Bill Quackenbush facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bill Quackenbush |
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| Hockey Hall of Fame, 1976 | |||
Quackenbush with the Boston Bruins in 1951
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| Born | March 2, 1922 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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| Died | September 12, 1999 (aged 77) Newtown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
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| 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 |
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| Playing career | 1942–1956 | ||
Bill Quackenbush (born Hubert George Quackenbush on March 2, 1922 – died September 12, 1999) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was an amazing defenceman who played for the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for 14 years and made history!
Bill was the first defenceman ever to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. This award is given to the player who shows the best sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct. He won it because he played the entire 1948–49 season without getting a single penalty! This amazing streak lasted for 131 games in a row. Bill Quackenbush was known as a top offensive defenceman. He was chosen for the NHL All-Star team five times and played in eight NHL All-Star games. In 1976, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
After his hockey career, Bill became a coach at Princeton University. He coached for 18 years, leading both men's and women's ice hockey teams, and even the men's golf team. He helped the men's golf team win eight Ivy League Championships and the women's ice hockey team win three.
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Early Life and Other Sports
Bill Quackenbush was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on March 2, 1922. His real name was Hubert George Quackenbush, but his aunt gave him the nickname "Bill" because she didn't like his given name. When he was young, during the Great Depression, he played hockey on outdoor rinks in Toronto. He was one of Canada's best high school athletes.
Besides hockey, Bill was also a talented football and soccer player. During World War II, he played for a famous Canadian soccer team called Toronto Scottish. He even had a chance to play professional football, but he chose to focus on hockey instead.
Bill started his junior hockey career with the Toronto Native Sons. He then played for the Brantford Lions. His great playing caught the eye of the Detroit Red Wings from the NHL.
Professional Hockey Career
Bill Quackenbush joined the Detroit Red Wings on October 19, 1942. He played a few games before breaking his wrist. After he recovered, he played for the Indianapolis Capitals in the American Hockey League. By the 1943–44 season, he earned a regular spot with the Red Wings. He scored 4 goals and 18 points that year. In the next two seasons, he kept scoring well and had very few penalty minutes. He scored a career-high 11 goals in the 1945–46 season.
In the 1946-47 season, Bill was named a Second Team NHL All-Star. He was also named the Red Wings' most valuable player. The next season, 1947–48, he became a First Team All-Star. This season also marked the start of his incredible streak of 131 games without a single penalty. This streak included the end of the 1947-48 season, the entire 1948–49 season, and part of the 1949–50 season.
At the end of the 1948–49 season, Bill won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. This award celebrates sportsmanship and fair play. He was the first defenceman to ever win it, and he's one of only three players in NHL history to win the award without getting any penalty minutes all season.
However, the Detroit General Manager, Jack Adams, didn't like the Lady Byng award. He thought players who won it weren't tough enough for his team. So, he traded Bill to the Boston Bruins.
Bill quickly became a fan favorite in Boston. His offensive playing style was compared to another Hall of Famer, Eddie Shore. In his first season with the Bruins, Bill scored 8 goals and 25 points. He continued to play with very few penalties. In the 1950–51 season, he played with his brother, Max, for the only time in their professional careers. Bill also set a new personal record with 29 points that year and was again named a First Team NHL All-Star. For the next five seasons, he consistently scored around 20 points and rarely got more than 8 penalty minutes a year.
Bill Quackenbush retired after the 1955–56 season. Throughout his 774 games, he only had 95 penalty minutes in total. This means he spent only about seven seconds per game in the penalty box, which is one of the lowest amounts in NHL history for any player! He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976.
Life After Hockey
After his NHL career, Bill worked as a manufacturer's agent. He also went to night school at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, where he earned a degree in engineering. He also became an assistant hockey coach at Northeastern.
In 1967, Bill became the head coach for Princeton University's men's ice hockey team. He coached them for six seasons. His best season was his first, in 1967–68, when the team won 13 games. This was Princeton's highest win total since 1935–36. However, the team struggled in later years, and Bill stepped down as head coach in 1973.
In 1969, he also started coaching the Princeton men's golf team. He had much more success with golf, leading them to eight Ivy League championships! In 1978, Princeton started a women's ice hockey team. Bill was asked to coach them too, even though he was still coaching golf. He led the women's team to three Ivy League championships in a row from 1982 to 1984. Bill retired from coaching in 1985. He then moved to Orlando, Florida, and later to New Jersey.
Bill was married to Joan Kalloch, and they had three sons: Bruce, Scott, and Todd. He also had seven grandchildren. Bill Quackenbush passed away on September 12, 1999, at the age of 77.
Playing Style
Bill Quackenbush was known as an "offensive defenceman." This means he was great at carrying the puck up the ice and helping his team score. He was very skilled at stick handling and passing. He was also good at reading the game. Throughout his career, he was considered one of the best defencemen at rushing the puck forward in the NHL.
He was a solid checker, but he mostly relied on smart positioning and discipline instead of rough physical play. This is why he had such low penalty minutes. In his entire NHL career, he only received one major penalty!
When playing defence, he was excellent at using poke checks to take the puck from opponents. He was also great at finding loose pucks and clearing them out of his team's zone. He was very good at stopping opposing forwards from scoring from behind the net.
Awards and Honours
- Lady Byng Trophy (1949)
- Three-time NHL First Team All-Star (1948, 1949, 1951)
- Two-time NHL Second Team All-Star (1947, 1953)
- Eight-time NHL All-Star Game participant (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954)
- Honored Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame (1976)
Images for kids
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Quackenbush with the Boston Bruins in 1951
