Park developed into the best Rangers defenceman, whose offensive skill, stickhandling and pugnacity made him popular with local fans and media. He even drew occasional comparisons with the Boston Bruins superstar Bobby Orr, universally acclaimed to be the greatest at his position in hockey history. Years afterward, Park remarked, "I saw no reason to be upset because I was rated second to Bobby Orr. After all, Orr not only was the top defenceman in the game but he was considered the best player ever to put on a pair of skates. There was nothing insulting about being rated No. 2 to such a super superstar."[3]
Park was made the alternate captain of the Rangers and briefly served as their captain. In 1972, after the team's top scorer, Jean Ratelle, was lost due to a broken ankle, he led the Rangers past the defending Stanley Cup-champion Montreal Canadiens in the first round and the West Division champion Chicago Black Hawks in the semifinals of the playoffs. The Rangers advanced to the Stanley Cup finals where they fell to the Boston Bruins in six games. After the Rangers staved off elimination in Game 5 at Boston, Bruins assistant captain Phil Esposito said famously, "If the Rangers think they're going to beat us in the next two games, they're full of 'Park' spelled backwards", Sure enough, the Bruins put them away in Game 6 at Madison Square Garden. Park finished a distant second to Orr in the Norris Trophy vote.
When the upstart World Hockey Association tried to lure Park away, the Rangers re-signed him to a $200,000-a-year contract that made him, briefly, the highest-paid player in the NHL.[4]
In the 1972 Summit Series, with Orr unable to play due to injury, Park emerged as a key contributor to Team Canada's series over the Soviets, being named Best Defenceman of the series.
After opening the 1975–76 season with their worst start in ten years, the Rangers began to unload its high-priced veterans. Park, along with Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi, was traded to the Boston Bruins in a November 7 blockbuster deal that also sent Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais to the Rangers, one that shocked everyone.[5][6] The New York press and public had felt that Park, 27 at the time, was overweight, overpaid and over the hill, as he was facing unfavorable comparisons to Denis Potvin.[4][7]
Boston Bruins
While Esposito and Vadnais were effective players for the Rangers, the team remained mired at the bottom of the division after "the trade", and Rangers general manager Emile Francis was eventually fired. Contrary to expectations that the Rangers had gotten the better end of the trade, the struggling Bruins were instantly rejuvenated and soon again became one of the NHL's best teams, despite the departures of Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr.[4]
Taking over the mantle of leadership from Orr, whose career was threatened by injury and who would soon leave the team, Park continued his success under coach Don Cherry. Park had previously been an end-to-end puck carrier, but with the Bruins, he was told by Cherry to concentrate on defence.[4] Getting over his unpopularity in Boston when he was a member of the arch-rival Rangers, Park made a relatively smooth transition to his new team,[8] even hitch-hiking a ride from two teenagers at 1 am after his car ran out of gas, and Park later rewarded them with free tickets to the next Boston home game.[4]
From 1977 to 1979, Cherry's "Lunch Pail A.C." captured three division titles for the Bruins. Park earned two first All-Star team selections, while coming in second in the Norris Trophy race twice in a Bruins' uniform, with 1977–78 being considered one of his finest seasons.[3] In 1977 and 1978, Park was a key contributor to Boston's back-to-back appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens both times.[9] His last highlight with Boston came in Game 7 of the Adams Division finals against the Buffalo Sabres in the 1983 playoffs, when Park scored the game-winning goal in overtime and help Boston advance in to the conference finals[10] — Park's career overlapped with the first four years of the emerging superstar defenceman of the Bruins, Ray Bourque, from 1979 to 1983.
Detroit Red Wings
The following season (1983–84), Park signed with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent.[11] He won the Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance that same year, having set a record for assists by a Red Wings' defenceman (53). After the 1985 season, still an effective player but hobbled by repeated knee injuries, he announced his retirement.[12][13] The next year, he served as Detroit's head coach before he was fired on June 3, 1986.[14][15][16][17]
Retirement and personal life
Soon after his retirement and before he coached the Red Wings, he served as a color commentator and studio analyst for CTV and ESPNNHL broadcasts in between.[18][19]
Park has resided on the North Shore of Massachusetts and on Sebago Lake in Maine for almost 40 years, with his wife Gerry.[24] He has five children and eight grandchildren. His autobiography, Straight Shooter: The Brad Park Story, was published in August, 2012.
Named to the second All-Star team in 1971 and 1973.
Runner up in Norris Trophy voting in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976 and 1978
Received both the most First Team All-Star nominations (other than Earl Seibert, who retired before the trophy was awarded) and was runner-up for the Norris more times without winning the Norris than any other defenceman in NHL history.
