Gord Kluzak – What Happened?

[BaddaBing Badda Boom]

I can remember even as a Rags fan the anticipation surrounding Gord Kluzak. This guy was advertised as the beast of beasts. This was coming from Boston management and even the NY broadcasters were over the moon. I ask what happened? The dude was big enough? Why the bust? I see a bunch of mid-level guys and whenever he faced a heavy it seemingly did not work out for him. To you Boston guys do you think he came as advertised?

[Golden Gloves22]

All i know is he had horrible knee injuries that ended his career which sucked cause he was a great defencemen, clearly capable of standing in with anyone in the NHL, too bad he is now basically anti-fighting in his commentary on NESN.

[blockerpunch]

Originally Posted by BaddaBing Badda Boom

I can remember even as a Rags fan the anticipation surrounding Gord Kluzak. This guy was advertised as the beast of beasts. This was coming from Boston management and even the NY broadcasters were over the moon. I ask what happened? The dude was big enough? Why the bust? I see a bunch of mid-level guys and whenever he faced a heavy it seemingly did not work out for him. To you Boston guys do you think he came as advertised?

Kluzak from my understanding was not a popular choice as a draft pick with the fans and had a knee injury even before entering the NHL. He ended up having several knee operations (9 or 10). I thought in terms of fighting he was okay, definitely not the beast of all beasts though:

Did a good job holding his own vs. Probert in a pretty good dance:

Gord Kluzak vs Bob Probert - YouTube

Wild fight with a prime Jim Kyte that he does not win but doesn't take a backwards step in their free swinging affair:

Gord Kluzak vs Jim Kyte - YouTube

Nilan held on tight:

Gord Kluzak vs Chris Nilan - YouTube

Did great in one of his tilts with Brown:

Gord Kluzak vs Dave Brown Round 2 - YouTube

Thumped by Brownie in this one:

Dave Brown vs Gord Kluzak March 12, 1983 - YouTube

I give him the nod against Tocchet here:

Rick Tocchet vs Gord Kluzak - YouTube

Speed bags Foligno who could actually handle himself pretty well:

Mike Foligno vs Gord Kluzak - YouTube

Goes into a haymaker fest with Playfair and comes out on the short end:

Gord Kluzak vs Larry Playfair - YouTube

Looked good vs. Richter who resorts to headbutting and tripping:

Gord Kluzak vs Dave Richter - YouTube

Does well with Maguire:

Kevin Maguire vs Gord Kluzak - YouTube

Good names on his card and fought open. Got popped a couple times like the Brown fight and vs. Dineen:

Dineen TKO's Kluzak 1/15/90 - YouTube

Pretty game fighter for a top draft pick. Out of that draft Nylund really could have been the biggest threat as a tough guy, too bad he also struggled with injuries, also the Probert KO is what he is probably most remembered by.

[spiderarms]

The injury bug caught up with him. Certainly tough enough to deal with the rough stuff but not what I would consider an elite fighter or one I would consider a potential top heavy. More than willing with a great reach, early problems with balance. Obviously did not live up to advanced billing. I would have to say a major disappointment.

[fansince65]

Gord KluzaK's knee problems started with the Medicine Hat Tigers , he missed half the 81/82 season plus all the playoffs after he tore up his knee on Feb.9/82 .
That didn't stop Harry Sinden from picking him First overall in the NHL draft , he took him over some real good players that had long careers in the NHL , players like Brian Bellows , Scott Stevens , Phil Housley , Dave Andreychuk , Thomas Sandstrom , Pat Verbeek , Doug Gilmour just too mention a few , his knee injury problems cut his career short , he was the last I heard doing broadcasts for the Bruins ..

[Habs # 1]

Amazing D man and a tank no doubt about it... FVCKING NAILS!!!

[Redzilla]

Interesting that Kluzak went into the studio as an analyst after Jack Edwards joined the play-by-play team. He was the color commentator and probably did not have enough Tylenol for the Jack Edwards era.

[itsJ.Millertime]

Originally Posted by fansince65

Gord KluzaK's knee problems started with the Medicine Hat Tigers , he missed half the 81/82 season plus all the playoffs after he tore up his knee on Feb.9/82 .

