John McKenzie (ice hockey)

For the Olympic hockey player, see Jack McKenzie (ice hockey).
John McKenzie
Born (1937-12-12) December 12, 1937
High River, AB, CAN
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for NHL
Chicago Black Hawks
Detroit Red Wings
New York Rangers
Boston Bruins
WHA
Philadelphia Blazers
Vancouver Blazers
Minnesota Fighting Saints
Cincinnati Stingers
New England Whalers
National team  Canada
Playing career 19581979

John Albert "Pie, Bronco" McKenzie (born December 12, 1937) is a Canadian former professional hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for several seasons, most notably with the Boston Bruins, with whom he was a member of two Stanley Cup championship teams. He also played several seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA).

Playing career

McKenzie's teammates dubbed him "Pieface" for his resemblance to a cartoon figure of the same name featured on the wrapper of a popular Canadian candy bar, but within a few years the nickname evolved to "Pie." After three years in the junior leagues — for which he starred with the St. Catharines Teepees of the OHA and led the league in goals and points in 1958 — McKenzie made his NHL debut during the 1959 season with the Chicago Black Hawks.

The following season he moved on to the Detroit Red Wings, where he lasted two years. He was then demoted back to the minors, playing for most of three seasons in the American Hockey League with the Hershey Bears and the Buffalo Bisons, and was named to the league's First All-Star Team in 1963. He returned to the NHL again during the 1964 season, once again with the Black Hawks, and two years later played for the New York Rangers for part of the 1966 season, halfway during which he was traded to the Rangers' arch-rivals, the Boston Bruins.

He was an immediate impact player in Boston, and it was with the Bruins that the 5-foot-9-inch, 170 pound (77 kg) right wing had the most productive seasons of his career. He became a star in the 1968 season, scoring twenty-eight goals and gaining a reputation as a pesky, relentless hustler. He would score twenty-nine goals each of the next two seasons, and would win the accolade as Second Team All-Star in the 1970 season, when in the Stanley Cup playoffs he would score seventeen points in fourteen games, fourth on the team after Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and John Bucyk and a feat he would repeat in 1972. His best season statistically was the following year, when he scored thirty-one goals and 77 points in 65 games. All in all, McKenzie scored 169 goals in his seven years in Boston and helped the Bruins win two Stanley Cup titles, in 1970 and again in 1972.

A notorious incident took place immediately after the Bruins defeated the Rangers in six games in the Stanley Cup finals in the latter year (winning the clinching game on the Rangers' home ice at Madison Square Garden), McKenzie skated to center ice, raised one arm in a Statue of Liberty pose, placing his other hand around his neck, making a "choke" gesture (alluding to the fact that the result of the series had left the Rangers still looking for their first Stanley Cup championship since 1940), then jumping up and down in a circle several times. This became known as the "McKenzie Choke Dance," or simply the "choke dance."

Following the Bruins second Stanley Cup championship in 1972, McKenzie was disgruntled at being left unprotected in the expansion draft, and though the Bruins did not lose him, he signed as player-coach with the Philadelphia Blazers of the newly formed World Hockey Association (WHA). With a poor 2-11-0 coaching record through his first 13 games, he stepped down from his head coach position in favor of veteran coach Phil Watson, but continued to play effectively for the Blazers, the Minnesota Fighting Saints, the Cincinnati Stingers and finally the New England Whalers. McKenzie finished his career in the WHA's final season in 1979, having played in twenty-one major professional seasons.

Retirement

In 2007, McKenzie served as the coach of the Berklee Ice Cats, the newly formed hockey team at Berklee College of Music in Boston.[1] Following that, he was the liaison for hockey development at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He is currently retired.

Career achievements and facts

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1953–54Calgary BuffaloesWCJHL3468141250002
1954–55Medicine Hat TigersWCJHL39144183350004
1955–56Nanton PalominosFHHL
1955–56Calgary StampedersWHL1000020112
1956–57St. Catharines TeepeesOHA-Jr.52323870143149112050
1957–58St. Catharines TeepeesOHA-Jr.524851992278841219
1958–59Chicago Black HawksNHL323472220002
1958–59Calgary StampedersWHL1325718
1959–60Detroit Red WingsNHL59812205020000
1960–61Detroit Red WingsNHL1631413
1960–61Hershey BearsAHL4719234284836910
1961–62Hershey BearsAHL58302959149712319
1962–63Buffalo BisonsAHL71354681122138122028
1963–64Chicago Black HawksNHL4599185040116
1964–65St. Louis BravesCHL554917
1964–65Chicago Black HawksNHL518101846110116
1965–66New York RangersNHL35651136
1965–66Boston BruinsNHL361392236
1966–67Boston BruinsNHL6917193698
1967–68Boston BruinsNHL7428386610741128
1968–69Boston BruinsNHL60292756991022417
1969–70Boston BruinsNHL72294170114145121735
1970–71Boston BruinsNHL65314677120723522
1971–72Boston BruinsNHL77224769126155121737
1972–73Philadelphia BlazersWHA6028507815743148
1973–74Vancouver BlazersWHA4514385271
1974–75Vancouver BlazersWHA7423376084
1975–76Minnesota Fighting SaintsWHA5721264752
1975–76Cincinnati StingersWHA12310136
1976–77Minnesota Fighting SaintsWHA4017133042
1976–77New England WhalersWHA341119302552138
1977–78New England WhalersWHA792729566114661216
1978–79New England WhalersWHA7619284711510371010
NHL totals 691 206 268 474 917 69 15 32 47 133
WHA totals 477 163 250 413 619 33 14 15 29 42

Coaching record

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Finish Result
Philadelphia Blazers1972-73 7160(2)3rd in WHA East(resigned)
Vancouver Blazers1973-74 7340(6)5th in WHA West(interim coach)

References

External links

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