Rick Middleton: Scorer, penalty killer, and playoff performer

Rick Middleton was one of Boston's top scorers in the '80s.
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He was one of the Boston Bruins’ top goal scorers in franchise history, but what may not be as well known is how prolific a playoff scorer he was and a top penalty killer.

I was thinking about Rick Middleton when I heard Brad Marchand had broken his 30-year-old record for most short-handed goals by a Bruin.

In the beginning
Rick Middleton was taken 14th overall by the New York Rangers in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft after playing his junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals where he led the league in scoring, was named the league’s most outstanding player, and was a second team all-star.

He spent the 1973-1974 season with Providence, the Rangers’ farm team, where he was the American Hockey League rookie of the year and a first team all-star. He joined the Rangers for the 1974-1975 season, where he scored 22 goals and had 18 assists for 40 points in 47 games, his time limited by injury. The following year, he played in 77 games, recording 24 goals and 26 assists for 50 points.

Middleton was traded to the Boston Bruins in May of 1976, where he would play the remainder of his career, the next 12 seasons.

Boston breakout
Rick Middleton scored a hat trick in his first game as a Bruin in 1976, and went on to record 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points that season. The next year his production continued to improve as he had 25 goals and 35 assists for 60 points in the 1977-1978 season, and 38 goals and 48 assists for 86 points in 1978-1979.

Dawn of the decade
Middleton’s best years would coincide with the start of the 1980s. In the 1979-1980 season, he had his first 40-goal, 90-point season, recording 40 goals and 52 assists for 92 points. That was his first of five straight seasons with 40 goals and 90 points. The next season 1980-1981, he cracked the 100-point plateau with 44 goals and 59 assists for 103 points.

The 1981-1982 season would be arguably his best year, as he cracked the 50-goal barrier with 51 goals, and added 43 assists for 94 points. He won the Lady Byng Trophy for most gentlemanly player and was a second team all-star.

Rick Middleton in the home white Bruins jersey of the '80s.
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The next year, 1982-1983, he helped lead the Bruins to the league's best record in the regular season, notching 49 goals and 47 assists for 96 points. He set unbroken records that year for most points scored in the playoffs by a player not advancing to the finals, with 33 points, and most points in a single playoff series, with 19, in the Adams Division Final.

In 1983-1984, Middleton had 105 points, on 47 goals and 58 assists, tying the team record for most points in a season by a right winger. That record still stands.

In 1984-1985, he had 30 goals and 46 assists for 76 points, followed by an injury-shortened season in 1985-1986 where he recorded 14 goals and 30 assists for 44 points in 49 games. He had been struck in the temple by a puck in practice that season, and was never exactly the same.

He played in 76 games in 1986-1987, scoring 31 goals and 31 assists for 68 points. Middleton had 13 goals and 19 assists for 32 points in 59 games in the 1987-1988 season, and retired at the end of that season.

Legacy
Rick Middleton played a total of 1,005 games, recording 988 points on the strength of 448 goals and 540 assists. He added 45 goals and 55 assists for an even 100 points in 114 playoff games. A total of 898 of those regular season points were with the Bruins as were all the playoff points. He also had seven hat tricks in a Bruins uniform, tied for sixth all time on the Bruins, had 10 seasons of 20-or-more-goals, eight 30-or-more-goal seasons, five with 40-or-more, a 50-goal season, and two 100-plus-point seasons. His 898 points from 1976-1988 were seventh overall in the NHL over that period and his 402 goals were also seventh overall for that period.

He has 25 short-handed goals for the Bruins, a team record broken by Brad Marchand in the 2018-2019 season, and is still ranked second all-time in shooting percentage, at 19.7, for players with more than 400 goals. He also holds the records for most points scored in the playoffs by a player not advancing to the finals, with 33 points, and most points in a single playoff series, with 19 made up of five goals and 14 assists, in the Adams Division Final, and most assists in one playoff series with 14.

In addition to winning the Lady Byng in 1982, he was a finalist six times.

He was also named co-captain of the Bruins in 1985, a position he held until he retired. He played for Team Canada in the 1981 Canada Cup, where they won silver, and the 1984 Canada Cup, where they took gold. In that 1984 Canada Cup, he was on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Michel Goulet where he recorded four goals and four assists for eight points in seven games. He also played in the 1981, 1982 and 1984 NHL all-star games.

In 2018, the Bruins retired his #16 jersey.

Parting thoughts
Rick Middleton was one of the best Bruins of all time, his numbers prove that. Yet, what I was reminded of was his ability to kill penalties, illustrated by those 25 short-handed goals, his class as exhibited by his Lady Byng Trophy, and his ability to produce in the playoffs, shown by his records for most points in one playoff series and most points scored in a playoff season not advancing to the finals. That record means he played one less series, which could have been up to seven less games, than other top scorers.

What I remember about Middleton was that that shock of hair he had, wearing no helmet, as he skated down the ice, either stick-handling the puck, pursuing the play, or checking his man.

There was also a moment in the 1979 playoffs when he apparently scored a goal that was called off. The Bruins desperately needed a goal to get back into a game and series with the Montreal Canadiens. There was a high shot and it looked to me that Middleton tried to either catch the puck or bat it down to his stick. Instead, it looked as if he tried to punch it into the net. There was no replay at the time, but the goal was disallowed and the Canadiens went on to win – again.

That play just symbolized to me then, the fact the Bruins could never catch a break against the Canadiens, much less beat them in the playoffs.

Not even one of their best players could catch a break.

And man, was Rick Middleton one of their best players.