Wikipedia

Bill Quackenbush

Hubert George Quackenbush(March 2, 1922 – September 12, 1999), known asBill Quackenbush,was aCanadianprofessionalice hockeydefencemanwho played for theBoston BruinsandDetroit Red Wingsin theNational Hockey League.During his 14-year career, he was the first defenceman to win theLady Byng Memorial Trophy.He won the award after playing the entire1948–49 seasonwithout recording a penalty. The penalty-less season was part of a total of 131 consecutive games he played without being assessed a penalty. Quackenbush, considered to be an elite offensive defenceman during his career, was named to theNHL All-Star teamfive times, played in eightNHL All-Star gamesand was inducted into theHockey Hall of Famein 1976.

Bill Quackenbush
Hockey Hall of Fame,1976
Quackenbush with theBoston Bruinsin 1951
Born (1922-03-02)March 2, 1922
Toronto,Ontario, Canada
Died September 12, 1999(1999-09-12)(aged 77)
Newtown, Pennsylvania,U.S.
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Detroit Red Wings
Boston Bruins
Playing career 1942–1956
Coaching career
Coaching career (HCunless noted)
1967–1973Princeton(Men's)
1979–1985Princeton(Women's)
Head coaching record
Overall34–104–2 (.250) [Men's]

Following his retirement from professional ice hockey, he spent 18 years as head coach of various teams atPrinceton University.Quackenbush coached men'sgolf,and both the men's and women's ice hockey teams, at various times. He won eightIvy LeagueChampionships with the men's golf team and three with the women's ice hockey team.

Early life

edit

Quackenbush was born on March 2, 1922, inToronto,Ontario.He was born Hubert George Quackenbush but was given the nickname Bill by his aunt who disliked his given name.[1]He played hockey on outdoor rinks around Toronto during theGreat Depressionas a youth,[2]and was one of the top high school athletes in Canada as a teenager[1],attendingWestern Technical-Commercial Schoolin Toronto's west end[3].

In addition to hockey, he was a renownedfootballandsoccerplayer. During thewaryears, he played for the famous Canadian soccer club Toronto Scottish.[4]Quackenbush had an opportunity to play football professionally, but he decided to pursue a career in hockey.[1]

Quackenbush began his junior career playing for theToronto Native Sonsof theOntario Hockey Association.He scored 13 points in 13 games during the1940–41 season.[5]Thefollowing season,he played for theBrantford Lions,scoring 34 points in 23 games, and caught the attention of theDetroit Red Wingsof theNational Hockey League.[1]

Professional career

edit

Quackenbush signed as a free-agent with the Red Wings on October 19, 1942,[6]and played 10 games during the1942–43 seasonbefore breaking his wrist.[5]After recovering from the injury, Detroit assigned him to theAmerican Hockey Leaguewhere he joined theIndianapolis Capitals.[1] He earned a regular position with the Red Wings during the1943–44 season,scoring 4 goals and 18 points.[5]In the next two seasons he averaged 21 points while only being assessed an average of 8 penalty minutes and scored a career high 11 goals in1945–46.[7]

The followingseasonhe earned his first post-season honour, when he was named a Second TeamNHL All-Star.[6]He was also named the Red Wings team MVP.[8]He registered a career high 17 penalty minutes in1947–48and was named a First Team All-Star.[6][7]The season also saw the start of a streak of 131 consecutive games where Quackenbush was not assessed a penalty.[1]It began with the final 5 regular season and 10 playoff games that year, continued through the entire 60 regular season and 11 playoff games during the1948–49 season,and ended after 45 games of the1949–50 season.[5]

At the conclusion of the 1948–49 season, he was awarded theLady Byng Trophy,the NHL's annual award for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct.[1][9]He was the first defenceman to win the award,[1]and remains one of only three in NHL history to capture the trophy.[10]He also became the third and most recent Lady Byng recipient(AfterSyl AppsandBill Mosienko) not to record a single penalty minute all season.

