John Wensink
John Wensink (born April 1, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, who played over 400 games in the National Hockey League (NHL), most prominently with the Boston Bruins. Wensink grew up in Maxville, Ontario, the son of Dutch immigrants, and played for the Netherlands national ice hockey team in the 1989 World Ice Hockey Championships.
| John Wensink | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
April 1, 1953 Cornwall, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb) | ||
| Position | Left wing | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
St. Louis Blues Boston Bruins Quebec Nordiques Colorado Rockies New Jersey Devils | ||
| National team |
 Netherlands | ||
| NHL Draft |
104th overall, 1973 St. Louis Blues | ||
| WHA Draft |
28th overall, 1973 New York Golden Blades | ||
| Playing career | 1973–1983 | ||
Career
Wensink is best remembered for his time with the Boston Bruins, where he teamed with Terry O'Reilly and Stan Jonathan as the team's enforcers. On December 1, 1977, Wensink, after fighting Alex Pirus of the Minnesota North Stars, skated to the Minnesota bench and challenged the entire team, but no player responded.[1] Wensink is also well-known for the large afro that he sported on the ice. In another scrap with Bob Kelly, Wensink and Kelly were pulling at each other's hair.
Besides his skill as a fighter, Wensink could score as well. He had a career high 46 points in the 1978-79 season for the Bruins.
Wensink also played for the St. Louis Blues, Quebec Nordiques, the Colorado Rockies and the New Jersey Devils. He finished his career with the Nijmegen Tigers in the Dutch Eredivisie in 1984–85.
Post-playing career
After his playing career ended, Wensink moved to St. Charles, Missouri, and started a home renovation company,[2] where he also plays senior hockey. Wensink has been active as a pee-wee hockey coach.[3] He is still active with the St. Louis Blues Alumni and the Boston Bruins Alumni hockey teams.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1970–71 | Cornwall Royals | QMJHL | 57 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 151 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | Cornwall Royals | QMJHL | 60 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 169 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 64 | ||
| 1972–73 | Cornwall Royals | QMJHL | 52 | 9 | 26 | 35 | 242 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 55 | ||
| 1973–74 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 36 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 139 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | ||
| 1974–75 | Denver Spurs | CHL | 21 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 75 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 23 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 32 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 1977–78 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 80 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 181 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 54 | ||
| 1978–79 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 76 | 28 | 18 | 46 | 108 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | ||
| 1979–80 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 69 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 110 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 1980–81 | Quebec Nordiques | NHL | 53 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 124 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1981–82 | Colorado Rockies | NHL | 57 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 152 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 42 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 135 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | Wichita Wind | CHL | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984–85 | Vissers Nijmegen | Eredivisie | 14 | 15 | 12 | 27 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 403 | 70 | 68 | 138 | 842 | 43 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 86 | ||||
References
- Kamchen, Richard (31 March 2013). "Backchecking: Brad Maxwell". TheHockeyNews. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
- Dupont, Kevin Paul (1 January 1995). "Ex-Players Can Understand Both NHL Sides". Deseret News. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
- "Meet Me In St. Louis | USA Hockey Magazine". www.usahockeymagazine.com. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database