( Photo Credit: bostonbruinsalumni.com )

By: Mark Allred  |  Follow Me On Twitter @BlackAndGold277

Happy 67th Birthday To Former Boston Bruins Forward John Wensink!

Wensink was born on April 1st, 1953, in Cornwall, Ontario and was a seventh-round selection (104th Overall) of the St. Louis Blues in the 1973 National Hockey League Amateur Draft. Before being selected by St. Louis, the 6′-0″ 200-pound played his junior career with the Cornwall Royals where he appeared in 169 games and posted 30-54-84 career numbers in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Wensink had his best season of major-junior hockey in his NHL draft year when he contributed 9-26-35 numbers in 52 games in his final season with the Royals.

John’s first year in the NHL didn’t go exactly as planned for the rugged rookie left-winger as he only appeared in three games for the Blues in the 1973-74 season. After being out of hockey for a season and a half due to having back surgery, Wensink would sign with the Boston Bruins on October 12th, 1976 and be sent down to the Bruins American Hockey League affiliate the Rochester Americans. With the AHL Americans, Wensink would appear in 49 games posting 11-15-26 numbers as a 23-year-old in the 1976-77 season. In that same season, he would return to the NHL when Boston recalled him and he posted 4-6-10 numbers appearing in 23 games finishing the 1976-77 regular season.

Wensink would play in Boston for a better part of four years and posted 57-55-112 numbers. In his first full season with the B’s John would compile 181 penalty minutes and finish his time in Boston amassing 429 minutes in the penalty box in 248 career games with the Black and Gold. After having his best career NHL season (28-18-46, 76GP) with Boston in 1978-79, his numbers went down to 9-11-20 the following season. In October of 1980, The Bruins lost Wensick in the waiver draft as the Quebec Nordiques selected him as the new NHL franchise was transitioning from the defunct World Hockey Association into what is now the NHL.

https://youtu.be/kB5jIUs0ScQ

John would play only three more seasons in the NHL after leaving Boston making stops in Quebec, Colorado, and New Jersey. He ended his NHL career posting 70-68-138 totals in eight years of service and a whopping 840 penalty minutes. John would retire from the game of hockey after the 1984-85 season playing in Holland for the SIJ Nijmegen club where he contributed 15-12-27 numbers as a 31-year-old veteran.