John McKenzie (hockey player)
| John McKenzie | |||
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McKenzie in 2012
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| Born |
December 12, 1937 High River, Alberta, Canada |
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| 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 |
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| National team |
 Canada
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| Playing career | 1958–1979 | ||
John Albert "Pie, Bronco" McKenzie (born December 12, 1937) is a Canadian former professional hockey player and coach. 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).
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.
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