BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Long-time NHL right-winger Rick Middleton spent the first two of his 14 seasons with the Rangers but, after a 1976 trade for Ken Hodge, he became a career Bruin. Now, he's a Bruin for life.
The B's announced they'll retire Middleton's Number 16 prior to their game with the Islanders November 29th. Nifty will be the 11th player in franchise history to have his number in the rafters.
He said on a conference call he didn't see that coming, especially 20 years after he last played.
"I'm getting up there in age, a little bit," he said, laughing. "And especially in the month of July, it's not really the type of call that you think you're gonna get. And when Cam called me, because, you know, every once in a while we talk about different alumni stuff, he just caught me so off guard with it that I actually got emotional when he said it, because it's just a dream come true."
Middleton's 64. He ranks third in Boston history with 402 regular season goals, and he added another 45 in the playoffs to help him to 998 total points in 992 games in Black and Gold.
The Bruins haven't retired a jersey since Cam Neely's Number 8 in 2004.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports