Bernie Wolfe (ice hockey)

Early life

Bernie Wolfe was born in Montreal, Quebec, to a Jewish family. His mother, Fay, admitted she would have preferred he become a doctor or another professional, but added that his happiness was what mattered. His father, Mickey, had been a goaltender for the Canadian Army team. Wolfe studied financial management and played hockey at Sir George Williams University in Montreal, where he was recognized as the school’s top male athlete. He was a Quebec University Athletic Association First Team All-Star goaltender in 1972 and 1974, and a CIAU First Team All-Star in 1974. He led Sir George Williams to the 1974 CIAU University Cup final, where they fell to the Waterloo Warriors; Wolfe took home the Major W.J. “Danny” McLeod Award as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. During his NHL career, he also took classes at George Washington University.

Biography

Bernie Wolfe joined the Washington Capitals as a free agent in 1975 and played four seasons before hanging up his skates in November 1979 at age 27. During the 1975–76 campaign, the franchise’s second year, he appeared in 40 games and set club marks for a goals-against average of 4.16 and a shutout streak of 80:43. While those numbers don’t jump off the page, they represented a big step forward from the Capitals’ disastrous inaugural season, when the team posted the worst single-season record in NHL history, allowed a league-worst 446 goals, and finished with a 5.58 team GAA, the fourth-worst all time. Wolfe showed flashes of skill and was a steady performer on a struggling squad. He retired with a year left on his guaranteed contract, explaining, “I just didn’t enjoy it anymore.” Over 119 games, his record stood at 20-61-21, with 424 goals against, a 4.17 GAA, and one shutout.

After leaving hockey, Wolfe launched a financial planning career, earning his Certified Financial Planner designation in 1981. His firm, Bernard R. Wolfe & Associates Inc., managed $14 billion in assets by 2014. In 1992, the Capitals tried to bring the 40-year-old back as a favor. League rules required each team to expose a goaltender with at least one NHL game in the expansion draft, but Washington didn’t want to risk any of its three netminders—Don Beaupre, Jim Hrivnak, or Olaf Kölzig. Wolfe agreed to sign for the $100,000 league minimum, promising to donate his salary to charity if the deal went through. But NHL president John Ziegler Jr. delayed approval and summoned general manager David Poile to Toronto two days before the draft. Taking that as a rejection, Poile signed Steve Weeks instead. Phil Esposito, a new part-owner of the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning, quipped, “I didn’t just pay $50 million for Bernie Wolfe. He wasn’t any good when I played against him.”

Wolfe co-wrote the book How to Watch Ice Hockey with journalist Mitch Henkin in 1982. He served as president of the Washington Capitals Alumni Association from 1992 to 2007. In 1999, he underwent double hip replacement surgery.