Detroit General ManagerJack Adamsdetested the award and felt that any player who won it did not belong on his team, so he promptly traded Quackenbush.[11]He was sent to theBoston BruinswithPete HoreckforPete Babando,Clare MartinandJimmy Peters, Sr.[6]

Quackenbush became a fan favourite upon his arrival in Boston, where his offensive style of play was compared to former Bruin (and fellowHall of Famer)Eddie Shore.[5]In hisfirst seasonin Boston, Quackenbush scored 8 goals and 25 points. He continued to stay out of thepenalty box,registering only 4 penalty minutes.[7]However, it marked the first time in three seasons that he was not named to the NHL All-Star team.[6]The Bruins defence core was depleted by injury in1950–51,forcing the team to use several first year players.[5]

While this resulted in Quackenbush having to play more minutes, including a game where he played 55 minutes, it also gave him the opportunity to play with his brotherMax.[5]It was the only time the two played professionally together.[6][12]He also set a career high in points with 29 and was again named a First Team NHL All-Star.[6][7]Over the next five seasons Quackenbush hovered around the 20 point mark and was never assessed more than 8 penalty minutes in a year.[7]

Quackenbush retired following the1955–56 season,[1]having accumulated only 95 penalty minutes over 774 games. This averaged out to seven seconds a game, one of the lowest in NHL history for a player at any position.[13]He was elected to theHockey Hall of Famein 1976.[5]

Personal

edit

Following his NHL career, Quackenbush worked as a manufacturer's agent while attending night school atNortheastern UniversityinBoston, Massachusetts.At Northeastern, he earned anAssociate's degreein engineering.[2]Quackenbush also became an assistant coach at Northeastern.[2]

In 1967, he became the head coach forPrinceton University's men's ice hockey team,[13]a position he would hold for six seasons.[2]His best season was his first in 1967–68, when the Tigers posted a 13–10–0 record. It was the highest win total for Princeton since 1935–36.[14]However, his success with the men's ice hockey team would not last; Princeton won no more than five games for their next five seasons.[14]His worst campaign was in 1970–71,[14]when Princeton had two 11 game losing streaks and a 1–22–0 overall record.[15]Because of this, Quackenbush stepped down as the head coach in 1973.[2][13]

In 1969, he began coaching the Princeton men's golf team. He enjoyed much greater success with the golf team, leading them to eightIvy Leaguechampionships.[1]In 1978, Princeton started awomen's ice hockey team,and Quackenbush was asked to coach them.[2]He was still coaching the golf team but decided to accept the additional position and led them to three consecutive Ivy League championships between 1982 and 1984.[1]Quackenbush retired from coaching in 1985, after which he moved toOrlando, Florida,where he lived for several years before moving toNew Jerseyin 1997.[1][13]

He married Joan Kalloch; the couple had three sons: Bruce, Scott and Todd. At the time of his death, Quackenbush had seven grandchildren.[13]

He died ofpneumoniaand complications fromAlzheimer's diseaseon September 12, 1999, at Chandler Hall Hospice inNewtown, Pennsylvania,aged 77.[13]

Playing style

edit

Quackenbush was an offensive defenceman who carried the puck up the ice,[13]making use of hisstick handling,passing skills and ability to read the play.[8]Over the course of his career, he was considered one of the elite rushing defenceman in the NHL.[1]He was a solidchecker,[13]but relied more on positioning and discipline than physical play.[5]This is evident by his low yearly average of penalty minutes and the fact that he was assessed only onemajor penaltythroughout his NHL career.[5]

Defensively he made use ofpoke checksto take the puck from his opponents and excelled at getting to loose pucks and clearing them out of the defensive zone.[8]He was adept at keeping opposing forwards from creating offence from behind the net.[5]

Awards and honours

edit
  • Lady Byng Trophy (1949)
  • Three time NHL first team All-Star (1948, 1949, 1951)[6]
  • Two time NHL second team All-Star (1947, 1953)[6]
  • Eight time NHL All-Star Game participant (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954)[6]
  • Honored Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame (1976)

Career statistics

edit
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1940–41 Toronto Native Sons OHA-Jr. 13 4 9 13 0 — — — — —
1941–42 Brantford Lions OHA-Jr. 23 5 29 34 16 7 2 4 6 8
1942–43 Detroit Red Wings NHL 10 1 1 2 4 — — — — —
1942–43 Indianapolis Capitals AHL 37 6 13 19 0 7 0 1 1 6
1943–44 Detroit Red Wings NHL 43 4 14 18 6 2 1 0 1 0
1943–44 Indianapolis Capitals AHL 1 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
1944–45 Detroit Red Wings NHL 50 7 14 21 10 14 0 2 2 2
1945–46 Detroit Red Wings NHL 48 11 10 21 6 5 0 1 1 0
1946–47 Detroit Red Wings NHL 44 5 17 22 6 5 0 0 0 2
1947–48 Detroit Red Wings NHL 58 6 16 22 17 10 0 2 2 0
1948–49 Detroit Red Wings NHL 60 6 17 23 0 11 1 1 2 0
1949–50 Boston Bruins NHL 70 8 17 25 4 — — — — —
1950–51 Boston Bruins NHL 70 5 24 29 12 6 0 1 1 0
1951–52 Boston Bruins NHL 69 2 17 19 6 7 0 3 3 0
1952–53 Boston Bruins NHL 69 2 16 18 6 11 0 4 4 4
1953–54 Boston Bruins NHL 45 0 17 17 6 4 4 0 0 0
1954–55 Boston Bruins NHL 68 2 20 22 8 5 0 5 5 0
1955–56 Boston Bruins NHL 70 3 22 25 4 — — — — —
NHL totals 774 62 222 284 95 80 2 19 21 8
  • All statistics taken from NHL.com[7]

