Gregg Sheppard鈥檚 National Hockey League career took him from small town Saskatchewan to the big cities of Boston and Pittsburgh. It wasn鈥檛 a direct route, however.
鈥淚 grew up in a family of six other siblings so we didn鈥檛 have a whole lot of money,鈥� Sheppard said. 鈥淲hen I was 13 or 14, I started working on a farm and also pumping gas.鈥�
Usually you鈥檒l hear about NHL players and how they started skating when they were just a few years old. Sheppard got started later than most.
鈥淚 started to skate when I was seven or eight years old. I was introduced to it by my cousin Pat Smith who said, 鈥榶ou should come and try and skate,鈥欌�� he explained. 鈥淭here was a youth club in Battleford called the Battleford Community Youth Club. At the time they paid for, and sponsored, a lot of equipment for kids that couldn鈥檛 afford it.鈥�
Before beginning his junior career away from home, Sheppard played for the local midget team.
鈥淭he BCYC ran the minor hockey here and at the time they had the 14-29 midget league they called it, because of Highways 14 and 29, and there were teams in Unity, Wilkie, Cut Knife, Battleford and North Battleford,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen I was 16, I played for the Beaver Bruins, which was U17 players, but we played in the senior league against men. You had to keep your head up,鈥� he laughed.
Sheppard then began his junior career in Estevan with the Bruins, playing three seasons. Being in Estevan helped him land in the Boston Bruins organization.
鈥淭here was a few of us in the age group that were just at the cutoff because the NHL started doing the draft,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he two farm teams for Boston were Estevan and Niagara Falls, and we ended up playing Niagara Falls for the Memorial Cup that year.鈥�
The Memorial Cup format was different than it is today, as back then it was a seven game series between the winners from the West and East. Estevan beat the Fort William Hurricanes and Penticton Broncos before heading to Niagara Falls.
鈥淲e played five games in their building and we won one,鈥� Sheppard explained. 鈥淲e asked to play in a neutral site after the second game, so we went to Montreal to play. At that time it was absolutely crazy, we had to get police escorts to get from the arena to our hotel and back again. We beat them in Montreal and they wanted to go back to their building.鈥澛�
The Bruins lost to the Black Hawks in six games.
After his final year in Estevan, Sheppard鈥檚 professional career began in Oklahoma City.
鈥淏asically it was all the players who came out of junior and didn鈥檛 make the NHL,鈥� he explained. 鈥淢ost of the young guys who didn鈥檛 make the NHL would play in that league for three or four years and then go to the American League or Western League. The make up of the Central Professional League was about six or eight teams. We travelled by bus a lot.鈥�
As you might imagine, minor league travel isn鈥檛 very glamorous.
鈥淸Bus trips] were long and drawn out,鈥� he laughed. 鈥淥ut of the three years I played there I think we flew twice, and that was because you would play in Nebraska one night and in Fort Worth, Texas, the next.鈥澛�
Minor league pay compared to NHL pay is peanuts.
鈥淢y first year in Oklahoma I think I got a $5,000 signing bonus and a $5,000 salary. That鈥檚 one reason why I worked year-round,鈥� Sheppard laughed.聽
Five thousand dollars in 1970 is equal to about $34,000 today.
During his third year in Oklahoma, the NHL held an expansion draft for the newest two teams, the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames.聽
鈥淣obody drafted me and I thought, 鈥榃ell, if I don鈥檛 make [the NHL] in my fourth year I鈥檒l probably just go home and start a different career,鈥� he chuckled. 鈥淭hey started the Boston Braves who played in the AHL the year before, and at training camp the Bruins convinced me to go to the Braves and play, and promised me that if anything happened injury-wise I would get called up.鈥�
After just eight games in the AHL, and five goals and five assists, there were indeed openings.
鈥淔ortunately for me there were some injuries and there were some guys who went to the World Hockey League, so there were some openings.鈥�
It wouldn鈥檛 be the first time Sheppard had suited up for the Bruins, however.聽
鈥淭he year before I was with the Bruins and we won the Stanley Cup in 1972,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I only played in the playoffs, so my name isn鈥檛 on the Cup. Harry Sinden was kind enough to offer me the opportunity to buy a ring, but the cost was between $1,600-1,800 and I didn鈥檛 have that kind of money.鈥�
Sheppard鈥檚 first NHL game was a playoff game against St. Louis in 1972 and featured a prominent memory.
鈥淧hil Esposito and I had a two-on-one and I passed to him,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get an assist because he didn鈥檛 score.鈥�
The Bruins teams from the early 1970s were loaded with all-time NHL greats, something that took a little getting used to for Sheppard.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e a little bit in awe when you walk into the room with guys like Bobby Orr and Esposito,鈥� he said. 鈥淧revious to that you see these guys on TV and all the sudden you鈥檙e there so you say, 鈥榃ell, I have a job to do.鈥欌��
Sheppard鈥檚 first NHL regular season game came against his favourite team growing up, the Toronto Maple Leafs. After returning to Boston for their next game against the Islanders, Sheppard didn鈥檛 take long to endear himself to the Bruins faithful.
鈥淚 was fortunate enough to have a pretty good game. I scored three times,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think we won the game 9-6 or something.鈥�
Every Canadian hockey fan knows Don Cherry from his segment on CBC鈥檚 Hockey Night In Canada, but not a lot know what he was like while behind the bench as the Bruins coach.
