This Day in Hockey History – July 5, 1979 – Coach Creighton up the Coast

Jul 5, 2019

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Coincidentally, July 5 has become a day of saying hello to NHL coaches. In 1979, the Boston Bruins hired Fred Creighton. In 1995, the New York Islanders welcomed Mike Milbury. And in 2000, the Columbus Blue Jackets selected their very first coach, Dave King. The earliest of these, Creighton, had quite the suit to fill after the Bruins fired their most-colorful coach, Don Cherry.

Neither Creighton nor Cherry ended the 1978-79 season happy. The former, after five decent seasons coaching the Atlanta Flames, had an early end to the playoffs (their fourth under his watch). The Toronto Maple Leafs swept the Flames in the preliminary round, so Atlanta chose not to keep Creighton. Meanwhile, under Cherry’s direction, the Bruins had made it to the Stanley Cup Final in two consecutive seasons (only to lose to the Montreal Canadiens). Rather than return for a third season in a row, the Bruins lost the semi-finals to the Canadiens thanks to the infamous too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty. The Bruins consequently fired Cherry, releasing him from his coaching contract.

The Colorado Rockies were on the hunt for a coach after having Aldo Guidolin take over for Pat Kelly mid-season. They actually approached Creighton first, but before he could decide, at the end of May they secured Cherry to a multi-year contract for $125,000. Cherry’s reputation led to a bump in Colorado season tickets sales. With his leadership, Denver billboards proclaimed, “Come to the fights and watch a Rockies game break out!” However, he fought with Rockies GM Ray Miron and missed the playoffs with a record of 19-48-13. Knowing he was fired, he wore cowboy boots and hat to his final game. Cherry then turned his attention to a broadcasting career. The Rockies would move to New Jersey in 1982.

Meanwhile, looking to replace Cherry, the Bruins chose Creighton. After losing his gig with the Flames and then missing out on Colorado’s offer, Creighton said, “I considered leaving hockey, but I felt I was a good hockey coach and I wanted to show some people they were wrong. I felt unfulfilled. This (Boston) is the only job in hockey I wanted.” As one of the reasons he wanted to coach in Boston, he said, “The Bruins play the game the way I think it should be played … Aggressiveness is a trade mark of the Bruins; they force you into mistakes.”

The Bruins announced their coaching decision to the media at Garden’s Blade and Boards club. Everyone worried about inevitable comparisons between Cherry and Creighton. Bruins GM Harry Sinden said at the announcement, “It’s the first thing I told him the first interview. I explained it all and told him that if he didn’t think he could handle it, talking with the press and all the rest, then we really shouldn’t go any further. He said – and I liked it – that he surely didn’t have any book of one-liners that was going to keep people laughing for five or eight years, but that he would always talk and try to be honest. That was the best he could do.” Creighton himself told the press, “The way I’d like it to be is that everyone would say, ‘All right, Don Cherry did a fine job, let’s get back and see what Fred Creighton can do now. I’d like people to say that Fred Creighton is on the scene, and we’ll give him a chance, not prejudge him one way or the other.” Cherry gave advice to Creighton, saying, “He’s got to do two things. One, don’t get too much publicity. And two, do as you’re told. I think he’ll be a good coach. He’s a good guy, and probably the best choice they could have made, with all the jerks running around here looking for jobs. In addition, I know he’ll treat my boys right.”

As it turned out, the Bruins’ season record slightly improved in 1979-80 (from 100 to 105 points). However, Creighton only coached 73 of those games (40-20-13). He had not quite followed Cherry’s advice and had issues with Sinden, who fired Creighton and coached the remaining 15 games himself (until the Bruins lost the quarter-finals). That marked the end of Creighton’s NHL coaching career.

Creighton then coached the Central Hockey League’s Indianapolis Checkers, an affiliate of the New York Islanders. They won the Adams Cup championships twice. In 1984, he became their GM. The following year, he moved on to the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, the Springfield Indians. All told, Creighton was credited with 713 wins in the 1,311 games he coached over his long career. In 2009, he was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, and despite battling Alzheimer’s and nearing the end of his life, he was able to attend the ceremony.