[Dreakmur]

Jack Portland !!!

Awards and Achieveents:
Stanley Cup Champion (1939)

Can-Am First Team All-Star (1936)
Montreal Gazette’s 2nd Team All-Star (1939)

All-Star voting – 5th(1938), 7th(1938), 7th(1943), *11th(1937)

*1 vote

Originally Posted by The Trail of the Stanley Cup; Vol. 1

Jack Portland made his first appearance when he joined the Canadiens in late December and immediately showed his ability as a defense player.

Originally Posted by Legends of Hockey

He was a key performer, providing a solid defensive foundation for the Bruins as they won a Stanley Cup in 1940.

Originally Posted by Greatest Hockey Legends

In the NHL Portland was always overshadowed by flashier stars such as Shore. He was a rugged, capable defender, burly and heavy at well over 200lbs. He was far from the fastest or most agile skater. In fact when he broke into the league he looked so awkward that he heard the cat calls from Montreal fans. That led to his departure from Montreal. He really found his game in Boston where he helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 1939.

Originally Posted by Montreal Canadiens official website

Anchoring the Montreal blue line for the next three seasons, Portland’s leadership, steady play and rugged physical approach to his on-ice responsibilities were an asset to the team and set an example for young defensemen Ken Reardon and Butch Bouchard as they moved up the ladder and matured into star performers.

As the 1942-43 NHL campaign wound down, the 31-year-old joined the Canadian Army and saw combat action in Europe while the team he had helped through a rebuilding process captured Stanley Cup titles in 1944 and 1946.

Originally Posted by Players: the Ultimate A-Z Guide Of Everyone Who Has Ever Played in the NHL

Portland was as talented an athlete as existed in Canada. He competed in the 193
2 Olympics in high jump; he was also accomplished at javelin and boxing… Teamed with Eddie Shore on the Bruins, the two formed a fearsome line of defense… his long stride and broad shoulders cut an imposing swath across the ice lanes”.

Originally Posted by The Montreal Gazette – November 20th, 1940

After a half-dozen year, John Frederick Portland, burly and hard-hitting defenceman, comes back to the team he started with in the NHL, Canadiens.

It was announced at club headquarters here late yesterday afternoon that the six-foot, four-inch, 8-year-old, 220-pound rearguard had been bought outright by the Habitants from Chicago Black Hawks in a straight cash transaction.

….

Never a prolific scorer, the huge Portland is noted as a punishing checker, who can rough up his rivals. His strength and size give him a tremendous advantage in the clinches near the nets and along the boards fighting for the puck. He is expected to provide the Canadien defence with some of the power and heavy-belting qualities it has lacked.

Originally Posted by The Montreal Gazette – November 20th, 1940

Portland departed from here as a green kid, full of promise. He returns with the promise long since fulfilled. Jack is a full-fledges veteran, well proven in the most rugged going, but still only 28. He is the kind of large battering defenceman Canadiens have needed for many years. His mammoth presence and shattering body-checks ought to make things a little more comfortable for Bert Gardiner in goal from now on.

Originally Posted by The Calgary Herald – January 27th, 1940

When Chicago played a 1-1 tie with the Red Wings at Detroit last night, the Black Hawks had on their defense mountainous Jack Portland, who until a few hours before had belonged to Boston through his professional career. Portland was traded to Chigaco yesterday for another defenseman, Des Smith.

The trade bore out of rumors of strife between Manager Art Ross of the Bruins and the hard-hitting Portland…

Originally Posted by Windsor Daily Star, November 23, 1936

Charlie Conacher got three of the seven penalties that made the first period a rough and tumble affair, and two of them came from his clashes with 210-pound Jack Portland. Portland and Conacher started a feud early in the game and jostled eachother all evening.

Originally Posted by Calgary Daily Herald, December 1, 1936

Bruins have been undefeated in five starts, and Hooley Smith and Jack Portland, husky backliner, have borne the brunt of the defensive duties. Smith attributes much of this recent success to the great work of Portland and Ray Getliffe.

Originally Posted by Meriden Record, March 29, 1939

The scrap started when Phil Watson, Ranger center, and Jack Portland, heavyweight Boston defenseman, roughed eachother up at the boards.

Originally Posted by Calgary Herald, November 26, 1940

Their defense bolstered by the acquisition of big Jack Portland, Canadiens have been getting stronger and making it tougher every game for the opposition forwards.

Originally Posted by Montreal Gazette, December 30, 1940

Then in the third minute of the third frame, the huge Mr. Portland came barging down center. He walked through the Americans' defensemen, brushing them aside, and pausing only momentarily as they hit him and bounced off him as they had been doing all night. Then he caught up with the puck that had gotten ahead of him and flipped it goalwards. Adams came out of nowhere like a streak on a crossover play and stabbed Portland's pass into the lower left hand corner of the net.

Originally Posted by Leader-Post, October 29, 1941

Note to forwards opposing the Canadiens' defense. Jack Portland is down to 209 pounds and Coach Dick Irvin claims he is still losing weight. But Irvin hastens to add that the "man mountain" is at his best playing weight when hovering around 200.

Originally Posted by Frank Brimsek on Shore/Portland and Clapper/Crawford

It's easy to understand when you consider the kind of defence I have in front of me. Give a goaler the kind of protection those fellows give me and anybody would look good.

Originally Posted by Hooley Smith

There is no doubt in my mind, but what Portland will be the outstanding defenceman in the league before another season rolls around. He has all the makings of a topnotcher and right now you have to tell him only a few things in the heat of a game. A lot of people thought the Bruins would not be very close to the leaders at all this season, but Portland and Getliffe are two reasons why we are close now and will be when the Stanley Cup is being handed out.

The Bruins, when they get in shape, will be a mighty threat for they are a powerful looking lot and have about the biggest defense in the league. Portland looked like a far better player than ever before and the year he spent in the Can-Am seems to have made him.

Big Jack Portland, tallest defense player in the N. H. L. has become a regular only this season at Boston and is playing sensational hockey

Originally Posted by Some guy named Derek

He was traded to Bruins, and after seasoning in the minor professional league has become a powerful asset on the Bruin defence, fast, fearless, clean, but a heavy body-checker. He attributes his improved form to Lionel Hitchman and Shore, who has taken a great interest in him.