Stanley Carl "Bulldog" Jonathan (born September 5, 1955) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
former
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...
left winger
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
, most notably for the
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making ...
of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
, for whom he played for parts of eight seasons. He featured in two
Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...
with the Bruins (1977, 1978). Jonathan was born in
Ohsweken, Ontario
Ohsweken () is a dispersed rural community located within the Six Nations of the Grand River, in the County of Brant, Ontario, Canada. Approximately 300 of the 2,700 homes on the reserve are in Ohsweken, and it is the site of the reserve govern ...
, but grew up in
Hagersville, Ontario
Hagersville is a community in Haldimand County, Ontario in Canada.
Location and airports
*Hagersville is approximately southwest of Hamilton, Ontario, southwest of Caledonia, Ontario, and northeast of Port Dover, Ontario.
*Hagersville's ne ...
.
Playing career
Stan Jonathan was drafted in the fifth round (86th overall) of the 1975 NHL entry draft by the Bruins. Ignored by most other scouts and by Bruins general manager
Harry Sinden
Harry James Sinden (born September 14, 1932) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and executive. He served as a coach, general manager, and team president for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL), and was the coach of ...
, Jonathan was picked up thanks to the shrewdness of
Don Cherry
Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...
, who had seen him play with the
Peterborough Petes
The Peterborough Petes are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The team has played at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, since 1956, and is the oldest continuously operating team in the league.
...
earlier that season, Jonathan's third season in Peterborough.
Cherry stated later that the proudest discovery of his hockey career was Stan Jonathan.
While Jonathan played with Peterborough, they represented Canada well as they placed third at the first unofficial world junior championship in 1973–1974.
Jonathan started his NHL career with one game in the
1975–76 NHL season
The 1975–76 NHL season was the 59th season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, defeating the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers in the final.
This season also marked the final time that Hockey Ni ...
, before being called up permanently for the 1976–77 season. He typified Bruins hockey, displaying both outstanding offensive ability and toughness. Jonathan was adept at knocking in rebounds, and Cherry, his coach at the time, stated that he had the most accurate shot in the league. As a rookie, he led all
NHL players in shooting percentage, putting goals in at a clip of 23.9%.
That year,
1977–78, was his most productive season as he scored 27 goals with 25 assists. He also had 116 penalty minutes that year.
his second season, he was again among the top-ten players in shooting percentage, at 22.3%.
That year he won the Bruins' "7th Player Award" voted on by the fans for the player who exceeded expectations.
Arguably Jonathan's most famous moment was his savage beating of
Pierre Bouchard
Pierre Émile Bouchard (born February 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals. He was selected by the Canadiens in the first ...
in a brawl during Game 4 of the
1978 Stanley Cup Finals. Challenged by Bouchard, who outweighed Jonathan by thirty pounds and stood six inches taller, Jonathan held his own, breaking Bouchard's nose and cheekbone and knocking him to the ice.
His 1978–79 season was shortened by an injury, but Jonathan played in all 11 playoff games of 1979. Jonathan scored a hat-trick in Game #6 of Boston's semifinal series versus Montreal, contributing to a 5–2 win in game 6 of the semi-finals against the Montreal Canadiens, which forced a game 7. He returned the following year and scored 21 goals and 19 assists. He also added 208 penalty minutes.
The Bruins traded him to the
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
on November 8, 1982, in exchange for cash. Jonathan played 19 games for Pittsburgh and retired after the
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
season. He finished his NHL career with 91 goals and 110 assists in 411 games.
He is a full-blooded Tuscarora, born in Ohsweken, Ontario, a Six Nations reserve near Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
Stan Jonathan was charged with criminal negligence in a hunting accident on the Six Nations reserve that killed Peter Kosid of Hamilton, Ontario, on Sunday, November 11, 2012. The criminal charges against Jonathan in the hunting death of Peter Kosid have been withdrawn.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
References
External links
*
1975 NHL Amateur Draft: Stan Jonathan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonathan, Stan
1955 births
Living people
Baltimore Skipjacks players
Boston Bruins draft picks
Boston Bruins players
Canadian ice hockey left wingers
Dayton Gems players
First Nations sportspeople
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Indianapolis Racers draft picks
Sportspeople from the County of Brant
Peterborough Petes (ice hockey) players
Pittsburgh Penguins players
Rochester Americans players
Sportspeople from Haldimand County