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 h ...
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 eccentri ...
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 C ...
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 ...
,
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 o ...
,
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 =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, to reach the
Stanley Cup Finals. 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 ...
without a goal in the series.
Walt Tkaczuk was asked to play for Team Canada in the
1972 Summit Series
The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (russian: Суперсерия СССР — Канада, Superseriya SSSR — Kanada), or Series of the Century (french: Série du siècle, Séries of the Century), was an eight-game ic ...
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 Well ...
' centre
Bobby Clarke.
In the
1979 playoffs, Tkaczuk was a key contributor as the Rangers upset the first place
New York Islanders 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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! colspan="5",
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 ...
! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff",
! colspan="5",
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 eit ...
, - 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 ...
! 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. The Knights were founded in 1959 as members of the International Hoc ...
,
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
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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)