Walter Robert Bogdan Tkaczuk (born September 29, 1947) is a Canadian former

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

who played fourteen seasons for the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) between

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

. Tkaczuk's family, originally from Ukraine, moved to

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

from

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

when he was two years old. He was the first player born in Germany to appear in an NHL game.

NHL career

Tkaczuk centred the "Bulldog Line" with Bill Fairbairn and

Dave Balon David Alexander Balon (August 2, 1938 – May 29, 2007) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Balon played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League between 1959 and 1973 before multiple sclerosis led to his retirement. Playing ...

, who was later replaced by Steve Vickers. He could score his fair share of goals, however he was much better at producing assists. Tkaczuk's finest contribution to the game was that of the defensive forward, being among the NHL's elite shadows and faceoff men. This complemented the Rangers' high-scoring GAG line of

Jean Ratelle Joseph Gilbert Yvon Jean Ratelle (born October 3, 1940) is a Canadian former ice hockey player who played for the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. He featured in three Stanley Cup Finals (1972, 1977, 1978). In twenty-one seasons he averaged alm ...

Rod Gilbert Rodrigue Gabriel Gilbert (July 1, 1941 – August 19, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played his entire career for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Known as "Mr. Ranger", he played right wing o ...

Vic Hadfield Victor Edward Hadfield (born October 4, 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played sixteen years in the National Hockey League (NHL), spending thirteen with the New York Rangers and three with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ea ...

. During his first two seasons with the Rangers, the club and media pronounced his name, "Taychuk" because the Rangers' director of player personnel felt it was easier to say than the correct pronunciation, "Ka-Chook." Prior to the 1969-70 season, the club announced he would henceforth be called by the correct pronunciation. In the 1972 playoffs, with Ratelle sidelined with a broken ankle and Gilbert hampered by injuries, Tkaczuk played a key role as the Rangers defeated the defending champions

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

, and the previous season's finalists

Chicago Black Hawks Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, to reach the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...

. While the Rangers lost to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

in six games, Tkaczuk earned much respect for holding the Bruins'

Phil Esposito Philip Anthony Esposito ( , ; born February 20, 1942) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach and executive, and current broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he played 18 seasons in ...

without a goal in the series. Tkaczuk was asked to play for Team Canada in the

1972 Summit Series The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (), or Series of the Century (), was an eight-game ice hockey series between the Soviet Union and Canada, held in September 1972. It was the first competition between the Soviet nation ...

but declined the invitation due to his obligation to his summer hockey school. He was replaced by

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

' centre

Bobby Clarke Robert Earle Clarke (born August 13, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played his entire 15-year National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Philadelphia Flyers and is currently an executive with the team. Popular ...

. In the 1979 playoffs, Tkaczuk was a key contributor as the Rangers upset the first place

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, where they fell to Montreal in five games. Towards the end of a game on February 2, 1981, Tkaczuk suffered an eye injury when hit by a puck. He never played again. Over his career, Tkaczuk played in 945 NHL games, scoring 227 goals and 451 assists for 678 points. Despite his physical presence, he only accumulated 556 minutes in penalties. In the 2009 book ''100 Ranger Greats'', the authors ranked Tkaczuk at No. 14 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.

Post-hockey career

Tkaczuk is co-owner of River Valley Golf Course and Tube Slide in

St. Marys, Ontario St. Marys is a town in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the north branch of the Thames River and Trout Creek southwest of Stratford, and is surrounded by the Township of Perth South in Perth County, Ontario. St. ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

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Playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

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Season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM , - , 1963–64 ,

Kitchener Dutchmen The Kitchener Dutchmen were a Canada, Canadian junior ice hockey, junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Mid-Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The Dutchmen tu ...

, CJHL , 30 , , 25 , , 37 , , 62 , , — , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1963–64 ,

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

, OHA , 21 , , 5 , , 5 , , 10 , , 4 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - , 1964–65 , Kitchener Dutchmen , CJHL , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1964–65 , Kitchener Rangers , OHA , 7 , , 1 , , 2 , , 3 , , 6 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - , 1965–66 , Kitchener Rangers , OHA , 47 , , 12 , , 31 , , 43 , , 39 , 19 , , 7 , , 23 , , 30 , , 13 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1966–67 , Kitchener Rangers , OHA , 48 , , 23 , , 47 , , 70 , , 85 , 13 , , 6 , , 8 , , 14 , , 23 , - , 1966–67 ,

Omaha Knights Omaha Knights may refer to: * Omaha Knights (AHA) an ice hockey team that played from (1939–1942) in the American Hockey Association and from (1945–1951) in the United States Hockey League * Omaha Knights (IHL) an ice hockey team that played ...

, CPHL , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , 3 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2 , , 2 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1967–68 , Kitchener Rangers , OHA , 52 , , 37 , , 56 , , 93 , , 81 , 19 , , 17 , , 20 , , 37 , , 58 , - , 1967–68 ,

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

, 2 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1968–69 ,

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, AHL , 5 , , 2 , , 7 , , 9 , , 9 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - , 1968–69 , New York Rangers , NHL , 71 , , 12 , , 24 , , 36 , , 28 , 4 , , 0 , , 1 , , 1 , , 6 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1969–70 , New York Rangers , NHL , 76 , , 27 , , 50 , , 77 , , 38 , 6 , , 2 , , 1 , , 3 , , 17 , - , 1970–71 , New York Rangers , NHL , 77 , , 26 , , 49 , , 75 , , 48 , 13 , , 1 , , 5 , , 6 , , 14 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1971–72 , New York Rangers , NHL , 76 , , 24 , , 42 , , 66 , , 65 , 16 , , 4 , , 6 , , 10 , , 35 , - ,

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

, New York Rangers , NHL , 76 , , 27 , , 39 , , 66 , , 59 , 10 , , 7 , , 2 , , 9 , , 8 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1973–74 , New York Rangers , NHL , 71 , , 21 , , 42 , , 63 , , 58 , 13 , , 0 , , 5 , , 5 , , 22 , - , 1974–75 , New York Rangers , NHL , 62 , , 11 , , 25 , , 36 , , 34 , 3 , , 1 , , 2 , , 3 , , 5 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1975–76 , New York Rangers , NHL , 78 , , 8 , , 28 , , 36 , , 56 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - , 1976–77 , New York Rangers , NHL , 80 , , 12 , , 38 , , 50 , , 38 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1977–78 , New York Rangers , NHL , 80 , , 26 , , 40 , , 66 , , 30 , 3 , , 0 , , 2 , , 2 , , 0 , - , 1978–79 , New York Rangers , NHL , 77 , , 15 , , 27 , , 42 , , 38 , 18 , , 4 , , 7 , , 11 , , 10 , - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , 1979–80 , New York Rangers , NHL , 76 , , 12 , , 25 , , 37 , , 36 , 7 , , 0 , , 1 , , 1 , , 2 , - , 1980–81 , New York Rangers , NHL , 43 , , 6 , , 22 , , 28 , , 28 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" , NHL totals ! 945 !! 227 !! 451 !! 678 !! 556 ! 93 !! 19 !! 32 !! 51 !! 119

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tkaczuk, Walt 1947 births Living people Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Ice hockey people from Timmins Kitchener Rangers players New York Rangers players Omaha Knights (CHL) players People from Emsdetten Sportspeople from Münster (region) West German emigrants to Canada 20th-century Canadian sportsmen