His first game in the National Hockey League came in 1965-66 with the Boston Bruins. Terry Crisp played his final games during the 1976-77 NHL season with the Philadelphia Flyers. Over that time, he appeared in a modest 536 regular season games but was a true Stanley Cup playoff veteran with 110 games played.
It turned out that if Crisp was going to reach the playoffs at all, his team was going to play in the final series. He lost with St. Louis three times early in his career. Then, he won twice and lost once with the Flyers later in his career. Add to that another Stanley Cup championship as head coach of the Calgary Flames and a title in junior behind the bench of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Terry Crisp – Junior and Minor Pro
Terry Crisp played his junior hockey with the Niagara Falls Flyers in 1961-62 and 1962-63, as a prospect of the Boston Bruins. In his second season, he scored 39 regular season goals for the Niagara Falls, Ontario club over 50 games.
That 1962-63 Flyers team finished first overall in the six team league and won the championship with a win over the Montreal Junior Canadiens in the final. They then took out the Neil McNeil Maroons for the Ontario Championship. The next step was a sweep over the Espanola Eagles for the Richardson Cup. The magic season ended with a loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Memorial Cup final.
As property of the Boston Bruins, Crisp spent 1963-64 to 1966-67 mostly in the CPHL with that team’s affiliates. His first two years in that league were spent with the Minneapolis Bruins and the second two with the Oklahoma City Blazers.
In 1964-65, with Minneapolis, Terry finished tenth in the CPHL with 28 goals, two behind team leader Larry Lund. The following year, he helped the Blazers to a playoff championship over the Tulsa Oilers.
1966-67 was a magic year for Crisp and Oklahoma City. He led the team with 42 assists and 73 points while the Blazers finished first overall. Terry’s 31 goals tied him for seventh in the CPHL with Wayne Maki of the St. Louis Braves. He tied for eighth in assists with Bryan Campbell of the Omaha Knights and Andre Pronovost of the Memphis Wings. His point total put him in seventh overall. The Blazers won the championship, beating the Fred Shero coached Omaha Knights in the final.
Although playing with the St. Louis Blues for part of the 1969-70 regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs, Crisp spent a lot of that season in the American Hockey League with the Buffalo Bisons. He finished with 49 points over 51 games but wasn’t there when the team won the Calder Cup championship in their final season of existence.
Terry Crisp – NHL
Terry Crisp played 536 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1965-66 and 1976-77 with the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers. His time in Boston was limited to just three games during the 1965-66 season. Over his career, Crisp scored 67 goals and assisted on 134 for 201 points. In 110 post season games, Terry contributed 15 goals and 28 assists for 43 points.
The St. Louis Blues picked up Crisp in the eighth round of the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, 48th overall. With the Blues, he went to the Stanley Cup finals for three straight seasons from 1967-68 to 1969-70.
The New York Islanders then selected Terry 19th overall at the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft. He appeared in just 54 games with the upstart Islanders in 1972-73 before a trade on March 5, 1973 sent him to the Flyers, in exchange for Jean Potvin.
With the Flyers, Crisp won Stanley Cup titles in 1973-74 and 1974-75. The first year was a win over the Boston Bruins and in the second, the Buffalo Sabres were the victims. In 1975-76, the Flyers again reached the final but fell to the Montreal Canadiens.
Terry’s career went downhill fast after the second championship. He played just 38 regular season games for Philadelphia in 1975-76 (with ten more in the playoffs) and only two games in 1976-77 before calling it a career.
Terry Crisp – Coaching
The coaching career for Terry Crisp started soon after his playing career was over. He served as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers under Fred Shero in 1977-78 and under Bob McCammon in 1978-79.
Crisp then honed his skills as a head coach in the Ontario Hockey League from 1979-80 to 1984-85 with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He was the Matt Leyden Trophy recipient in 1982-83 and 1984-85 as OHL Coach of the Year. In 1982-83, the Hounds fell in the final to the Oshawa Generals and in 1984-85 they won the championship over the Peterborough Petes.
After his time in the Soo, Crisp moved up to the AHL to coach the Moncton Golden Flames for the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons. The natural progression but him behind the bench as head coach of the Calgary Flames by the start of the 1987-88 NHL season. Coaching in Calgary from 1987-88 to 1989-90, he led the team to a Stanley Cup championship in 1988-89 with a win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Terry was the first ever head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, serving behind the bench from 1992-93 until midway through 1997-98 when he was replaced by Jacques Demers. Wayne Cashman was his assistant for 1992-93 and 1995-96 while Danny Gare also stood beside him for the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.
Terry Crisp – Rookie Card
It took until the 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee NHL set before Terry Crisp first appeared on a hockey card. His rookie card shows up as number 127 and he is shown as a member of the St. Louis Blues.
Crisp’s final card is included in the 1975-76 O-Pee-Chee set as number 337. Except, it isn’t Terry on the front of the card. The error has Don Seleski of the Flyers battling with the Washington Capitals. Seleski wore number 11 for the Flyers while Crisp wore 15. Also appearing the photo are Yvon Labre of the Capitals and his teammate Bob Gryp, sporting a whacky field lacrosse helmet and mask.
Terry is missing from the 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee and Topps sets for some reason. He appeared in 66 games during the 1972-73 season with the Islanders and Flyers and 71 games in 1973-74 with the Flyers which would seem to make him a prime candidate to be included in the set.
Terry Crisp Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1961-62 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 50 | 16 | 22 | 38 | 0 |
| 1962-63 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 50 | 39 | 35 | 74 | 68 |
| 1963-64 | Minneapolis Bruins | CPHL | 42 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 22 |
| 1964-65 | Minneapolis Bruins | CPHL | 70 | 28 | 34 | 62 | 22 |
| 1965-66 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CPHL | 61 | 11 | 22 | 33 | 35 |
| 1965-66 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1966-67 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CPHL | 69 | 31 | 42 | 73 | 37 |
| 1967-68 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 73 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 10 |
| 1968-69 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 57 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 14 |
| 1968-69 | Kansas City Blues | CHL | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 1969-70 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 51 | 15 | 34 | 49 | 14 |
| 1969-70 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 26 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
| 1970-71 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 54 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 13 |
| 1971-72 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 75 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 12 |
| 1972-73 | New York Islanders | NHL | 54 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 6 |
| 1972-73 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| 1973-74 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 71 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 28 |
| 1974-75 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 71 | 8 | 19 | 27 | 20 |
| 1975-76 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 38 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 28 |
| 1976-77 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NHL Totals | 536 | 67 | 134 | 201 | 135 |