TUSCARORA NHL PLAYER STAN JONATHAN BORN
Hailing from the Six Nations’ Reserve in Oshweken, near Brantford, Ontario, Stan worked on the high steel during summers as a teen. He was playing junior hockey for the Peterborough Petes (1972-75) when, in 1975, Boston Bruins’ Head Coach Don Cherry & General Manager Harry Sinden went to check on a draft pick. Cherry noticed Jonathan instead. The B’s took him in the 5th round. He spent 1 season with the IHL Dayton Gems where he led playoff scorers. In 1976, Stan joined the Bruins and became a Boston crowd favorite. Just 5’8″ 175 lbs, he’d hit anything, but was an NHL shooting percentage leader in his first 2 years. He is most remembered in Boston for his classic fight with Montreal enforcer Pierre Bouchard in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals where a series of Stan’s lefts broke the Canadien’s nose and cheekbone. Jonathan also netted a hat trick (3 goals) against Montreal’s Ken Dryden in the 1979-80 semi-finals. Traded to Pittsburgh in 1982, he retired before the end of the season.
Source: Joe Pelletier, “Stan Jonathan,” Greatest Hockey Legends.com: The Hockey History Blog. Retrieved 7/20/2020, http://bruinslegends.blogspot.com/2006/06/stan-jonathan.html Photo: Boston Bruins, 1980. Public Domain.
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