Tiger Williams | |||
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Born |
Weyburn, SK, CAN |
February 3, 1954 ||
Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) | ||
Position | Forward | ||
Shot | Left | ||
Played for |
Toronto Maple Leafs Vancouver Canucks Detroit Red Wings Los Angeles Kings Hartford Whalers |
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NHL Draft | 31st overall, 1974 Toronto Maple Leafs |
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WHA Draft | 33rd overall, 1974 Cincinnati Stingers |
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Playing career | 1974–1988 |
David James "Dave, Tiger" Williams (born February 3, 1954) is a former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from the 1974–75 NHL season to the 1987–88 NHL season. He is the NHL's career leader in penalty minutes.
Williams was drafted in the second round (31st overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL in the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft. He was also drafted by the Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) in the third round (33rd overall) in the 1974 WHA Amateur Draft, but he chose instead to play in the NHL.
Williams was best known for his role as an enforcer, but he was also able to score goals. He played on five different NHL teams during his career. He was drafted by the Maple Leafs and played there from his NHL debut on 7 January against the New York Islanders in 1975 until he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on 18 February, 1980 for Rick Vaive and Bill Derlago. While in Toronto, he broke many Maple Leaf and NHL penalty minute records and led the league in penalty minutes twice with 338 in 1976–77 and 298 in 1978–79. While it seemed that he lived in the "sin bin", he was able to score his fair share of goals. During his best season in Toronto, he scored 22 goals in 55 games before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks part way through that season. He scored 8 more goals in 23 games that season with Vancouver for, at that time, a career best 30 goals.