from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

Teddy Green might have been the toughest S.O.B in NHL history, a guy who not only fought for his life 50 years ago after that awful stick-swinging incident with Wayne Maki sent him to hospital with a fractured skull and later a plate in his head, but later coached an Edmonton Oilers’ game hours after having kidney stones removed.

The five-time Oilers Stanley Cup winner — four as Glen Sather’s assistant and once as John Muckler’s right-hand man before he became the head coach for two plus seasons in the early ’90s — leaves a rich, multi-faceted legacy after he passed away here Oct. 8 after a long illness. The Oilers will honour the 79-year-old Wednesday at their home game with Philadelphia.

Green played with the best defenceman of all-time, Bobby Orr in Boston, and was in on the ground floor as a coach here with the wondrous Wayne Gretzky. As Postmedia’s Steve Simmons eloquently said “he had the best seat in hockey … witness to the two greatest players ever.”

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