Timothy James Ecclestone (born September 24, 1947) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

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 ...

left winger who played eleven 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 ...

from

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 ...

until

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. Ecclestone played 692 career NHL games, scoring 126 goals and 233 assists for 359 points. He twice scored 50 points or more in his career.

Playing career

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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 ...

, Ecclestone began his career in Junior B with the

Etobicoke Indians Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

. After one season he was selected 9th overall by 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 ...

at the age of 17, in the

1964 NHL Entry Draft Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

. He played one more season of Juniors, his time in Junior A with the

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 ...

. Ecclestone signed with the New York Rangers following the 1966–67 season with Kitchener. However, his rights were traded to the St. Louis Blues immediately following the

1967 NHL Expansion Draft The 1967 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 6, 1967, in the ballroom of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The draft took place to fill the rosters of the league's six expansion teams for the 1967–68 season: the California Seals ...

. Ecclestone played three seasons with the Blues before management became unhappy with

Red Berenson Gordon Arthur "Red, The Red Baron" Berenson (born December 8, 1939) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team from 1984 to 2017. Berenson was inducted into Canada's Sports ...

's association with the

NHL Players' Association NHLPA (french: AJLNH) is the trade union, labour union for the group of professional List of NHL players, hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the 32 member clubs in the National Hockey League (NHL) located in the United Stat ...

and cleaned house. Since Ecclestone had some involvement with the NHLPA the Blues decided to trade him to 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 ...

. The Wings were perennial losers at the time and after four season in Detroit, Ecclestone requested to be traded. The Wings accommodated his request and he was shipped off to 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 ...

. Following a shoulder injury in his second season in Toronto, the leafs traded Ecclestone to the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

who in turn traded him to the Atlanta Flames, on the same day. Following a knee injury during the 1977–78 season he served as an assistant coach for the Flames. Ecclestone retired at the end of the season but remained with the Flames as an assistant coach until they relocated to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

in 1980. Ecclestone remained in the Atlanta area following the departure of the Flames organization, as part owner of sports bar named Timothy-John's Restaurant and Lounge in

Sandy Springs, Georgia Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, i ...

, a restaurant he helped open during his years as a Flames assistant coach. In 1990, he opened his own sports bar, calle
T.J.'s Sports Bar and Grill
in

Alpharetta, Georgia Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 US Census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818 The population in 2010 was 57,551. History In the 1830s, the Ch ...

Transactions

*Traded to St. Louis by New York Rangers with

Gary Sabourin Gary Bruce Sabourin (born December 4, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League from 1967–68 until 1976–77. Career Sabourin played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1970 ...

Bob Plager Robert Bryant Plager (March 11, 1943 – March 24, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 14 seasons from 1964–65 NHL season, 1964 until 1977–78 NHL season, 1978, primarily f ...

and

Gord Kannegiesser Gordon Cameron Kannegiesser, Jr. (December 21, 1945 – March 1, 2022) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. Kannegiesser played 23 games in the National Hockey League for the St. Louis Blues and 127 games in the World Hockey Associ ...

for

Rod Seiling Rodney Albert Seiling (born November 14, 1944) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Rod is the brother of Ric Seiling. Playing career Signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1962, Seiling played only one game with the Leafs and ...

on June 6, 1967. *Traded to Detroit by St. Louis with

for

Garry Unger Garry Douglas Unger (born December 7, 1947) is a former professional ice hockey centre who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1967 until 1983. Playing career Unger set an NHL record by playing 914 consecutive games in the regu ...

and

Wayne Connelly Wayne Francis Connelly (born December 16, 1939) is a Canadian former ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota North Stars, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, and Vanc ...

on February 6, 1971. *Traded to Toronto by Detroit for

Pierre Jarry Pierre Joseph Raynald Jarry (born March 30, 1949) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played 344 games in the National Hockey League and 18 games in the World Hockey Association between 1971 and 1978. He played for the Toront ...

on November 29, 1973. *Traded to Washington by Toronto with

Willie Brossart William James Brossart (born May 29, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals between 1971 and 1976. Pl ...

for

on November 2, 1974. *Traded to Atlanta by Washington for cash on November 2, 1974.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ecclestone, Tim 1947 births Living people Atlanta Flames coaches Atlanta Flames players Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey left wingers Detroit Red Wings players Kansas City Blues (ice hockey) players Kitchener Rangers players New York Rangers draft picks St. Louis Blues players Ice hockey people from Toronto Toronto Maple Leafs players Tulsa Oilers (1964–1984) players