Wayne Cashman

Lore & Background

Cashman was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada on June 24, 1945. His family owned a farm just outside Kingston where he spent his childhood. He played junior hockey in the OHA with the Oshawa Generals, where one of his teammates was Bobby Orr. He made his NHL debut as an undrafted free agent at age 19, appearing in one game for the Bruins during the 1964-65 season.

He played his entire NHL career with the Boston Bruins (1964–65, 1967–83), wearing jersey number 12. He was a hard-grinding left winger on the line with centre Phil Esposito and right wing Ken Hodge. His role was to get into the corners and battle for loose pucks, and feed them to Esposito or Hodge. He was also a tenacious forechecker and served as an enforcer to protect Esposito and Orr.

Esposito regarded Cashman as underrated, saying, 'Wayne was the digger. He was the heart and soul of our line. Without a doubt.' Bobby Orr later stated, 'If you needed him to do something for your team, he could play anywhere you wanted.'

Cashman developed the nickname 'Cash' from teammates and fans. He was known as one of the best fighters of his era, throwing his signature uppercut. In the age of the 'Big Bad Bruins,' he was one of the biggest. He suffered from back pain throughout most of his career after crashing into a goal post during the 1972-73 season, but never let it slow him down.

Reader's Guide

Cashman's first full season with the Bruins was 1969-70, in which he appeared in 70 games, tallying 9 goals and 26 assists. He scored his first playoff goal and assists that postseason, finishing with 9 points as the Bruins won the 1970 Stanley Cup. In 1971-72, he scored 2 goals and 2 assists in a 5-4 victory over Detroit on March 4, 1972. He scored twice in the deciding game of the 1972 Stanley Cup finals against the New York Rangers, won by Boston 3-0, as the Bruins won their second Stanley Cup in 3 years.

In 1972, he played for Team Canada in the first four games of the Summit Series. Before the final four games, an exhibition game in Sweden saw Ulf Sterner's stick get lodged in Cashman's mouth, cutting his tongue open, requiring 50 stitches and keeping him out of the rest of the Summit Series. The 1972-73 season saw his first career hat trick on January 21, 1973, with all 3 goals in the second period of an 8-2 victory over the California Golden Seals.

Seven days later on January 28, he scored another hat trick along with an assist in a 6-5 victory over Los Angeles. The 1973-74 season was his best statistically: he finished fourth in the league in points with 89 (30 goals, 59 assists), played in the All-Star Game, and was named to the NHL Second All-Star team. That year he joined teammates Esposito (145), Orr (122) and Hodge (105) where they finished 1–2–3–4 in league scoring, the second and last time in NHL history the season's top four scorers all played for one team.

He had two 5-point games that season: March 6, 1974 vs. St. Louis (3 goals, 2 assists) and April 7 vs. Toronto (3 goals, 2 assists). During the 1974-75 season he appeared in only 42 games due to a ruptured disc in his back requiring surgery. He made a full comeback in 1975-76, playing all 80 games for the first and only time of his career, scoring 28 goals and 43 assists. He missed 15 games in 1976-77 due to back issues but still scored 15 goals and 37 assists.

In the 1977 playoffs he appeared in all 14 games scoring 9 points as the Bruins reached the 1977 Stanley Cup finals, where they were swept by Montreal 4-0.

Did You Know?

• He scored his first NHL goal on November 6, 1968, in Boston's 7-1 home victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
• He had two 5-point games in the 1973-74 season: March 6 vs. St. Louis and April 7 vs. Toronto.
• Cashman was named captain at the start of the 1977-78 season and held the position until his retirement in 1983.