William "Ezzie" Ezinicki - Born March 11, 1924 in Winnipeg, Manitoba – Died October 11, 2012 in Gloucester, Massachusetts was a Canadian/American ice Hockey right winger.

- J. Ross Robertson Cup Junior Champion 1943, 1944 with Oshawa Generals.

- George Richardson Memorial Trophy 1943, 1944 with Oshawa Generals.

- Memorial Cup Champion 1944 with Oshawa Generals.
Memorial Cup finalist 1943.

- Prince of Wales Trophy Champion 1948 with Toronto Maple Leafs.

- Stanley Cup Champion 1947, 1948, 1949 with Toronto Maple Leafs.

- F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy Champion 1952 with Pittsburgh Hornets.

- Calder Cup Champion 1952 with Pittsburgh Hornets.

Ezinicki played all his early Hockey in Winnipeg, his hometown, eventually joining the Winnipeg Rangers in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League in 1941.

The Oshawa Generals had taken notice of Ezinicki, and signed him for the 1942-43 Ontario Hockey Association season. He became their scoring sensation, leading the Generals to back to back Memorial Cups, winning in 1944.

Ezinicki made his NHL debut with Toronto Maple Leafs on Otcober 8, 1944 vs New York Rangers at Maple Leaf Gardens in a 2-1 Toronto win.

Ezinicki scored his 1st NHL goal vs Mike Karakas of Chicago Black Hawks at 8:20 of 2nd period on October 29, 1944 at Chicago Stadium in a 11-5 Toronto win.

The following season was split between the Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL and the Maple Leafs, where Ezinicki had 4 goals and 12 points in 24 games.

In 1946-47, Ezinicki's role on the team grew tremendously as he played in 60 games with the Maple Leafs, scoring 17 goals and 20 assists. He played three more seasons in Toronto, reaching at least the 10 goal and 20-point mark each year., also leading the NHL in penalty minutes in 1949

Ezinicki was traded to the Boston Bruins with Vic Lynn for Fern Flaman, Ken Smith, Phil Maloney and Leo Boivin, November 16, 1950. Ezinicki played in Boston for a year in a half, scoring 22 goals, 25 assists in 87 games.

Ezinicki then played for the Pittsburgh Hornets for 2 seasons, helping them win the Calder Cup championship in 1952. He then played for Ottawa Senators of the Quebec Hockey League in 1954-55 and the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Hockey League, also in 1954-55, then Ezinicki made a brief stop with the New York Rangers, playing 16 games with them in 1954-55 before deciding to retire to pursue golfing in the Boston area where he became a full-time pro and was soon earning more money golfing than he had ever made playing Hockey.

Ezinicki came back and played 1 season of senior Hockey with the Sudbury Wolves in the Northern Ontario Hockey Association during the 1956-57 season.

Ezinicki played in 368 regular season NHL games, scoring 79 goals (10 GWG), 105 assists with 707 penalty minutes and 40 NHL playoff games, scoring 5 goals, 8 assists with 87 penalty minutes.

Bill Ezinicki is a "Honoured Member" of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, inducted in 1986.

Bill Ezinicki was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Ezinicki was also a fantastic golf player during his NHL days, losing in the 1947 finals of the Canadian Amateur to the heralded Frank Stranahan.

It's interesting to know that Ezinicki, a tough as nails Hockey player, the Rocket’s “arch-enemy, was also a gentlemanly golf player too.

Ezinicki won the NEPGA Championship in 1956 and 1958. In 1960 he won State Opens in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine. Nine times he qualified for the U.S. Open and on seven occasions Ezinicki played in the PGA Championship. He wintered in Florida with Gene Sarazen, played a lot of golf with 1946 U.S. Amateur champion Ted Bishop, and counted six-time PGA Tour winner Paul Harney – the greatest golfer to come out of New England – as a great friend.

Milt Schmidt Quote:
“He took his golf seriously, more seriously, as a matter of fact, than Hockey.”