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Tiger Williams

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Tiger Williams
Born (1954-02-03) February 3, 1954 (age 70)
Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada
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
NHL draft 31st overall, 1974
Toronto Maple Leafs
WHA draft 33rd overall, 1974
Cincinnati Stingers
Playing career 1974–1988

David James "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.

NHL career

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.

The next season, 1980–81, in Vancouver, Williams scored a career high of 35 goals and 62 points while amassing a league leading 343 penalty minutes in 77 games. The 343 penalty minutes would be the third highest of his career. Those 35 goals were the most by any Canuck that year. That season, Williams earned a place in the mid-season All-Star game, having scored 27 goals by the All-Star break, and played on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy. He would play an integral role in the team's surprise run to the Stanley Cup finals in 1982. Williams played in Vancouver until the end of the 1983–84 season.

After Vancouver, Williams played for the Detroit Red Wings for part of the 1984–85 NHL season before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings that same year. During his tenure in Los Angeles, he would set his career high of 358 penalty minutes for one season. He would play in Los Angeles until he was traded to the Hartford Whalers during the 1987–88 NHL season. That would also be his last NHL season as Hartford placed him on waivers and he was released on February 12, 1988. He officially retired in 1988.

Williams was nicknamed "Tiger" as a 5-year-old by his minor hockey coach in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. He also appeared as himself in the first episode of the Canadian sitcom Rent-a-Goalie. Bryan Trottier credits Williams with talking him out of giving up hockey as a youngster, which eventually led to a Hall of Fame career with the New York Islanders.[1]

After the NHL

Co-written by James Lawton, Williams published his autobiography, Tiger: A Hockey Story in 1984. In 1987, Williams released a 101-page cookbook called Done Like Dinner: Tiger In the Kitchen. It was co-written with Kasey Wilson. It included many hockey-inspired recipes, including Habs Tourtière, Stanley Cup Bars, and Luc Robitaille's Lasagna Omelette.

Williams re-emerged briefly as a roller hockey player, appearing in one game, scoring two points, for the RHI's Vancouver Voodoo in 1993.

In 1996, Canadian punk rock band The Hanson Brothers spearheaded a campaign to agitate for Williams' induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. They included a mail-in postcard with their album Sudden Death so that purchasers could make their feelings known to the NHL.[citation needed]

As a guest on the Tony Gallagher phone in radio program Williams claimed that then Canucks manager Pat Quinn attempted to have his Canucks #22 sweater retired by the team. However, due to arcane rules required at the time they had to receive permission from the previous player who wore it, Bob Manno. Manno refused so the team offered him money, according to Williams. Manno still refused.[citation needed] The #22 sweater is currently worn by Assistant Captain and former Art Ross trophy winner, Daniel Sedin.

At the 2002 NHL All Star Game in Los Angeles, the NHL held the NHL All-Star Celebrity Challenge. The home team all wore #22 in honor of Williams.

On February 9, 2018, Williams was charged with sexual assault while on a military trip to Latvia.[2]

Records

  • National Hockey League records:
    • Most NHL career regular season penalty minutes: 3,966
    • Most NHL penalty minutes, career, including playoffs: 4,421
  • Toronto Maple Leafs records:
    • Most playoff penalty minutes: 240
    • Most penalty minutes in one season by a left wing: 351 in 1978
  • Vancouver Canucks records:
    • Most playoff penalty minutes: 181
    • Most penalty minutes in one playoff year: 116 in 1982
    • Most penalty minutes in one playoff series: 51 vs. Chicago in 1982

Career statistics

Figures in Italics are records broken in that category

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1971–72 Swift Current Broncos WCHL 68 12 22 34 278 — — — — —
1972–73 Swift Current Broncos WCHL 68 44 58 102 266 — — — — —
1973–74 Swift Current Broncos WCHL 66 52 56 108 310 12 14 10 24 23
1974–75 Oklahoma City Blazers CHL 39 16 11 27 202 — — — — —
1974–75 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 42 10 19 29 187 7 1 3 4 25
1975–76 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 78 21 19 40 299 10 0 0 0 75
1976–77 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 77 18 25 43 338 9 3 6 9 29
1977–78 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 78 19 31 50 351 12 1 2 3 63
1978–79 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 77 19 20 39 298 6 0 0 0 48
1979–80 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 55 22 18 40 197 — — — — —
1979–80 Vancouver Canucks NHL 23 8 5 13 81 3 0 0 0 20
1980–81 Vancouver Canucks NHL 77 35 27 62 343 3 0 0 0 20
1981–82 Vancouver Canucks NHL 77 17 21 38 341 17 3 7 10 116
1982–83 Vancouver Canucks NHL 68 8 13 21 265 4 0 3 3 12
1983–84 Vancouver Canucks NHL 67 15 16 31 294 4 1 0 1 13
1984–85 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 8 5 2 7 4 — — — — —
1984–85 Detroit Red Wings NHL 55 3 8 11 158 — — — — —
1984–85 Los Angeles Kings NHL 12 4 3 7 43 3 0 0 0 4
1985–86 Los Angeles Kings NHL 72 20 29 49 320 — — — — —
1986–87 Los Angeles Kings NHL 76 16 18 34 358 5 3 2 5 30
1987–88 Los Angeles Kings NHL 2 0 0 0 6 — — — — —
1987–88 Hartford Whalers NHL 26 6 0 6 87 — — — — —
NHL totals 962 241 272 513 3966 83 12 23 35 455

See also

References

  1. ^ "JIGGS MCDONALD: How Tiger saved Bryan and other stories. - Slapshot Diaries". 3 June 2015.
  2. ^ Amanda Connoly (February 9, 2018). "Dave 'Tiger' Williams, former Maple Leafs player, charged with sexual assault after military trip to Latvia". Global News. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
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