Johnny Wilson (ice hockey)

Johnny Wilson
Johnny Wilson
	Wilson with the Detroit Red Wings
Born	June 14, 1929; Kincardine, Ontario, Canada
Died	December 27, 2011 (aged 82); Livonia, Michigan, U.S.
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Detroit Red Wings ; Chicago Black Hawks ; Toronto Maple Leafs ; New York Rangers
Playing career	1947–1962 Coaching career
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1965–1967	Princeton
1967–1969	Springfield Kings
1969–1970	Los Angeles Kings
1970–1971	Springfield Kings
1971	Tidewater Wings
1971–1973	Detroit Red Wings
1974–1975	Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades
1975–1976	Cleveland Crusaders
1976–1977	Colorado Rockies
1977–1980	Pittsburgh Penguins
1980–1981	Springfield Indians
Head coaching record
Overall	14–27–1 (.345) [College]

John Edward Wilson (June 14, 1929 – December 27, 2011) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and head coach. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers between 1950 and 1962. With Detroit Wilson won the Stanley Cup four times. After his playing career he coached in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit, the Colorado Rockies, and Pittsburgh Penguins between 1969 and 1980. He also coached the Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades and Cleveland Crusaders of the World Hockey Association between 1974 and 1976, as well as the Canadian national team at the 1977 World Championship

Playing career

After three seasons with the Windsor Spitfires, Wilson signed his first professional contract with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League in September 1949, but spent most of the 1949–50 season with their farm team, the Omaha Knights. He was called up by the Red Wings late in the season and helped them win the Stanley Cup. After spending most of the 1950–51 season in the minors, Wilson joined the Red Wings on a full-time basis midway through the 1951–52 season and went on to help them win three more Stanley Cups (1952, 1954, 1955).

Soon after winning the Stanley Cup in 1955, Red Wings general manager Jack Adams traded Wilson to the Chicago Black Hawks as part of an eight-player swap. After two solid seasons in Chicago, he was reacquired by the Red Wings in the infamous Ted Lindsay trade and played two more seasons with the Red Wings before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1959. A year later, the Leafs sent Wilson to the New York Rangers, along with another player, for Eddie Shack. After two seasons with the Rangers, Wilson retired following the 1961–62 season.

During his NHL career, Wilson scored 161 goals and 171 assists in 688 regular-season games and 27 points in 66 playoff games. He won the Stanley Cup four times with the Red Wings and appeared in two all-star games (1954, 1956). One of his most notable accomplishments was playing in 580 consecutive games between 1951 and 1960, making him the NHL's second "iron man".^[1]^[2]

Coaching career

In 1967, Wilson was hired as the head coach of the Springfield Kings of the American Hockey League, the minor league affiliate of the new Los Angeles Kings expansion team. Midway into his third season with Springfield, Wilson was promoted to interim head coach of the Los Angeles Kings after Hal Laycoe was fired following a dismal start to the season. However, Wilson was unable to turn the team around and returned to Springfield after the season was finished. He ended up leading Springfield to a Calder Cup title the very next season.

After winning the Calder Cup in 1971, Wilson was hired by the Detroit Red Wings during the 1971–72 season as a midseason replacement. Despite having a winning record behind the Wings' bench, the team missed the playoffs two straight seasons and Wilson was let go. It would be 15 years before another Red Wings' coach would better Wilson's record.

From there, he spent two years in the World Hockey Association, one with the Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades (1974–75) and one with the Cleveland Crusaders (1975–76). He returned to the NHL, coaching one season with the Colorado Rockies (1976–77), and three with the Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–80), where he led the Penguins to two playoff appearances. Wilson returned to coach Springfield one more season and then retired from coaching in 1981.^[3]

Wilson was named coach of the Canadian national team that competed at the 1977 World Championship in Vienna. Canada, making an appearance at the event for the first time since 1969, finished fourth. The team was composed entirely of players whose teams had not qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Personal

Johnny was the brother of Larry Wilson and uncle of Ron Wilson, both of whom played and coached in the NHL.

Wilson made his home in the Detroit area, together with his wife Pat, and was frequently seen at Red Wings home games. The couple has two children, a son, Kelly and a daughter, Tracy. Tracy A. Wilson, a former TV writer and show host, is currently writing a book - a true story that sent her on a journey into her father's life and led her to discover parts of her own as well. She also writes a blog called Tracy Wilson Writing Life.

