Johnny Bucyk Career Games Played

Lore & Background

Bucyk was considered a skilled left winger and the largest of his day. He retired as the fourth leading point scorer of all time and having played the third-most games in history, and recorded sixteen seasons of scoring twenty goals or more. Despite his reputation for devastating hip checks, he was a notably clean player who won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship in 1971 and 1974. Bucyk was the senior alternate captain of the Bruins when they won Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972. Following his retirement, Bucyk has remained a member of the Bruins serving many different roles such as commentator, director and now currently works as an ambassador for the team.

Reader's Guide

Bucyk played junior hockey for four seasons for his hometown Edmonton Oil Kings before signing with the Detroit Red Wings in 1955. He was originally an awkward skater, and Oil Kings coach Ken McAuley arranged for Bucyk to train offseason with a figure skater until his technique improved. He went on to be one of the leading scorers on a strong Oil Kings squad that included future Hall of Famer Norm Ullman. The team won the Abbott Cup in 1954 and Bucyk and the Oil Kings went to the 1954 Memorial Cup final against the St. Catharines Teepees.

Following the Memorial Cup final, Bucyk signed a professional contract with the Edmonton Flyers of the Western Hockey League, the minor league affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings. There, he was reunited with junior teammate Ullman, and paired on a line with future Bruins teammates Bronco Horvath and Vic Stasiuk. It was during this time that Horvath was responsible for nicknaming Bucyk 'Chief'. In 1955, his lone full season with the Flyers, he finished second on the team to Horvath with 30 goals, 58 assists and 88 points as the Flyers won the league championship.

Following the 1955 WHL playoffs, Detroit called Bucyk up for the 1955 Stanley Cup playoffs. Practicing with the team as a so-called 'Black Ace', he saw no game action, as Detroit defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to three for the Cup. Unusually, his first NHL game was in the 1955 All-Star Game, played in October between the defending Cup champion Red Wings and an all-star team from the rest of the league. He saw only spot duty in his rookie season of 1956 scoring his first NHL goal against Gump Worsley on December 11th 1955 in a 2-0 victory over the Rangers.

He finished the year with 38 appearances on the year with 9 points (1 goal, 9 assists). During the postseason Bucyk appeared in all 10 playoffs games scoring both his first NHL playoff goal and assist as the Red Wings beat Toronto to advance to the 1956 Stanley Cup final, however they were defeated by Montreal 4-1. The following year Bucyk made 6 appearances for the Edmonton Flyers before returning to the Red Wings squad for the rest of the 1956-57 season where he played in 66 games scoring 10 goals and 11 assists.

Bucyk once again appeared in all 5 postseason games but the Red Wings were defeated by Bucyk's future team the Boston Bruins 4-1.

Did You Know?

• Bucyk was born in Edmonton to Sam and Pearl Bucyk, Ukrainian immigrants from the village of Butsiv, in what is now Yavoriv Raion, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine.
• The nickname 'Chief' was given to him by Bronco Horvath, purportedly out of Horvath's admiration for how Bucyk used his stick like a tomahawk to fight for pucks along the boards.