James John Krulicki (born March 9, 1948) is a Canadian retired

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 ...

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He played 41 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 ...

for 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 ...

and the

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 ...

during the 1970–71 season.

Professional career

Minor league hockey

Krulicki grew up playing for his hometown

Kitchener Greenshirts The Kitchener Greenshirts name has been used by five separate ice hockey teams playing in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. These include one 'Senior A' level hockey team, two 'Junior A' level teams, and two 'Junior B' level teams. The name has also b ...

and

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

of the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

, while a prospect of the

. Krulicki recorded back-to-back 20 goal seasons in 1966–67 and 1967–68, scoring 25 and 28 goals respectively, for a total of 108 points over those two seasons. In 1968 he turned professional with the

Omaha Knights The Omaha Knights was the name of three minor league professional ice hockey teams from 1959 to 1965 and from 1966 to 1975, based in Omaha, Nebraska, at the Ak-Sar-Ben (arena), Ak-Sar-Ben Arena. The Knights were founded in 1959 as members of the ...

of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

. In his first season with the Knights he scored nine points, but followed that up in 1969–70 with a 28 point campaign. He helped the Knights reach first place in the regular season and win the Adams Cup as league champions of the playoffs. After scoring 12 points in the 12 game playoff run, Krulicki was called up to the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

for their playoff run. He scored another five points as the Bisons reached the finals and won the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

after defeating the

Springfield Kings The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existen ...

four games to zero. Krulicki had just helped win championships for two different teams and had finally earned his chance at the NHL.

NHL career

Krulicki started the 1970–71 season with the New York Rangers. He recorded 2 assists in 27 games for the Rangers before being traded to the

on March 2, 1971 for

Dale Rolfe Dale Roland Carl Rolfe (born April 30, 1940) is a Canadian former ice hockey defenseman. He played for four teams in the National Hockey League between 1960 and 1975. He spent his junior career with the Barrie Flyers through the 1956–57 and 1959 ...

. Krulicki finished out the season with Detroit scoring one assist. He opted to retire at the conclusion of the 1970–71 season. He came back to play one final season with

Wiener EV Wiener Eislaufverein (Wiener EV, WEV; Vienna Ice Skating Club) is an ice-sports club located in Vienna, Austria. They were founded in 1867 and the club’s greatest successes have been in ice hockey, figure skating, and speed skating. The club a ...

in the

Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...

during the 1972–73 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards

*Adams Cup Champion: 1969–70 (Omaha Knights – CHL) *Calder Cup Champion: 1969–70 (Buffalo Bisons – AHL)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krulicki, Jim 1948 births Living people Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey right wingers Detroit Red Wings players Ice hockey people from Ontario Kitchener Rangers players New York Rangers players Sportspeople from Kitchener, Ontario