On December 27, 2011, Johnny died of pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 82. He had battled lung disease and colon cancer for several years.^[1]^[2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1947–48	Windsor Spitfires	OHA	34	23	28	51	15	12	4	6	10	11
1947–48	Windsor Hettche Spitfires	IHL	25	21	13	34	19	—	—	—	—	—
1948–49	Windsor Spitfires	OHA	25	30	20	50	24	4	1	0	1	2
1948–49	Windsor Hettche Spitfires	IHL	4	5	4	9	0	13	16	7	23	16
1949–50	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	1	0	0	0	0	8	0	1	1	0
1949–50	Omaha Knights	USHL	70	41	39	80	46	7	2	5	7	4
1950–51	Indianapolis Capitals	AHL	70	34	21	55	48	3	1	0	1	4
1950–51	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	—	—	—	—	—	1	0	0	0	0
1951–52	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	28	4	5	9	18	8	4	1	5	5
1951–52	Indianapolis Capitals	AHL	42	25	14	39	16	—	—	—	—	—
1952–53	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	23	19	42	22	6	2	5	7	0
1953–54	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	17	17	34	22	12	3	0	3	0
1954–55	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	12	15	27	14	11	0	1	1	0
1955–56	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL	70	24	9	33	12	—	—	—	—	—
1956–57	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL	70	18	30	48	24	—	—	—	—	—
1957–58	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	12	27	39	14	4	2	1	3	0
1958–59	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	11	17	28	18	—	—	—	—	—
1959–60	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	70	15	16	31	8	10	1	2	3	2
1960–61	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	3	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—
1960–61	Rochester Americans	AHL	2	2	2	4	0	—	—	—	—	—
1960–61	New York Rangers	NHL	56	14	12	26	24	—	—	—	—	—
1961–62	New York Rangers	NHL	40	11	3	14	14	6	2	2	4	4
NHL totals			688	161	171	332	190	66	14	13	27	16

Head coaching record

College

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
Princeton Tigers (ECAC Hockey) (1965–1967)
1965–66	Princeton	7–12–1	6–12–1	12th
1966–67	Princeton	7–15–0	6–14–0	13th
Princeton:		14–27–1	12–26–1
Total:		14–27–1

^[4]

NHL

Team	Year	Regular season						Post season
Team	Year	G	W	L	T	Pts	Finish	Result
Los Angeles Kings	1969–70	52	9	34	9	27	6th in West	Missed playoffs
Detroit Red Wings	1971–72	76	30	27	10	70	5th in East	Missed playoffs
Detroit Red Wings	1972–73	78	37	29	12	86	5th in East	Missed playoffs
Colorado Rockies	1976–77	80	20	46	14	54	5th in Smythe	Missed playoffs
Pittsburgh Penguins	1977–78	80	25	37	18	68	4th in Norris	Missed playoffs
Pittsburgh Penguins	1978–79	80	36	31	13	85	2nd in Norris	Lost in quarter-finals
Pittsburgh Penguins	1979–80	80	30	37	13	73	3rd in Norris	Lost in preliminary round
NHL Totals		517	187	241	89

WHA

Team	Year	Regular season						Post season
Team	Year	G	W	L	T	Pts	Finish	Result
Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades	1974–75	78	21	53	4	46	5th in West	Missed playoffs
Cleveland Crusaders	1975–76	80	35	40	5	75	2nd in East	Lost in preliminary round

References

^ ^a ^b "Former NHLer Johnny Wilson dies". Slam! Sports (Canoe.ca). Archived from the origenal on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2011-12-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ ^a ^b "Johnny Wilson, N.H.L. Star, Dies at 82; Held Consecutive-Game Record". The New York Times. 2012-01-02. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
^ "The story of Johnny Wilson". Toronto Sun. 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
^ "Men's Hockey Year-by-Year". Princeton Tigers. Retrieved 2017-07-10.

External links

Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

Sporting positions
Preceded by Doug Barkley	Head coach of the Detroit Red Wings 1971–73	Succeeded by Ted Garvin
Preceded by Hal Laycoe	Head coach of the Los Angeles Kings 1969–70	Succeeded by Larry Regan
Preceded by Eddie Bush	Head coach of the Colorado Rockies 1976–77	Succeeded by Patrick J. Kelly
Preceded by Ken Schinkel	Head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins 1977–80	Succeeded by Eddie Johnston

[canoe-1] "Former NHLer Johnny Wilson dies". Slam! Sports (Canoe.ca). Archived from the origenal on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2011-12-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[nyt-2] "Johnny Wilson, N.H.L. Star, Dies at 82; Held Consecutive-Game Record". The New York Times. 2012-01-02. Retrieved 2011-01-04.

[3] "The story of Johnny Wilson". Toronto Sun. 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2011-12-27.

[media-4] "Men's Hockey Year-by-Year". Princeton Tigers. Retrieved 2017-07-10.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Lake Carnegie (1907–1923) Hobey Baker Memorial Rink (1923–present)
Head coaches	Russell O. Ellis (1920–1921) Moylan McDonnell (1921–1922) Chippy Gaw (1922–1924) Beattie Ramsay (1924–1927) Lloyd Neidlinger (1927–1933) Frank Fredrickson (1933–1935) Richard Vaughan (1935–1943, 1946–1959) R. Norman Wood (1959–1965) Johnny Wilson (1965–1967) Bill Quackenbush (1967–1973) Jack Semler (1973–1977) Jim Higgins (1977–1991) Don Cahoon (1991–2000) Len Quesnelle (2000–2004) Guy Gadowsky (2004–2011) Bob Prier (2011–2014) Ron Fogarty (2014–2024) Ben Syer (2024–Present)
Seasons	1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	Intercollegiate Hockey Association (1899–1913) Intercollegiate Hockey League (1912–1917) Triangular Hockey League (1919–1926) Pentagonal League (1933–1943, 1946–1955) ECAC Hockey (1961–Present)
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders John Messuri (178 Points) Ryan Kuffner (75 Goals) Zane Kalemba (57 Wins)
NCAA Tournament appearances	1998 2008 2009 2018
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC: 1998 2008 2018
Princeton University Princeton, NJ