Kluzak played for Billings not Medicine Hat.

As for his career I remember when the B's drafted him and reading about it in the hockey news, I was very disapointed because I was hoping so much for Gary Nylund who also never quite lived up to the tough guy hype he came into the league with but had a better career. As has been said he inured his knee early on and never quite lived up to his potential although he did play very well when he wasn't hurt.

As for fighting he seemed like a guy who didn't really like to fight much but did it when he had too,probably why he's anti fighting now.

[I like Boobs]

You know in almost 11 years on here, I don't think I've ever seen a reference to the old Billings Bighorn's team until now. Pretty neat. They had some guys with a lot of high PIMs and fight totals on that ill fated franchise... A young Bob Rouse played in Billings as Kluzak's defense partner and went on to have a fine career. Pretty tough blue line pairing there!

Kluzak looked like he was going to be another in the long line of crease clearing defensemen that fought around 8-10 times a year, while putting up solid defense and 40 points a year from the blue line. He'd get 4 or 5 million for doing that today.

He's also from "Climax" Saskatchewan. You wouldn't think a good guy from "Climax" would turn anti-fighting.

A brief history of Kluzak's Knee injuries/operations:

s: Perhaps no other high-profile draft pick in the history of the NHL suffered from the kind of chronic knee problems that Kluzak endured during his nine-season pro career. The knee trouble dated back to Kluzak's junior hockey days with Billings. Although he avoided knee injuries for his first two NHL seasons, he ran out of luck during Boston's final preseason game in October 1984. In that Oct. 7, 1984, game vs. New Jersey at Portland, Maine, Kluzak tore ligaments in his left knee when he collided in mid-ice with Devils defenseman Dave Lewis. The injury, which required major reconstructive surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital on Oct. 8, 1984, forced Kluzak to miss the entire 1984-85 regular season and 1985 playoffs. Prior to the injury, Kluzak had scored one goal and added seven assists in nine preseason games. Kluzak resumed skating in late spring of 1985 and finally to action for the 1985-86 season-opener vs. Toronto on Oct. 10, 1985. Although he steered clear of knee trouble and had his best season in 1985-86, Kluzak ran out of luck again in September 1986, when he required further surgery on his left knee. As a result of the surgery, he missed the entire 1986-87 regular season and 1987 playoffs. During this time, Kluzak went to Buffalo, N.Y., where he worked with doctors from the NFL's Buffalo Bills, who had more experience than Boston Dr. Richard Weiss at bringing players back from knee injuries. On May 29, 1987, Kluzak's left knee endured arthroscopic surgery for the fourth time during the 1986-87 season and a surgical procedure for the sixth time in his career, as doctors tried to ready him for the 1987-88 season. Kluzak managed to come back in 1987-88, returning to action for the first time in Boston's Oct. 8, 1987, season-opener vs. Washington. Although he sprained his left knee later in October 1987 and his right knee in February 1988, Kluzak managed to play 66 of Boston's 80 games during the 1987-88 season and all 23 playoff games. He appeared to be over his troubles, but these troubles were in fact only just beginning, as Kluzak would manage to play just 13 NHL games over the next three seasons. During Boston's training camp on Sept. 17, 1988, Kluzak endured his eighth career operation on his left knee. He did not return to action until Boston's March 16, 1989, game vs. Quebec. Three days later, in Boston's March 19, 1989, game vs. Hartford, Kluzak re-aggravated his left knee. He missed the remainder of the 1988-89 season and entire 1989 playoffs with the injury, which required his ninth career operation on April 17, 1989. When the knee failed to respond properly that summer, doctors performed another operation in August 1989. Unable to start the 1989-90 season due to continued pain in the knee, Kluzak had his 10th career surgery on Oct. 27, 1989. He finally returned to action for Boston's Jan. 2, 1990, game at Pittsburgh, but re-aggravated the injury during Boston's Jan. 17, 1990, game at Hartford and was forced to miss the remainder of the 1989-90 regular season and entire 1990 playoffs. In a last-ditch effort to save the knee for the 1990-91 season, doctors performed an 11th surgery on Kluzak in May 1990. Kluzak returned to action for the final time during Boston's Nov. 3, 1990, game vs. Buffalo. After re-aggravating the left knee during Boston's Nov. 5, 1990, game at N.Y. Rangers, Kluzak decided the chronic injury was too severe for him to overcome. He announced his retirement on Nov. 12, 1990, at an emotional Boston news conference.

