Sports Q

Sports Q: Who is your all-time favorite obscure Bruin?

Also: When is a player too memorable to be obscure? Discuss with Chad Finn and other Bruins fans.

Blaine Lacher played goalie for the Bruins in 47 games between 1994 and 1996. Jim Davis / The Boston Globe

April 3, 2019

Welcome to Boston.com’s Sports Q, our daily conversation, initiated by you and moderated by Chad Finn, about a compelling topic in Boston sports. Here’s how it works: You submit questions to Chad through Twitter, Facebook, and email. He’ll pick one each weekday to answer, then we’ll take the discussion to the comments. Chad will stop by several times per day to navigate. But you drive the conversation.

Who is your all-time favorite obscure Bruins player?

This one does not come from a reader. It comes from the back of my own mind while waiting in the Dunkin’ drive-thru line this morning, if you must know.

Basketball is my favorite winter sport, which is probably evident by the Celtics/Bruins imbalance here at the Sports Q.

But I did cover college hockey for a number of years in the ‘90s, first as a student at the University of Maine (does 42-1-2 mean anything to you?) and then as a reporter at the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire later in the decade when Dick Umile’s UNH teams made a run at a couple of championships.

And I’m an expert at hopping aboard the moving Bruins bandwagon during a fun playoff run. Preparing to do that again right now, actually.

So my favorite obscure Bruin would be chosen from a number of players in that era that I saw play during their college careers. Among the candidates: Jack Capuano (Maine), Fred Knipscheer (St. Cloud State), John Gruden (Ferris State), Cam Stewart (Michigan), Clayton Beddoes (great player at Lake Superior State, two goals in 60 games for the 1995-97 Bruins), and Jon Rohloff (Minnesota-Duluth).

Blaine Lacher (Lake Superior State) was a short-timer in net, but he’s too memorable to be obscure.

(He doesn’t count as anything approaching obscure since he had 342 goals in 17 NHL seasons, but another Lake Superior player and ex-Bruin, Brian Rolston, was the second-best college player I ever saw, after Paul Kariya.)

My choice, though? I’m going with Matt DelGuidice, a former UMaine Black Bear who played 11 games in net for the Bruins from 1990-92, going 2-5 with a 3.87 goals-against average.

I dare you to get more obscure than that. What does everyone else think? I’ll hear you in the comments.