Head coaching record

edit

Men's

edit
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Princeton Tigers(ECAC Hockey)(1967–1973)
1967–68 Princeton 13–10–1 13–9–1 8th ECAC Quarterfinals
1968–69 Princeton 5–19–0 5–18–0 16th
1969–70 Princeton 5–17–1 5–15–1 14th
1970–71 Princeton 1–22–0 1–20–0 17th
1971–72 Princeton 5–18–0 5–14–0 t-14th
1972–73 Princeton 5–18–0 3–18–0 16th
Princeton: 34–104–2 32–94–2
Total: 34–104–2

[16]

References

edit
  1. ^abcdefghijklmPodnieks, Andrew; Brezina, Ales; Gibbons, Denis; Ryzkov, Dmitri; Rabiner, Igor; Bengtsson, Jan; Stark, Jan; Vukolov, Nikolai; Barta, Pavel; Chuev, Serge; Ratschunas, Tom; Dimitrov, Vlad; Bogatyrev, Yevgeny; Lukashin, Yuri; Tzybanev, Yuri (2002).Kings of the Ice: A History of World Hockey.Richmond Hill, Ontario: NDE Publishing. pp. 223–224.ISBN1-55321-099-9.
  2. ^abcdefFischler, Stan (1999).The Greatest Players and Moments of the Boston Bruins.Sports Publishing, LLC. pp. 116–117.ISBN1-58261-063-0.
  3. ^"The hunt for Bill Quackenbush's high school days".Society for International Hockey Research.RetrievedOctober 27,2024.
  4. ^"Hockey Connection".Canadian Soccer History.RetrievedDecember 21,2013.
  5. ^abcdefghijk"The Legends: Bill Quackenbush".Hockey Hall of Fame.RetrievedSeptember 11,2010.
  6. ^abcdefghij"Bill Quackenbush's player profile".National Hockey League.RetrievedSeptember 11,2010.
  7. ^abcdef"Bill Quackenbush's career statistics".National Hockey League.RetrievedSeptember 11,2010.
  8. ^abc"Bill Quackenbush's Red Wings profile".Red Wings.NHL.com. Archived fromthe originalon March 9, 2012.RetrievedSeptember 13,2010.
  9. ^"Lady Byng Memorial Trophy history".Hockey Hall of Fame. Archived fromthe originalon August 6, 2007.RetrievedAugust 20,2007.
  10. ^Klein, Jeff (July 11, 2008)."Why Can't a Defenseman Win the Lady Byng?".The New York Times.RetrievedSeptember 13,2010.
  11. ^Fischler, Stan (January 2002).Detroit Red Wings Greatest Moments and Players.Sports Publishing L.L.C. p. 84.ISBN1-58261-271-4.
  12. ^"Max Quackenbush's player profile".National Hockey League.RetrievedSeptember 13,2010.
  13. ^abcdefghLitsky, Frank (September 17, 1999)."Bill Quackenbush, 77, Hockey Star Who Rarely Heard a Whistle".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon May 27, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 11,2010.
  14. ^abc"Princeton Tigers Men's Hockey: Year-By-Year".USCHO.RetrievedSeptember 15,2010.
  15. ^Swift, E.M. (January 16, 1978)."Practice Didn't Make Perfect For the 1970-71 Princeton hockey team, the reward for all its hard work came to one victory and 22 defeats".Sports Illustrated.Archived fromthe originalon November 3, 2012.RetrievedSeptember 11,2010.
  16. ^"Men's Hockey Year-by-Year".Princeton Tigers.RetrievedJuly 10,2017.
edit

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Winner of theLady Byng Trophy
1949 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Quackenbush&oldid=1253727128"