[I like Boobs]

Kluzak was hardly a bust. He played on one knee for most of his career and was never really at 100%... Injuries play a factor in any player's development.

[smashem]

Rick Tocchet said Kluzak punched him the hardest in any fight he had, The only fight that disappointed me was his loss to Dineen. I also remember the Rags announcers saying when he was fighting was Beck holding on and wrestled him to the ground, seemed like they were saying Kluzak wanted to bow up, And Beck declined

[fansince65]

Originally Posted by itsJ.Millertime

Kluzak played for Billings not Medicine Hat.

As for his career I remember when the B's drafted him and reading about it in the hockey news, I was very disapointed because I was hoping so much for Gary Nylund who also never quite lived up to the tough guy hype he came into the league with but had a better career. As has been said he inured his knee early on and never quite lived up to his potential although he did play very well when he wasn't hurt.

As for fighting he seemed like a guy who didn't really like to fight much but did it when he had too,probably why he's anti fighting now.

I think in my post I stated Kluzak's problems started with Medicine Hat , dont think I said he played for them ..

[Johnny Pie]

I remember calling sportsphone for updates on draft day. Bellows was the guy everyone was sure to go number 1. At the time I had mixed emotions when I heard the Bruins agreed not to pick Bellows in exchange for Dave Donnelly and Palmer,two wingers. I knew that Kluzak was a big tough excellent dman from the scouting reports but Bellows was talked about like he was going to be a real star. I always of course loved the tough players so Kluzak was definetly going to be tougher than Bellows and at the time they were saying Palmer was a fast potentially good scoring winger. As it turned out Gord was hit with that Bruin major injury jinx. He would have been a top d-man for years in my opinion. He was a good fighter and he certainly didn't shy away from the big boys. Even in 1988 after some major injuries he looked excellent in the playoffs vs Montreal. I really thought he was over the hump but that turned out to be the begining of the end. He is another of the what might have been Bruins. I thought he showed plenty in the time he played and he had that desire to go against the toughest which means a lot to me. Probert, Richter, Playfair, Tochett, Kyte , Brown etc not bad and he wasn't in there grappling or shadowboxing he was willing to trade punches. I was at the game in Boston when Brown jumped him along the boards and was sure there would have been a round two if he didn't get hurt during that fight. It was a shame the injuries killed his career.

[mikebflorida]

Watched all the fights above and was not impressed. Kluzak was certainly big enough but was definitely a notch below the heavyweights of the time, healthy or not. Probie just rang him up with about 10 solid punches. All Kluzak proved to me is that he could take a punch.

I'm also very disappointed that anyone would start a thread where I have to hear Derek Sanderson. That's just mean man!

[Johnny Pie]

Originally Posted by mikebflorida

Watched all the fights above and was not impressed. Kluzak was certainly big enough but was definitely a notch below the heavyweights of the time, healthy or not. Probie just rang him up with about 10 solid punches. All Kluzak proved to me is that he could take a punch.

I'm also very disappointed that anyone would start a thread where I have to hear Derek Sanderson. That's just mean man!

not impressed . Remember this guy was the number one pick in the draft. He was not called up as a fighter. He was a top level hard hitting d man. He stands in there trading shots with the biggest fighters [size and rep] of the day and your not impressed. sorry . You look at some you tube fights and make like he was some kind of punching bag. If he doesn't get hurt he would have been along the lines of Chris Pronger playing wise. Tough,top defenseman. How many top fighters did Pronger fight ? Don't confuse Kluzak with someone who was called up to be a fighter. I think it is really impressive
that he challenges and opens up against top fighters. And I think he does alright. He had some fights vs other players that were pretty entertaning. Adams , Anderson etc. This guy opened up and swung it out most of the time. Doing reasonably well. I think that WAS IMPRESSIVE. He didn't live up to expectations but that does have to do with his being injured so much of the time. But if you followed him while he played and understand what he was[ a potential top player not just a fighter ] I think you might be more impressed.