By: Steve McClure | Follow me on Twitter / X @stmcclure1993
Happy birthday to ‘Steady’ Eddie Westfall. The Bruins’ alumnus, who helped bring two Stanley Cup titles to Boston, turns 84 today.
Westfall’s playing career started in Boston in 1961, but he was up and down between the big club and the AHL until he caught on for good in 1966. Due, in part, to his past experience as a defenseman, the Bruins deployed him on a checking line, and he was often tasked with defending the other team’s top scorer. Finding success in this role, he became known as ‘The Shadow’.
Over the course of eleven seasons in Boston, Westfall suited up for 733 regular season games (50 more in the playoffs), totaled 339 total points, and added eighteen short handed strikes—good for eighth all time in Bruins history. At the close of the 1968-69 campaign, Westfall was named by the Bruins’ fans as the ‘7th Player Award’ recipient for playing above and beyond expectations.
Westfall and his checking line were on the ice for Bobby Orr’s famous overtime goal in Game Four against St. Louis in 1970, which brought Boston its first championship in 29 years. As Westfall tells, “I had gone across the net and moved the puck, and Orr got it and moved it to Sanderson. And any time that Orr headed for the net, as an old defenseman, I automatically went back and covered his fanny at the point position.”
Westfall also won a Stanley Cup title in 1972, however, the Bruins lost him in the NHL expansion draft to the New York Islanders one month later. He excelled playing the same defensive role in New York and also scored 20+ goals for the Islanders twice.
In 1977 Westfall won the NHL’s Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy— for perseverance and sportsmanship—and over the course of his career, he played in a total of four NHL All-Star games.
In the fall of last year, Westfall was honored by being named to the Bruins’ ‘All-Centennial Team’. Happy 84th birthday, ‘Steady’ Eddie!
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