Butch Goring
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Robert Thomas "Butch" Goring (born October 22, 1949 in St. Boniface, Manitoba) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player.
After finishing his junior career with the Dauphin Kings of the [Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL)], Goring was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1969 Entry Draft, 51st overall. He played parts of two seasons for the Kings in 1970 and 1971 while generally toiling for Los Angeles' Springfield AHL farm team; he had a spectacular season for Springfield in 1971, leading the league in goals, assists and points in the playoffs to lead his team (along with future Hall of Fame goaltender Billy Smith) to the Calder Cup championship.
The next season Goring was promoted for good to the NHL, and starred for nine seasons for the Los Angeles Kings, becoming well known for skilled faceoff, defensive and penalty killing work and scoring thirty or more goals four times. Goring was also known for his explosive speed. He won both the Bill Masterton Trophy and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1978. Prior to the 1978-79 season he was offered a five-year, $1-million contract by the World Hockey Association's Edmonton Oilers<ref>legendsofhockey.net profile of Butch Goring (http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=12752)</ref>. Although he turned the offer down, he realized he wasn't under appreciated around the NHL as he had suspected.
In the 1980 season, Goring was traded in March to the New York Islanders in exchange for Billy Harris and Dave Lewis, and was widely regarded as being one of the key elements that pushed the Islanders over the top to become champions. That season, he scored 19 points in 21 playoff games to help Long Island to the first of four consecutive Stanley Cup championships. The next season (1980–1981), he improved upon his previous playoff run, scoring 10 goals and 10 assists in 20 playoff games, and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff most valuable player, as the Islanders won their second Cup.
Goring's final NHL season was 1985, where after his release by the Islanders he played effectively for half a season with the Boston Bruins, before becoming the Bruins' coach for a season and a half. After he was fired as the Bruins' coach in 1987, he played briefly for the Nova Scotia Oilers of the AHL before retiring for good.
Goring retired having played 1107 games, with 375 goals and 513 assists for 888 points. He recorded only 102 penalty minutes, the lowest total in history for anyone playing in more than a thousand games. Many of his fans will always remember his trademark "JOFA" helmet worn with a loose chinstrap with Goring's long, dirty blonde hair streaming out of the back of it, as he darted with a reckless abandon on the ice and his habit of going barefoot in his skates (which were not laced but tightened with velcro straps).
Goring was most recognizable for a helmet that he had worn since he was 12 years old and continued to wear throughout his entire professional career. He also had a reputation as one of the poorest dressers in the league. In the 1970s, on a road trip with the Kings, a burglar broke into his hotel room and stole everything that belonged to his roommate but left all of Goring's clothes hanging in the closet untouched<ref>legendsofhockey.net profile of Butch Goring (http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=12752)</ref>.