鈥淭hat image you see on TV was created after his years of coaching,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 a technical coach, he was more of a motivator. He expected you to come to work every day and play your best. He expected us to win games and demanded it. There鈥檚 no excuse for not winning.鈥�
Before Cherry took over, the Bruins were coached by Bep Guidolin, who Sheppard says wasn鈥檛 exactly a 鈥減layers coach.鈥�
鈥淚t was more acceptable when Montreal beat us,鈥� he said. 鈥淭oughest pill to swallow was when Philadelphia beat us in six games [in 1974.] To put the blame where it is, the responsibility of the players, but also the responsibility of our coach. In my personal opinion, he鈥檚 a zero. In that series they had a Stanley Cup luncheon, so after our practice he told us we didn鈥檛 have to go if we didn鈥檛 want to. Then he goes to the banquet and says 鈥業 couldn鈥檛 get my players to come.鈥� He was fighting with Johnny Bucyk and Esposito, he was a really poorly organized coach. Don鈥檛 get me wrong, the Flyers had a really tough team.鈥�
Sheppard would lose three Stanley Cup finals during his career as a Bruin, in 1974, 77 and 78.
When asked about any strong memories he had during his time in Boston, Sheppard shared a story about Orr鈥檚 fitness.
鈥淲e were on a road trip and we played in Minnesota, and the next day at practice Cherry told us there were some university students who were doing a study on athletes,鈥� he explained. 鈥淭hey set up a bunch of drills and tests for us to do, and as the students are doing all their notes, they started watching Bobby Orr and they couldn鈥檛 believe that one guy was so far ahead of everyone else.鈥�
An injury in 1978 cut Sheppard鈥檚 regular season short.
鈥淒ennis Potvin hit me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 used to get at him all the time and Don Cherry warned me 鈥榟e鈥檚 going to get you,鈥� and I turned around to take a pass and when I looked up, Potvin was right there and he hit me low and flipped me into the air, tearing my knee. That was the first major injury I ever had, and while I didn鈥檛 need an operation I still sat out seven weeks or so.鈥�
At Bruins training camp in 1978, Sheppard was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Though he didn鈥檛 hop on a plane and head there immediately.
鈥淚 was in the option year of my contract and I had played six years in the NHL, so I wanted (the Bruins) to sign me to an actual contract,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was five or six of us on Boston that weren鈥檛 signed yet, and I got back to my farm [in Unity] and read other guys have been signed and I thought 鈥榳ell, why haven鈥檛 I been signed?鈥� We got skated and some of us went out golfing after, and when I got back to the house my wife met me at the door and said, 鈥業 think we got traded, Pittsburgh is calling.鈥� I thought I deserved at least the courtesy of a phone call. I saw Sinden on the golf course a few days later and he apologized and said, 鈥業鈥檓 sorry I didn鈥檛 call you,鈥� and it was really a load of garbage. He blamed it on Pittsburgh wanting to break the trade. So I said 鈥榃ell, I was traded three days ago. I do have a telephone.鈥� He just walked away.鈥�
Hockey is a mainstay in Pittsburgh now, but in the early 80s the NFL and MLB dominated the sports scene in the Steel City.
鈥淏ruins hockey was so big in the New England area and then going to Pittsburgh, hockey was way down the list,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou weren鈥檛 recognized as much, you could go anywhere and nobody would bother you. My first year I went to a Steelers exhibition game and they were losing, I think 10-7 after the first quarter, and there were 50,000 people booing.鈥�
While the Penguins never made it past the first round of the playoffs during Sheppard鈥檚 four seasons, he says playing there was still a great experience.
鈥淲e had some great years and some great players,鈥� he said. 鈥淣orris trophy [best defenceman] winner in Randy Carlyle. We had a super power play and good penalty killing. Then they started trading veteran players away and you鈥檙e barely making the playoffs.鈥�
Carlyle played a major role in the end of Sheppard鈥檚 NHL career.
鈥淚 hit him in practice behind the net, my stick got caught in the boards and when he fell he landed on my knee,鈥� he explained. 鈥淭hat was sometime in late February, so I rested it right until playoffs and I tried to come out for a skate the morning of the first playoff game and my knee ballooned up again. I had an operation done, rehabbed in the summer and come fall the doctor told me they had to operate again and he told me 鈥榶ou probably won鈥檛 be able to compete at the same level as before.鈥� At 33 years old and out of the league, not by choice, it was really disappointing. A pretty tough pill to swallow, I would have liked to quit on my own terms. Since then I鈥檝e had two operations on my right knee and three on my left.鈥�
While rehabbing his knee, Sheppard took a real estate course at the university in Pittsburgh, and got his license.
鈥淚 had an opportunity to go to Boston with a car dealer, or the opportunity to come back here and I decided to come back here in 1983. I generally just deal with friends or referrals now, I鈥檓 right on the verge of retiring. Probably next year will be my last year,鈥� he admitted.
Sheppard worked with the Battlefords North Stars for a number of years before recently deciding to call his hockey-coaching career quits.
鈥淚 talked to the current coach, Kevin, and told him it might be time to find someone younger who wanted to be here all the time,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wanted to take more winter vacations so we just parted ways that way.鈥�
Though he鈥檒l be completely retired next year, Sheppard doesn鈥檛 plan on leaving the area.
鈥淥h, no, this is my hometown,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 like hunting and fishing too much, this is a pretty good spot for that.鈥�
