Henry Stanley "Hank" Nowak (born November 24, 1950 in

Oshawa Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

) is a , Canadian retired 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 hock ...

player. He played 180 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

, and

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 ...

between 1973 and 1977. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1970 to 1980, was spent in the minor leagues.

Playing career

Hank Nowak played left-wing for three different teams throughout the 1970s. He was a disciplined checker, a useful grinder with a muscular build who could contribute occasionally to the scoring. Nowak spent two years with the Oshawa Generals of the OHA. Chosen 87th overall by the Flyers in the

1970 NHL Amateur Draft The 1970 NHL Amateur Draft was the eighth NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 11, 1970, the day after the 1970 Expansion Draft, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Bil ...

, he was assigned to the

Quebec Aces The Quebec Aces, also known in French as Les As de Québec, were an amateur and later a professional men's ice hockey team from Quebec City, Quebec. History The Aces were founded in 1928 by Anglo-Canadian Pulp and Paper Mills, the name Aces stan ...

. He also played with the

Richmond Robins The Richmond Robins were a professional ice hockey team based in Richmond, Virginia. They were a member of the American Hockey League for five seasons from 1971–72 AHL season, 1971–72 to 1975–76 AHL season, 1975–76. Their cross-state rivals ...

and

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

, and was then was traded to the

. After 13 games with the Pens in 1973-74, he spent most of the season in Hershey, scoring 32 goals in 56 games. In May 1974, Nowak was traded to Detroit for

Nelson Debenedet Nelson Flavio Debenedet (born December 31, 1947 in Cordenons, Italy and raised in Copper Cliff, Ontario) is an Italian-born Canadian retired ice hockey forward. He was the first Italian-born player in the NHL. Debenedet began his National Hockey ...

. Nowak scored 22 points in 56 games for the Wings, but then he was traded to Boston with Earl Anderson for

Walt McKechnie Walter Thomas John McKechnie (born June 19, 1947) is a Canadian former professional hockey centre. He played for nine teams in the National Hockey League (NHL) and four minor professional teams over a 17-year pro career. Playing career McKechni ...

. In the 1975 NHL playoffs, Nowak scored one goal. In 1975-76, he played 10 games for Boston when they reached the Stanley Cup semifinals. On February 7, 1976, Nowak played in

Darryl Sittler Darryl Glen Sittler (born September 18, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1970 until 1985 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings. He was ...

's NHL record-setting game when Boston played 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 ...

. This was the night that Sittler set an NHL record for most points scored in one game when he recorded ten points (six goals, four assists). Nowak claims that despite the 11-4 loss that night he was still +3! Nowak retired from competitive hockey in 1980. He went on to work for the

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and largest ...

. He is currently retired from the TTC. Hank Nowak was playing occasionally in the ASHL for the 'Toronto Blue Hogs.' He played occasionally in tournaments with some Blue Hog alumni and his son Clinton.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

External links

* 1950 births Living people Binghamton Dusters players Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey left wingers Detroit Red Wings players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Ontario Oshawa Generals players Philadelphia Firebirds (AHL) players Philadelphia Flyers draft picks Pittsburgh Penguins players Quebec Aces (AHL) players Richmond Robins players Rochester Americans players Saginaw Gears players Sportspeople from Oshawa Toledo Goaldiggers players {{canada-icehockey-winger-1950s-stub