eddie Shore he said simply: "I guess I'm the happiest and luckiest fellow in the world."<br /> In the winter of 1930, Portland a gawky lad who was spending all his spare time learning how to high jump from Dink Templeton's book, hitch-hiked 90 miles to Toronto from Collingwood, his home town, to see the great Shore and his Boston Bruins play Toronto.<br /> So attracted was the 18-year-old lad by the brilliant play of the great defenseman that he decided then and there to become a professional hockey player, a defense man if possible. “That was the first professional game I ever saw," remarked Portland recently, "and it always has been my ambition, since that night, to play beside Shore. It seems like a dream that we are finally together”.<br /> But before Jack turned his back on the amateur ranks, he first had to master the “western roll” style of high jump as demonstrated by Templeton, famous Leland Stanford coach. He had set his mind on making the 1932 Olympic team and although he did concentrate on hockey during the winters, he stuck to his high-jumping until the summer of ’32.<br /> He qualified for the final Canadian try-outs by winning the Dominion high school crown, and amazed Canadian track and field followers at Hamilton by clearing 6 feet 4 3-4 inches to become Canada's No.1 Olympic jumping hope.<br /> But at Los Angeles, a bad case of nerves struck him. He cleared only 6 feet 2 inches, gave up high-jumping for all time, and swung into professional hockey with Montreal Canadiens in 1933. He was traded to Bruins, and after seasoning in the minor professional league has become a powerful asset on the Bruin defence, fast, fearless, clean, but a heavy body-checker. He attributes his improved form to Lionel Hitchman and Shore, who has taken a great interest in him.Derekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11669523627837078960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28355714.post-72768431664198459152012-02-02T11:23:42.966-08:002012-02-02T11:23:42.966-08:00Boston acquired big Jack Portland from Montreal. M...Boston acquired big Jack Portland from Montreal. Montreal’s Dandurand, on the sale of Jack Portland, defenceman, to Boston Bruins, for $7500.00: The deal was made, he said, because the club could not afford to develop Portland, although he regarded him as potentially a great player.<br /> It even appeared that Ross had basically given up on him and was willing to trade him. He was a big man and Bruins liked strength and toughness but he obviously needed a lot of work in other areas. He spent the first two seasons with Boston’s farm team, the Boston Cubs where I am sure head coach and former defensive star, Lionel Hitchman, taught him some things about the position. In 1936-37 they put him alongside the great Eddie Shore and almost immediately articles such as this appeared:<br />“The Bruins, when they get in shape, will be a mighty threat for they are a powerful looking lot and have about the biggest defense in the league. Portland looked like a far better player than ever before and the year he spent in the Can-Am seems to have made him.”<br />“Big Jack Portland, tallest defense player in the N. H. L. has become a regular only this season at Boston and is playing sensational hockey.”<br /> Hooley Smith in 1936-37 made this statement:<br />"There is no doubt in my mind," said Hooley, "but what Portland will be the outstanding defenceman in the league before another season rolls around. He has all the makings of a topnotcher and right now you have to tell him only a few things in the heat of a game. A lot of people thought the Bruins would not be very close to the leaders at all this season, but Portland and Getliffe are two reasons why we are close now and will be when the Stanley Cup is being handed out."<br /> Boston Bruins possess the biggest defense in the NHL in point of size. Jack Portland, who was once high jump champion of Canada is rated the most improved of the junior defensemen in the NHL. With Bruins, Portland looks a tower of strength, and this can be turned into a pun, for Portland towers six feet four. <br /> Portland would drop the gloves on occasion. Portland was not that fast but if the pace was slow he would crunch you into the boards. When the Kraut line arrived on the scene in 1937-38 Clapper moved back to defense. In Shore, Clapper, Portland and Hollet Boston had the best defense in the league. <br /><br />When Brimsek was praised about his accomplishments early in the 1938-39 season he stated: “It's easy to understand when you consider the kind of defence I have in front of me," Brimsek said last night in the dressing room after Bruins had defeated Montreal Canadiens 1-0. He nodded toward burly Jack Portland, Dit Clapper, Jack Crawford and Eddie Shore.<br /> “Give a goaler the kind of protection those fellows give me and anybody would look good,” he said. He’s had four shutouts in six games.<br /> <br />When the Montreal Gazette, a knowledgeable hockey paper, was asked to give their all-star list in 1938-39 they picked Clapper on the first team and Shore and Portland on the 2nd team. Therefore believing Boston had 3 of the 4 best defensemen in the NHL. Stating Shore and Portland, is a defensive unit that has teamed together all season, leave few openings for rival attackers.<br /> In 1939-40 Jack Crawford’s star started shining brightly and Portland was traded in a straight deal for Des Smith. I am not sure why Portland was traded as he still seemed pretty good.Derekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11669523627837078960noreply@blogger.com