Walter Robert Bogdan Tkaczuk (born September 29, 1947) is a Canadian former

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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

who played fourteen seasons 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 ...

between

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. Tkaczuk's family, originally from Ukraine, moved to

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...

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 ...

from

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

when he was two years old. He was the first player born in Germany to appear in an NHL game.

NHL career

Tkaczuk centred the "Bulldog Line" with

Bill Fairbairn William John "Bulldog" Fairbairn (born January 7, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right wing who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Fairbairn played most of his career with the New York Rangers, later played ...

and

Dave Balon David Alexander Balon (August 2, 1938 – May 29, 2007) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Balon played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League between 1959 and 1973 before multiple sclerosis led to his retirement. Playing ...

, who was later replaced by Steve Vickers. He could score his fair share of goals, however he was much better at producing assists. Tkaczuk's finest contribution to the game was that of the defensive forward, being among the NHL's elite shadows and faceoff men. This complemented the Rangers' high-scoring GAG line of

Jean Ratelle Joseph Gilbert Yvon Jean Ratelle (born October 3, 1940) is a Canadian former ice hockey player who played for the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. In twenty-one seasons he averaged almost a point a game and won the Lady Byng Trophy twice in re ...

Rod Gilbert Rodrigue Gabriel Gilbert (July 1, 1941 — August 19, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played his entire career for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Known as "Mr. Ranger", he played right wing on ...

Vic Hadfield Victor Edward Hadfield (born October 4, 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played sixteen years in the National Hockey League (NHL), spending thirteen with the New York Rangers and three with the Pittsburgh Penguins. E ...

. During his first 2 seasons with the Rangers, the club and media pronounced his name, "Taychuk" because Rangers' Director of Player Personnel felt it was easier to say than the correct pronunciation, "Ka-Chook." Prior to the 1969-70 season, the club announced he would henceforth be called by the correct pronunciation. In the 1972 playoffs, with Ratelle sidelined with a broken ankle and Gilbert hampered by injuries, Tkaczuk played a key role as the Rangers defeated the defending champions

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, and the previous season's finalists

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, to reach the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...

. While the Rangers lost to 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 ...

in six games, Tkaczuk earned much respect for holding the Bruins'

Phil Esposito Philip Anthony Esposito ( , ; born February 20, 1942) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach and executive, and current broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he played 18 seasons in t ...

without a goal in the series. Walt Tkaczuk was asked to play for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series but declined the invitation due to his obligation to his summer hockey school. He was replaced by

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

' centre

Bobby Clarke Robert Earle Clarke (born August 13, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played his entire 15-year National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Philadelphia Flyers and is currently an executive with the team. Popular ...

. In the 1979 playoffs, Tkaczuk was a key contributor as the Rangers upset the first place

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, where they fell to Montreal in five games. Towards the end of a game on February 2, 1981, Tkaczuk suffered an eye injury when hit by a puck. He never played again. Over his career, Tkaczuk played in 945 NHL games, scoring 227 goals and 451 assists for 678 points. Despite his physical presence, he only accumulated 556 minutes in penalties. In the 2009 book ''100 Ranger Greats'', the authors ranked Tkaczuk at No. 14 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.

Post-hockey career

Tkaczuk is co-owner of River Valley Golf Course and Tube Slide in

St. Marys, Ontario St. Marys is a town in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the north branch of the Thames River and Trout Creek southwest of Stratford, and is surrounded by the Township of Perth South in Perth County, Ontario. St. ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

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Playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, - bgcolor="#e0e0e0" !

Season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM , - , 1963–64 , Kitchener Dutchmen , CJHL , 30 , , 25 , , 37 , , 62 , , — , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1963–64 ,

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 ...

, OHA , 21 , , 5 , , 5 , , 10 , , 4 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - , 1964–65 , Kitchener Dutchmen , CJHL , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1964–65 , Kitchener Rangers , OHA , 7 , , 1 , , 2 , , 3 , , 6 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - , 1965–66 , Kitchener Rangers , OHA , 47 , , 12 , , 31 , , 43 , , 39 , 19 , , 7 , , 23 , , 30 , , 13 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1966–67 , Kitchener Rangers , OHA , 48 , , 23 , , 47 , , 70 , , 85 , 13 , , 6 , , 8 , , 14 , , 23 , - , 1966–67 ,

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 ...

, CPHL , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , 3 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2 , , 2 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1967–68 , Kitchener Rangers , OHA , 52 , , 37 , , 56 , , 93 , , 81 , 19 , , 17 , , 20 , , 37 , , 58 , - , 1967–68 ,

NHL 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 ...

, 2 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1968–69 ,

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 ...

, AHL , 5 , , 2 , , 7 , , 9 , , 9 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - , 1968–69 , New York Rangers , NHL , 71 , , 12 , , 24 , , 36 , , 28 , 4 , , 0 , , 1 , , 1 , , 6 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1969–70 , New York Rangers , NHL , 76 , , 27 , , 50 , , 77 , , 38 , 6 , , 2 , , 1 , , 3 , , 17 , - , 1970–71 , New York Rangers , NHL , 77 , , 26 , , 49 , , 75 , , 48 , 13 , , 1 , , 5 , , 6 , , 14 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1971–72 , New York Rangers , NHL , 76 , , 24 , , 42 , , 66 , , 65 , 16 , , 4 , , 6 , , 10 , , 35 , - , 1972–73 , New York Rangers , NHL , 76 , , 27 , , 39 , , 66 , , 59 , 10 , , 7 , , 2 , , 9 , , 8 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1973–74 , New York Rangers , NHL , 71 , , 21 , , 42 , , 63 , , 58 , 13 , , 0 , , 5 , , 5 , , 22 , - , 1974–75 , New York Rangers , NHL , 62 , , 11 , , 25 , , 36 , , 34 , 3 , , 1 , , 2 , , 3 , , 5 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1975–76 , New York Rangers , NHL , 78 , , 8 , , 28 , , 36 , , 56 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - , 1976–77 , New York Rangers , NHL , 80 , , 12 , , 38 , , 50 , , 38 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1977–78 , New York Rangers , NHL , 80 , , 26 , , 40 , , 66 , , 30 , 3 , , 0 , , 2 , , 2 , , 0 , - , 1978–79 , New York Rangers , NHL , 77 , , 15 , , 27 , , 42 , , 38 , 18 , , 4 , , 7 , , 11 , , 10 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1979–80 , New York Rangers , NHL , 76 , , 12 , , 25 , , 37 , , 36 , 7 , , 0 , , 1 , , 1 , , 2 , - , 1980–81 , New York Rangers , NHL , 43 , , 6 , , 22 , , 28 , , 28 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" , NHL totals ! 945 !! 227 !! 451 !! 678 !! 556 ! 93 !! 19 !! 32 !! 51 !! 119

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tkaczuk, Walt 1947 births Living people Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian people of Ukrainian descent German emigrants to Canada Kitchener Rangers players New York Rangers players Omaha Knights (CHL) players People from Emsdetten Sportspeople from Münster (region)