From the ice to the greens
William “Wild Bill” Ezinicki (March 11, 1924-October 11, 2012) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League from 1944-1955 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and the New York Rangers.
Ezinicki was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was one of six children of Ukrainian parents, Frank Ezinicki and Olena (Helen) Herchuk. He first broke into the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1944-45. He played 8 games, registering 1 goal and 4 assists. He played in 368 NHL games accumulating 79 goals, 105 assists for 184 points. He wore Number 17 with the Leafs.
Ezinicki was small by today’s standards. He stood at 5 ft 10 in, 170 lbs. He played the right-wing and shot right-handed. During his NHL career, he was known as a ferocious checker. He took no prisoners on the ice, and he hated all the opposition with intensity.
Ezzie, as teammates called him, was fearless on the ice. He made a name for himself as a player who back downed from no one and welcomed all challengers. He would dish out devastating body checks and regularly engaged in fistfights. Ezzie was so hated that on two separate occasions, he was attacked by enraged female fans. While in the penalty box, the wife of an opposing player he had just fought swung her purse at him, and another time a female fan tried to stab him in the back with a hatpin. Nevertheless, he reveled in physical aggression on the ice, earning himself the moniker “Wild Bill.”
Ezinicki was quoted as saying, “Anybody in another sweater was an enemy.” This was no more evident than in January 1951 when league penalty minute leaders from the year before, Ted Lindsay and Bill Ezinicki, got into a shoving match that quickly escalated into fisticuffs and a stick swinging altercation. The incident was so savage that decades later, it’s still remembered as one of the most violent on-ice incidents in NHL history. Click the link above to read about it. But, of course, Bill and Ted’s excellent adventures didn’t begin there, as seven years earlier, they were teammates on the Memorial Cup-winning Oshawa Generals who defeated the Trail Smoke Eaters in 1944.
Previously to that incident in a game at Maple Gardens on November 8, 1947, Ezzie landed a vicious body check on New York Rangers star center Edgar Laprade. Witnesses described the hit as the hardest hit ever delivered in the arena. Laprade was knocked out and left the ice on a stretcher. Ezinicki took a stick slash to the face by enraged Rangers teammate Grant Warwick. Ezzie needed eight stitches to repair the wound on his chin.
Ezinicki played in a generation where violence on the ice was a regular occurrence, and if you gave it out, you would get it back in kind. For example, during game two of the 1947 playoffs, Montreal’s Maurice “The Rocket” Richard took a high-sticking penalty against Toronto’s Vic Lynn. After leaving the sin bin, he immediately whacked Ezinicki in the head. As a result, he received a match penalty and a one-game suspension. Ezinicki and the Leafs got their revenge, defeating the Canadians in six games to win the Stanley Cup.
The incident prompted a letter to league President Clarence Campbell by Rangers coach and general manager Frank Boucher. In it, the Rangers complained, “Laprade in hospital with a concussion from charge by Ezinicki after the whistle on an offside play. Referee Gravelle claims he did not see the offense. How much longer is Ezinicki going to get away with elbowing, high sticking, and deliberate injuries to opponents?”
Upon reviewing the film of the hit, Clarence Campbell ruled that Ezinicki delivered a clean check and therefore was cleared of the accusations against him.
A former teammate of Ezinicki, Howie Meeker, once said: “Ezzie never hit anybody dirty in his life.” “Boy, could he hit!” Meeker and Ezinicki played together on the Maple Leaf championship teams in 1947, 1948, and 1949. After Ezinicki was traded from Toronto, former teammate Howie Meeker said, “You didn’t want Ezzie to hit you,” Meeker said. “I knew where he was every second. My mind was 80 percent on hockey and 20 percent on protecting my ass.” hockey pundits claimed that Ezinicki carried an insurance policy that paid him $5 for every stitch he received.
After a brief tenure with the New York Rangers, Ezinicki ended his NHL career. He recorded 79 goals, 105 assists, and 707 penalty minutes in 368 National Hockey League games.
He won the Memorial Cup in 1944. Three Stanley Cups (1947,1948, and 1949). He was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in (1986) as an Honoured Member, the Manitoba Sports Hall oF Fame in (2004), and the New England Section of the PGA Hall of Fame in (1997).
Golf Career (from the ice to the greens)
Ezinicki was ferocious on the ice, but he didn’t carry that same demeanor with him to links. Instead, as a boy, while still in elementary school, he would often carry a bag of golf balls with him while riding his bike to a nearby farmers’ field, where he practiced whacking balls across the field.
After retiring from hockey, Ezinicki became a full-time golfer, competing in the Professional Golfers Association Tour. Although, he had an unusual grip due to an injury from playing hockey. The injury forced him to modify his grip to interlocking from overlapping.
He won several championships. In 1960 he won Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts Open Tournaments and two New England Championships.
Ezinicki was quite a prolific golfer, having qualified for the U.S. Open nine times. In addition, he is one of only three professional athletes from other sports to qualify for the annual major championship tournament. The others are New York Yankees outfielder Sam Byrd and San Francisco 49ers quarterback John Brodie.
Wild Bill Ezinicki passed away on October 11, 2012, at Addison Gilbert Hospital at Gloucester, Massachusetts, he was 88.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1941–42 | Winnipeg Rangers | MJHL | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1942–43 | Oshawa Generals | OHA | 16 | 21 | 10 | 31 | 21 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 26 |
| 1942–43 | Oshawa Generals | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | 17 | 6 | 23 | 33 |
| 1943–44 | Oshawa Generals | OHA | 25 | 38 | 25 | 63 | 33 | 11 | 13 | 3 | 16 | 49 |
| 1943–44 | Oshawa Generals | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 34 |
| 1944–45 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1944–45 | Toronto Army Shamrocks | TIHL | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1945–46 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 24 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1945–46 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 27 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1946–47 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 60 | 17 | 20 | 37 | 93 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 30 |
| 1947–48 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 60 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 97 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 1948–49 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 52 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 145 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 20 |
| 1949–50 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 67 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 144 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 1950–51 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 53 | 16 | 19 | 35 | 119 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 18 |
| 1950–51 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 13 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1951–52 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 28 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 47 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1951–52 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 16 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 53 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 67 |
| 1952–53 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 41 | 15 | 13 | 28 | 115 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 1954–55 | Ottawa Senators | QHL | 18 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1954–55 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 15 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1954–55 | New York Rangers | NHL | 16 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1956–57 | Sudbury Wolves | NOHA | 19 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 32 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 29 |
| NHL totals | 368 | 79 | 105 | 184 | 713 | 40 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 87 |
Keep You’re Stick on the Ice.
