Known as ‘Super Pest’, according to a number of his hockey cards, and ‘Bugsy’ by the rest of the hockey world, Watson missed out on Stanley Cup championships with the Habs in 1964-65 and 1967-68, appearing only periodically during the regular season for Montreal. The rest of his career was spent with some lowly teams and his playoff action was sparse.
Junior and Minor Pro
NHL Career
Hockey Card Collection
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Bryan Watson – Junior and Minors
Bryan Watson played three years of junior in the OHA from 1960-61 to 1962-63, all with the Peterborough Petes (still known as the TPT’s in his first year). In that first year, the rookie played sparingly on the Scotty Bowman coached team. All three years were mediocre for Peterborough at best.
In 1964-65, Bryan played a full season in the American Hockey League with the Quebec Aces. Over 64 regular season games, he scored a goal and assisted on 17 while sitting 186 minutes in the penalty box. Watson placed fourth in the league for PIM. In the playoffs, he played all of Quebec’s five games and sat 35 minutes in the sin bin.
The Aces were coached by hockey legend Bernie Geoffrion and finished first in the Western Division, second overall. In a bizarre playoff format, in the opening round Quebec faced off against the Rochester Americans. The Amerks finished first in the Eastern Division and first overall in the league. This meant that one of the top two teams in the AHL would be eliminated in the first round. Quebec lost the battle in five games.
Just before becoming a true regular in the NHL, Bryan spent the 1967-68 season with the Houston Apollos of the CPHL. Over 50 games, he scored two and assisted on 37 for 39 points while sitting 293 minutes in the box. The Apollos finished last in the Southern Division and fifth in the eight team league. Houston did not qualify for the post season.
Watson led the CPHL in PIM, 69 more than the guy in second place. Among the top ten were future NHLers Carol Vadnais and Pat Quinn. Despite the numbers that placed Bryan on the dark side, he was the recipient of the CPHL Most Valuable Player Award and Most Valuable Defenseman Award. He was also a First Team All-Star defenseman.
Bryan Watson – NHL
Bryan Watson played 878 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1963-64 and 1978-79. Along with the Montreal Canadiens, Watson also played for the Detroit Red Wings, Oakland Seals, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals. He was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in the 15th round of the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft but never played for the team.
Bryan Watson Collection
Over his career, Watson scored just 17 goals in the regular season and totalled 152 points. His 2,212 PIM still rank him 42nd overall. In the playoffs, Bryan played just 32 games, scoring two goals and sitting 70 minutes.
He was a member of the Montreal Canadiens in 1964-65 for five games during the regular season but did not appear in the playoffs and therefore was not a member of the Habs Stanley Cup championship team that year.
The following year, 1965-66, Watson played all 70 regular season games for the Detroit Red Wings and all 12 games in the playoffs. Detroit fell to the Montreal Canadiens in six games in the finals. That would be as close as Bryan would get to the Stanley Cup.
Two years later, in 1971-72, Watson led the league with 212 PIM still as a member of the Penguins. The following year, his numbers fell to 179 PIM and his position fell to seventh. A new era had begun with Dave Schultz, Bob Kelly, Andre Dupont and Don Saleski, all of the Philadelphia Flyers, finishing ahead of him. Throw Steve Durbano into the mix and that was a tough bunch of customers.
By 1974-75, Watson had moved a bit northwest to the Detroit Red Wings while the Dead Things era was just starting to blossom. Bryan finished fourth in the NHL with 238 PIM. That was the year that Dave Schultz set the current record with 472 penalty minutes with the Broad Street Bullies.
Schultz took a break in 1975-76 and Watson placed second with 322 PIM, still with the Red Wings. In first place was Steve Durbano.
Bryan Watson’s final year of pro hockey came in 1978-79. He started the season with 20 games as a member of the Washington Capitals. He then moved to the World Hockey Association and played 21 more with the Cincinnati Stingers in the regular season and three more in the playoffs. Watson was surely the only player trying to get into the WHA during that 1978-79 season.
Watson spent 1980-81 as an associate coach with the Edmonton Oilers. For a short period, he was the sole head coach before Glen Sather took over.
Bryan Watson – Rookie Card
The back of that 1964-65 Topps rookie card interestingly shows his stats with the Quebec Aces in the AHL and not the five NHL games he played with the Canadiens. It also brings to light the fact that he didn’t go directly from Montreal to Detroit for the 1965-66 season. He was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks then picked up in the intraleague draft by the Habs.
Not quite an error but there’s a bit of a disconnect on the back of Watson’s 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee card. It states, “He has spent over 1,100 minutes in the penalty box over the years.” This is true but the number is a bit dated – below in the stats section is shows he has accumulated 1,219 PIM.
Bryan Watson Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1960-61 | Peterboro T.P.T’s | OHA | 18 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 1961-62 | Peterborough Petes | OHA | 50 | 3 | 16 | 19 | 129 |
| 1962-63 | Peterborough Petes | OHA | 49 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 80 |
| 1963-64 | Omaha Knights | CPHL | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| 1963-64 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 39 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 18 |
| 1964-65 | Quebec Aces | AHL | 64 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 186 |
| 1964-65 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 1965-66 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 133 |
| 1966-67 | Memphis Wings | CPHL | 16 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 76 |
| 1966-67 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 48 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 66 |
| 1967-68 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 1967-68 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 22 |
| 1967-68 | Houston Apollos | CPHL | 50 | 2 | 37 | 39 | 293 |
| 1968-69 | Oakland Seals | NHL | 50 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 97 |
| 1968-69 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 18 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 35 |
| 1969-70 | Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 1969-70 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 61 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 189 |
| 1970-71 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 43 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 119 |
| 1971-72 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 75 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 212 |
| 1972-73 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 69 | 1 | 17 | 18 | 179 |
| 1973-74 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 38 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 137 |
| 1973-74 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| 1973-74 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 21 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 99 |
| 1974-75 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 238 |
| 1975-76 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 79 | 0 | 18 | 18 | 322 |
| 1976-77 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 39 |
| 1976-77 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 56 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 91 |
| 1977-78 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 79 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 167 |
| 1978-79 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 36 |
| 1978-79 | Cincinnati Stingers | WHA | 21 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 56 |
| NHL Totals | 878 | 17 | 135 | 152 | 2212 | ||
| WHA Totals | 21 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 56 |