How Worcester's Dick Lamby ended up in Bobby Orr's final NHL fight

Following the 1978 NCAA Championship with BU, Worcester's Dick Lamby got his shot at pro hockey with St. Louis. He dressed and took a regular shift in the Blues final exhibition game with Chicago in the 1978-79 season, playing at old Chicago Stadium on West Madison.

Desperate to get noticed, Lamby picked a fight with undersized Darcy Rota after getting smacked in the face with an errant glove. 

"I'm just firing away," said Lamby, "all I know is that I got a little guy on the ice, I'm going to hit him as many times as I could to make an impression with the Blues." Little did he know that his childhood idol Bobby Orr was dressed for the hometown Hawks. Orr was making a final comeback bid after missing the better part of three straight seasons.

"I got tackled," said Lamby, "and I turn around to throw a punch, and it's Bobby Orr! I looked up and genuflected. I thought I was in heaven—I saw Jesus Christ."

excerpted from Jack Parker's Wiseguys (2018 University Press of New England)

Hobey Baker comes to The Book Stall

SAVE THIS DATE: January 23

Hockey author Tim Rappleye returns to the Book Stall 

in Winnetka to read and sign from his latest book: 

Hobey Baker, Upon Further Review.

Decades of research has produced this account of American hockey legend and war hero Hobey Baker, the last man to die in World War I and the first player inducted into the Hall of Fame.



It is the hundredth anniversary of Baker's death, and rumors of suicide continue to trail in his wake. Rappleye uncovered forgotten letters, damning newspaper stories, and one remarkable eyewitness account of Hobey's fatal last day, solving the mystery once and for all.


Last year, Rappleye entertained a full house at the Book Stall with his rollicking tales of Boston University's hockey Wiseguys. On January 23, expect a reading with brand new history of America's greatest amateur player, the man proclaimed the "King of Hockey" by our neighbors in Canada. 

Wednesday, January 23, 6 p.m. at the Book Stall in Winnetka.

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