Harry Sinden

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Lore & Background

Sinden played defence for the Toronto Marlboros bantams before moving up to the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey Association for junior hockey. He played in Oshawa from 1949 to 1953, and then for six seasons in the OHA senior division with the Whitby Dunlops. He was team captain when the Dunlops won the Allan Cup in 1957, and then the 1958 Ice Hockey World Championships for Canada in Oslo, Norway. He led Dunlops to another Allan Cup in 1959 also winning a silver medal as a member of the Canadian national men's hockey team at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. The core of the team was the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, with Sinden one of four players from the Dunlops added to the lineup to strengthen the team for the Olympics. Near the end of the season, the Montreal Canadiens placed Sinden on their negotiation list but didn't reach an agreement with him. After playing some games with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens in the Eastern Professional Hockey League he met Lynn Patrick, general manager of the Boston Bruins, who signed him as a player – assistant coach for the Kingston Frontenacs, the Bruins' EPHL affiliate, starting in 1960–61. He was named a first-team all-star and in 1962 he was named the league’s top defenseman (an honor shared with Jean Gauthier) for the 1961–62 season. The next season he kept up his great play repeating as the leagues top defensive player along with being named league MVP for 1962–63. Sinden also helped lead the team to the league title that year. After the league folded, the team became the Minneapolis Bruins of the Central Hockey League for the 1963–64 season with Sinden as player-coach. After two seasons the team moved again, becoming the Oklahoma City Blazers, where Sinden finished his playing career in 1965–66 after six seasons with the franchise. In that final season, he coached the team to the league championship. In May 1966, Sinden moved up to the NHL as head coach of the Boston Bruins. At 33 he was the youngest coach in the league at the time, coaching the youngest team. In his first season — with a team that included rookie Bobby Orr—the Bruins finished out of the playoffs with the worst record in the league. But in his second year, aided by the acquisitions of Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield in a blockbuster deal with the Chicago Black Hawks, the team posted a winning record. In his third s

In Their Own Story

Following the adrenaline of the Summit Series, Sinden returned to Boston within days, signing a five-year deal as general manager. He succeeded Milt Schmidt, who moved to an executive director role before becoming the inaugural GM for the Washington Capitals. Sinden's tenure as GM was defined by longevity and consistency; he set the North American record with 29 consecutive seasons in the playoffs. His teams reached the finals five times (1974, 1977, 1978, 1988, 1990), though they lost each time, and secured two regular-season first-place finishes in 1983 and 1990. He became the first NHL general manager to reach 1,000 wins on October 17, 1995, finishing with a record of 1170–763–301. His leadership was not without controversy; in 1996–97, he was fined $5,000 for verbal abuse toward a video-replay official and later refused to honor a salary-arbitration award for Dmitri Khristich, allowing the scorer to leave without compensation.

Reader's Guide

Harry Sinden played defence throughout his playing career, not forward. He won the Stanley Cup as a coach in 1970; the source says his name was inscribed on the Cup in 2011 as a second time, but does not specify his role that year. The claim that he was godfather of Gord Downie is not supported by the source and is considered invented. All other details in the entry are consistent with the source article.

Did You Know?

• Sinden was the youngest coach in the NHL at age 33 when he took over the Bruins in 1966.
• He coached the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup in 29 years in 1970, sweeping the St. Louis Blues.
• Sinden was head coach and manager of Team Canada for the 1972 Summit Series, leading them to a dramatic victory.
• He served as Bruins general manager for over 28 years, setting a record of 29 consecutive playoff seasons.
• Sinden was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983 as a builder.