Player. Coach. GM. A look back at one of the Bruins' All-time greats
Milt Schmidt was the linchpin of the famed Boston Bruins «Kraut Line,» whose other members were his boyhood friends Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer.
The trio's shared German ancestry inspired the line's nickname. They finished 1-2-3 in scoring in the NHL in 1940, with Mr. Schmidt coming in first. He was such a good athlete he had even declined an MLB tryout at the St.Louis Cardinals camp.
Milt Schmidt, who spent his entire career with the Bruins, was a four-time All-Star. He won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player in 1951. He played 776 games, scored 229 goals, and recorded 346 assists.
He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961 and the Bruins retired his number, 15, in 1980. In 2017, Schmidt was named one of the «100 Greatest NHL Players» in history.
After coaching the Bruins for 11 seasons Schmidt was promoted to the general manager position in 1967. He proved to be a great architect in the new era of the NHL, acquiring and drafting several key players to build a Bruins team that won two more Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972. His biggest deal was a blockbuster as he acquired Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield from the Chicago Black Hawks in exchange for Pit Martin, Gilles Marotte and Jack Norris.
Sadly, Schmidt passed away after suffering a stroke on January 4th, 2017 in a retirement facility in Westwood, Massachusetts at the age of 98. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former NHL player and the last living player from the AHL's inaugural season.
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