Ed Johnston started his NHL career with a mediocre team and ended it on the rosters of mediocrity. In the middle, he was a two time Stanley Cup champion with the Boston Bruins and the last goalie to go solo for a complete NHL season. His winning ways started early in professional career while stuck in the minors.
Minor League Career
NHL Career
Hockey Card Collection
Coaching Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Ed Johnston – Minors
Ed Johnston played in the minors from 1955-56 to 1961-62 before becoming the number one goalie with the hapless Bruins in 1962-63. Over his character building years, Eddie played in the QHL, WHL, EHL and EPHL. He played on teams that reached the finals in their league three times with two grabbing the championship.
In 1959-60, Johnston played 62 of 64 regular season games for the Johnstown Jets of the EHL and all 13 of the team’s playoff games. The Jets finished first overall and were crowned champions with a 4-1 victory over the New Haven Blades in the finals. In the first round, Johnstown came up against the Clinton Comets in a rare best of nine series. The Jets won the series in eight games and Eddie allowed just 13 goals.
The following year, Johnston found himself playing for the Glen Skov coached Hull-Ottawa Canadiens in the EPHL. It was a talented team with Bobby Rousseau up front and J.C. Tremblay on the point. The Canadiens finished first overall in the six team league, 18 points ahead of their next contender. Eddie played all 70 games during the regular season and was named the league’s Goaltender of the Year.
He also played every playoff game for Hull-Ottawa with the team meeting up against the Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds in the finals. The Canadiens came out on top with the series going the full seven games. Pat Stapleton starred on defense for the Thunderbirds.
In what would prove to be his last year in the minors, Eddie played all 70 games for the Spokane Comets of the WHL for the 1961-62 season. He also played in all the team’s 16 playoff games. The Comets reached the finals but fell in seven games to the Edmonton Flyers, a team that Johnston had played for in 1958-59. Edmonton scored 36 goals on Eddie in the series, including a 11-2 drubbing in game three.
Eddie Johnston – NHL
Ed Johnston played in the National Hockey League from 1962-63 to 1977-78 with the Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues and Chicago Black Hawks. He appeared in just 16 playoff games over his career but did share duties with Gerry Cheevers in 1971-72. Of course, with the Bruins, Johnston has his name inscribed on the Stanley Cup twice, in 1969-70 and 1971-72.
Eddie Johnston Collection
In 1963-64, Johnston played all 70 games for the Bruins. He is the last goalie to play a complete season. Boston was dreadful, placing sixth in the six team league with 48 points, six behind fifth place New York. The Milt Schmidt coached team allowed 212 goals, 30 less than the Rangers but Boston could not provide any offense. Eddie did what he could with a 3.01 goals against average and six shutouts.
By 1965-66, the Bruins were started to find the stairs out of the NHL basement. Unfortunately for Johnston, guys like Bernie Parent, Gerry Cheevers and Gilles Gilbert started to cut into his playing time. after 1972-73, he was traded off to the Maple Leafs and entered into mediocrity for the rest of his career.
Johnston was a member of Team Canada at the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. However, he only appeared in exhibition games leading up to the showdown.
Ed Johnston – Coach
After retiring as a player, Ed Johnston jumped right into his first head coaching job. The New Brunswick Hawks were in their inaugural American Hockey League season in 1978-79 and Eddie was behind the bench. The Hawks placed second in the Northern Division and third overall in the nine team league. New Brunswick fell in the opening round of the Calder Cup playoffs to the Nova Scotia Voyageurs 3-2.
The New Brunswick Hawks played out of Moncton and lasted until the end of the 1981-82 season. In his first year in the minors, 1955-56, Johnston played one game for the Moncton Hawks of the ACSHL.
Eddie jumped to the NHL the following year with the Chicago Blackhawks. He would stay for just one season but he did the best he could with what he had. The team was led by Terry Ruskowski who topped the stats with just 70 points. Stan Mikita played just 17 games with Chicago in 1979-80. Johnston’s old nemesis Tony Esposito played in 69 of Chicago’s regular season games.
The Blackhawks placed first in the forever weak Smythe Division. Chicago reached the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs before being swept away in four by the Buffalo Sabres. That was the end of Johnston’s stay in Chicago.
Since, Eddie has had a long relationship with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was head coach from 1980-81 to 1982-83 then again from 1993-94 to 1996-97. Under his leadership, the Penguins reached the post season every year but 1982-83. In between, he had a somewhat controversial sting at General Manager of the Hartford Whalers from 1989 to 1992. From 1997 to 2009, Johnston served as the Assistant GM and Senior Advisor for Hockey Operations with Pittsburgh.
In 1995-96, Eddie came as close as he would get to head coaching a Stanley Cup champion. The Penguins were loaded with Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis and Petr Nedved. Joining Johnston on the bench as assistants were Bryan Trottier and Rick Kehoe.
The Penguins finished the regular season first in the Northeast Division and fourth overall in the NHL. However, they came up against the bullshit hockey of the Florida Panthers in the Conference finals and lost the series in seven games. At one point, Pittsburgh held a 3-2 advantage in the series. Over seven games, the Penguins scored just 15 goals.
Eddie Johnston – Rookie Card
The Ed Johnston rookie card appears as number 2 in the 1963-64 Topps set. The hockey card is valued at five times that of a common. His is the highest valued RC in a weak group of rookies that includes Ed Westfall, Ed Van Impe and Gilles Villemure.
The top cards in the set belong to the usual suspects: Bobby Hull, Jacques Plante and Stan Mikita. There are 66 cards total in the set with players from the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers. It was the last year that Topps would have to share the market with Parkhurst.
Ed Johnston Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | A | PIM | SO | GAA |
| 1962-63 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 50 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 4.02 |
| 1963-64 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 70 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3.01 |
| 1964-65 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 47 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3.47 |
| 1965-66 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 33 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3.72 |
| 1966-67 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 34 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.70 |
| 1967-68 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.87 |
| 1968-69 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 24 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3.08 |
| 1969-70 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 37 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2.98 |
| 1970-71 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 38 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2.53 |
| 1971-72 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 38 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2.71 |
| 1972-73 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 45 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3.27 |
| 1973-74 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 26 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.09 |
| 1974-75 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 30 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3.10 |
| 1975-76 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 38 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.62 |
| 1976-77 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 38 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.07 |
| 1977-78 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.15 |
| 1977-78 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.25 |