Bill Quackenbush

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Bill Quackenbush bigraphy, stories - Canadian ice hockey player

Bill Quackenbush : biography

02 March 1922 – 12 September 1999

Hubert George "Bill" Quackenbush (March 2, 1922 – September 12, 1999) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League. During his 14 year career, he was the first defenceman to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. He won the award after playing the entire 1948–49 season without 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 the NHL All-Star Team five times, played in eight NHL All-Star games and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976.

Following his retirement from professional ice hockey, he spent 18 years as head coach of various teams at Princeton University. Quackenbush coached men’s golf, and both the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams, at various times. He won eight Ivy League Championships with the men’s golf team and three with the women’s ice hockey team.

Professional career

Quackenbush signed as a free-agent with the Red Wings on October 19, 1942, and played 10 games during the 1942–43 season before breaking his wrist. After recovering from the injury, Detroit assigned him to the American Hockey League where he joined the Indianapolis Capitals. He earned a regular position with the Red Wings during the 1943–44 season, scoring 4 goals and 18 points. 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 in 1945–46. The following season he earned his first post-season honour, when he was named a Second Team NHL All-Star. He was also named the Red Wings team MVP. He registered a career high 17 penalty minutes in 1947–48 and was named a First Team All-Star. The season also saw the start of a streak of 131 consecutive games where Quackenbush was not assessed a penalty. 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 the 1948–49 season, and ended after 45 games of the 1949–50 season. At the conclusion of the 1948–49 season, he was awarded the Lady Byng Trophy, the NHL’s annual award for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct. He was the first defenceman to win the award, and remains one of only two in NHL history to capture the trophy. Detroit General Manager Jack Adams detested the award and felt that any player who won it did not belong on his team, so he promptly traded Quackenbush. He was sent to the Boston Bruins with Pete Horeck for Pete Babando, Lloyd Durham, Clare Martin and Jimmy Peters, Sr.

Quackenbush became a fan favorite upon his arrival in Boston, where his offensive style of play was compared to former Bruin (and fellow Hall of Famer) Eddie Shore. In his first season in Boston, Quackenbush scored 8 goals and 25 points. He continued to stay out of the penalty box, registering only 4 penalty minutes. However, it marked the first time in three seasons that he was not named to the NHL All-Star Team. The Bruins defence core was depleted by injury in 1950–51, forcing the team to use several first year players. 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 brother Max. It was the only time the two played professionally together. He also set a career high in points with 29 and was again named a First Team NHL All-Star. Over the next five seasons Quackenbush hovered around the 20 point mark and was never assessed more than 8 penalty minutes in a year.

Quackenbush retired following the 1955–56 season, 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. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1940–41 Toronto Native Sons OHA 13 4 9 13 0
1941–42 Brantford Lions OHA 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 0 0
1955–56 Boston Bruins NHL 70 3 22 25 4
NHL totals 774 62 222 284 95 80 2 19 21 8