After going pro in 1963-64, following a loss in the Memorial Cup finals with the Niagara Falls Flyers, it took Don Awrey until the NHL expansion year of 1967-68 to finally really catch on full-time in the league. Unlike many that year, Awrey’s break didn’t come with one of the six expansion franchises but with the Boston Bruins, a team he’d toiled with since 1963-64.
A national finalist in junior. A Calder Cup finalist in the American Hockey League. Awrey would win two Stanley Cup championships with the Bruins and would sort of win a third with the Montreal Canadiens. However, after playing most of the regular season with those 1975-76 Habs, Don didn’t play a single game in the playoffs and his name was not engrave on the Cup.
Don Awrey – Junior and Minor Pro
Awrey played three years of major junior hockey in Ontario with the Niagara Falls Flyers from 1960-61 to 1962-63. In his final season, the Flyers were first overall in the six team league. Don was named a Second Team All-Star defenseman. Niagara won the OHA championship, sweeping the Montreal Junior Canadiens. They then beat the Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons for the provincial title.
Don Awrey Collection
In a major mismatch, the Flyers took out the Espanola Eagles for the George Richardson Trophy, earning the right to take on the west’s best for the Memorial Cup. In the finals, Niagara Falls fell in six games to the Edmonton Oil Kings.
In his first year of pro hockey, Awrey played mostly for the Minneapolis Bruins of the CPHL while also seeing some action in the National Hockey League with Boston. Under player/head coach Harry Sinden and teamed with the likes of J.P. Parise, Gary Dornhoefer and Terry Crisp, Awrey and the CPHL Bruins finished third in the five team league during the regular season. Don finished sixth in the league with 136 penalty minutes. Minneapolis fell in the opening round to the Omaha Knights.
The following year, Awrey started the 1964-65 season playing 47 games with the NHL Bruins before finishing up in the AHL with the Hershey Bears. He played 13 regular season games with Hershey and 15 more in the playoffs. The Bears lost in the Calder Cup finals to the Rochester Americans in five games.
After a full season with Boston in 1965-66, Awrey’s NHL career stalled in 1966-67, playing mostly in the AHL for Hershey. Don finished second in the AHL that season with 153 PIM, 16 minutes behind the leader Bob Plager of the Baltimore Clippers.
Don Awrey – NHL
Between 1963-64 and 1978-79, Awrey played in 969 regular season National Hockey League games with the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers and Colorado Rockies. Over that time, he scored 31 goals and assisted on 158 for 189 points while sitting 1,056 minutes in the sin bin. In 71 Stanley Cup playoff games, he added 18 assists.
In 1967-68, Don was second in the NHL with 150 PIM, just three behind Barclay Plager of the St. Louis Blues. The following year, his penalty minute total dropped to 149 and his position fell to fifth.
Awrey was part of the Boston Bruins Stanley Cup championship teams in 1969-70 and 1971-72. In the off-season in 1972, Don was asked to play for Canada in the Summit Series against the Soviet Union. Don played in just two of the eight games.
After moving over the St. Louis Blues, Awrey played in his only NHL All-Star game during the 1973-74 season. As mentioned, as a Montreal Canadien in 1975-76, Don played 72 of 80 games during the regular season but did not see a single playoff game. The Canadiens won their first of four consecutive Stanley Cup championships that year but Awrey’s name was not inscribed on the trophy.
Don’s career ended with the lowly Colorado Rockies in 1978-79. That team finished last overall in the NHL.
Don Awrey – Rookie Card
The Don Awrey rookie card shows up as number 99 in the 1965-66 Topps set and he is shown as a member of the Boston Bruins. The card is valued as a common card. He was not included in the 1966-67 Topps set after playing the full 70 game schedule for Boston in 1965-66 but appearing in just four games with the Bruins in 1966-67.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1960-61 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 1961-62 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 41 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 90 |
| 1962-63 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 50 | 7 | 23 | 30 | 111 |
| 1963-64 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 1963-64 | Minneapolis Bruins | CPHL | 54 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 136 |
| 1964-65 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 47 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 41 |
| 1964-65 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 13 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| 1965-66 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 70 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 74 |
| 1966-67 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 1966-67 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 63 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 153 |
| 1967-68 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 74 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 150 |
| 1968-69 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 73 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 149 |
| 1969-70 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 63 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 120 |
| 1970-71 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 74 | 4 | 21 | 25 | 141 |
| 1971-72 | Boston Braves | AHL | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 1971-72 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 34 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 52 |
| 1972-73 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 78 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 90 |
| 1973-74 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 75 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 51 |
| 1974-75 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 20 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 4 |
| 1974-75 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 56 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 58 |
| 1975-76 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 72 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 29 |
| 1976-77 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 79 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 40 |
| 1977-78 | New York Rangers | NHL | 78 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 38 |
| 1978-79 | New Haven Nighthawks | AHL | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 1978-79 | Colorado Rockies | NHL | 56 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 18 |
| NHL Totals | 969 | 31 | 158 | 189 | 1065 |