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)
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)
