Ted Green

Edward Joseph "Terrible Ted" Green (March 23, 1940 – October 8, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and player. Green played defence in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins and in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the New England Whalers and Winnipeg Jets, and was noted for his physical play; he won two Stanley Cups and three Avco World Trophys for a total of five league championships; Green is one of just seven players in the WHA to win the Avco Trophy three times and he was the first player to win Avco Cups with multiple teams. Green served as a head coach with the Edmonton Oilers and was an assistant coach with the Oilers and the New York Rangers. Green was suspended by the NHL for 13 games.

Despite headaches and a weakened left side, he returned to hockey in the following season. He played two more years with Boston (and played for the 1972 Cup-winning team) before jumping to the upstart New England Whalers in the WHA, being named their first captain and leading the team to the WHA's inaugural league championship. After three seasons with the Whalers, he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets, where he won the Avco Cup twice more. When he won the Cup in 1978, he became the first player to win the trophy three times. In the 1978-79 season in January 1979, Green announced his retirement on January 22, 1979 due to pain from his arthritic knees.

Green ended his playing career with 254 points and 1,029 penalty minutes in 620 games (NHL) and 180 points and 304 penalty minutes in 452 games (WHA). He ranked 17th all-time in games played in the WHA.

Coaching career After his retirement, Green coached the intermediate league Carman Hornets to a provincial title in 1979–80. He then joined the Edmonton Oilers as an assistant coach under close friend Glen Sather, who had played alongside him in Boston from 1967 to 1969. He attracted Sather's attention with his pages of notes that he wrote in scouting teams (as written by his left hand, which he had to learn to do after his injury). He won five more cups in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 to win seven in total.

Green was named head coach of the Oilers in 1991, just as the Oilers' 1980s championship years were ending, though he led the team to the conference finals in 1992. With the Oilers' dynasty disintegrating, they missed the playoffs altogether in 1993—the first time they had been out of the postseason as an NHL team. Following a slow start in the 1993–94 NHL season, Sather fired Green 24 games into the season.

Green died in Edmonton on October 8, 2019, after a long illness.

Awards and achievements Memorial Cup Championship (1959) NHL Second All-Star Team (1969) Played in NHL All-Star Game (1965 & 1969) Stanley Cup championship (1970, 1972) as a player Stanley Cup championship (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988) as assistant coach Stanley Cup championship (1990) as a co-coach Avco Cup championships (1973, 1976, & 1978) Inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 2003 Honoured Member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame Inaugural member of the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame Top 100 Bruins players of all time (2023)

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1956–57 St. Boniface Canadiens MJHL 17 1 2 3 76 7 0 0 0 10 1957–58 St. Boniface Canadiens MJHL 23 1 4 5 97 12 1 2 3 32 1957–58 St. Boniface Canadiens M-Cup — — — — — 11 2 3 5 38 1958–59 St. Boniface Canadiens MJHL 25 5 11 16 120 9 1 5 6 32 1958–59 Winnipeg Braves M-Cup — — — — — 16 2 6 8 50 1958–59 Winnipeg Warriors WHL 1 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 1959–60 Winnipeg Warriors WHL 70 8 20 28 109 — — — — — 1960–61 Boston Bruins NHL 1 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 1960–61 Kingston Frontenacs EPHL 11 1 5 6 30 5 1 0 1 2 1960–61 Winnipeg Warriors WHL 57 1 18 19 127 — — — — — 1961–62 Boston Bruins NHL 66 3 8 11 116 — — — — — 1962–63 Boston Bruins NHL 70 1 11 12 117 — — — — — 1963–64 Boston Bruins NHL 70 4 10 14 145 — — — — — 1964–65 Boston Bruins NHL 70 8 27 35 156 — — — — — 1965–66 Boston Bruins NHL 27 5 13 18 113 — — — — — 1966–67 Boston Bruins NHL 47 6 10 16 67 — — — — — 1967–68 Boston Bruins NHL 72 7 36 43 133 4 1 1 2 11 1968–69 Boston Bruins NHL 65 8 38 46 99 10 2 7 9 18 1970–71 Boston Bruins NHL 78 5 37 42 60 7 1 0 1 25 1971–72 Boston Bruins NHL 54 1 16 17 21 10 0 0 0 0 1972–73 New England Whalers WHA 78 16 30 46 47 12 1 5 6 25 1973–74 New England Whalers WHA 75 7 26 33 42 7 0 4 4 2 1974–75 New England Whalers WHA 57 6 14 20 29 3 0 0 0 2 1975–76 Winnipeg Jets WHA 79 5 23 28 73 11 0 2 2 16 1976–77 Winnipeg Jets WHA 70 4 21 25 45 20 1 3 4 12 1977–78 Winnipeg Jets WHA 73 4 22 26 52 8 0 2 2 2 1978–79 Winnipeg Jets WHA 20 0 2 2 16 — — — — — WHA totals 452 42 138 180 304 61 2 16 18 57 NHL totals 620 48 206 254 1,029 31 4 8 12 54

Coaching record Team Year Regular season Post season G W L T Pts Finish ResultEdmonton Oilers 1991–9280 36 34 10 82 3rd in Smythe Lost in conference finals Edmonton Oilers 1992–93 84 26 50 8 60 5th in Smythe Missed playoffs Edmonton Oilers 1993–94 24 3 18 3 9 6th in Smythe (fired)Total 188 65 102 21