William "Wild Bill" Ezinicki (March 11, 1924 – October 11, 2012) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

forward for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

(1944–1950), the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

(1950–1952), and the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

(1954–1955) of the NHL.

Playing career

Ezinicki was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

. He was best known as a gritty hard-hitting player. He won the Stanley Cup three times with the

, in 1947, 1948 and 1949.

Later life

Ezinicki became a professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

er after retiring from hockey. He was head professional at The International in Bolton, Massachusetts. He won several tournaments in the New England region including four state opens in 1960. He was elected to the New England section of the PGA Hall of Fame in 1997. Ezinicki, a long-time resident of Bolton, Massachusetts, died at the age of 88 on October 11, 2012.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Achievements and awards

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

Championship (1944) * Stanley Cup Championships (1947, 1948, & 1949) *Honoured Member of the

Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum for ice hockey in Manitoba, located on the main level of the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1985, when the first honoured members were named ...

Golf tournament wins

''this list may be incomplete'' *1956 New England PGA Championship *1958 New England PGA Championship,

Rhode Island Open The Rhode Island Open is the Rhode Island state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Rhode Island Golf Association. It has been played annually since 1929 at a variety of courses around the stat ...

, New Hampshire Open *1959

*1960

Massachusetts Open The Massachusetts Open is the Massachusetts state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by Mass Golf (formerly the Massachusetts Golf Association). It has been played annually since 1905 (except for wa ...

, New Hampshire Open,

Maine Open The Maine Open is the Maine state open golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not ...

*1964

*1965 Maritime Open *1969 Newfoundland Open

References

External links

*
Bill Ezinicki's biography
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Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame
1924 births 2012 deaths Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey forwards Canadian male golfers Golfing people from Manitoba Golfers from Massachusetts Ice hockey people from Manitoba Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inductees Memorial Cup winners New York Rangers players Oshawa Generals players People from Bolton, Massachusetts Pittsburgh Hornets players Sportspeople from Worcester County, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Winnipeg Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players Vancouver Canucks (WHL) players Winnipeg Rangers players {{Canada-icehockey-winger-1920s-stub