TIGER
WILLIAMS
SWIFT CURRENT
BRONCOS (1971 to 1974)
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David
"Tiger" Williams was born on
February 3, 1954 in the town of Weyburn,
Saskatchewan. He played his minor hockey
there until 1970, when he went to play
with the Vernon Lakers of the British
Columbia Junior Hockey League.
Williams
joined the Swift Current Broncos in
1971, and played the remaining 3 years
of his junior career with the team.
During his time with the Broncos, he
established himself as one of the
toughest, most competitive players in
the entire Western Canadian Hockey
League. Williams also proved himself as
a scoring threat, though, collecting
over 100 points in 2 of his 3 seasons in
Swift Current.
Tiger
was chosen 31st overall in the 2nd round
of the 1974 NHL entry draft by the
Toronto Maple Leafs. He was also a 3rd
round selection, 33rd overall, of the
Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA. He
played four full seasons in Toronto and
parts of two others, where he became a
huge fan favourite. Along with his many
entertaining skirmishes with other
notable NHL tough guys, Tiger also
brought the fans out of their seats,
when, after scoring a goal, he would
ride his hockey stick down the length of
the ice, much to the annoyance of the
opposing players.
When
all was said and done in a 14-year NHL
career, Tiger was the league's all-time
leader in penalty minutes with 3,966. He
also collected an additional 455 minutes
during the playoffs. He averaged nearly
20 goals a year, and had his best year
in 1980-81 with the Vancouver Canucks,
when he netted 35 goals and 27 assists.
That year he represented Vancouver in
the mid-season All-Star game.
After
a little more than four years with the
Canucks he moved on to play in 55 games
with the Detroit Red Wings, where his
penalty minutes continued to dominate
the stats sheet. The next stop for Tiger
was another West Coast club, this time
with the Kings in Los Angeles. He had
two productive years for the Kings,
scoring 49 and 34 points in the 1985-86
and 1986-87 campaigns. And, true to
form, he continued his long-standing
friendship with the penalty box,
spending 320 and 358 minutes in the box
during those two seasons.
The
final NHL destination for Williams was
Hartford, where he appeared in 26 games
for the Whalers in 1987-88, scoring six
goals and 87 penalty minutes. At the age
of 34, Tiger retired from professional
hockey.Tiger's final NHL statistics are
as follows: 962 regular-season games
played, 241 goals, 272 assists, 513
points and a record 3,966 minutes in
penalties. He appeared in 83 playoff
contests, scoring 12 goals and 23
assists. When asked who he considered
some of his more difficult NHL fighting
adversaries, Williams responded
"all of them." Although he
does say players such as Terry O'Reilly
deserve the most respect, playing every
third shift of every NHL game while also
having to handle the rough and tumble
side of things. Dave Semenko, the former
Edmonton Oilers policeman, is also
highly regarded by Williams.
Now
that Tiger is out of hockey, he follows
many different business interests,
primarily in the Vancouver area. He
continues to play in NHL old-timers
games and remains close friends with
many of his former team-mates, most
notably Darryl Sittler.
WCHL
STATISTICS
|
Year
|
Team
|
League
|
GP
G
|
A
|
TP
|
PIM
|
1971-72
|
Swift
Current
|
WCHL
|
68
12
|
22
|
34
|
278
|
1972-73
|
Swift
Current
|
WCHL
|
68
44
|
58
|
102
|
266
|
1973-74
|
Swift
Current
|
WCHL
|
66
52
|
56
|
108
|
310
|
PRE-DRAFT
AWARDS AND HONORS
Miscellaneous: Rated in The Hockey News draft preview
issue as No. 13 overall prospect in the
1974 NHL draft. Played for Edmonton (WCHL)
in its 1974 series vs. Moscow Selects.
CAREER
NHL STATISTICS
|
Years
|
Teams
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
TP
|
PIM
|
1975-1988
|
TOR,
VAN, DET, LA, HAR
|
962
|
241
|
272
|
513
|
3,966
|
..
CAREER
NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS
|
Years
|
Teams
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
TP
|
PIM
|
1975-1987
|
TOR,
VAN, LA
|
83
|
12
|
23
|
35
|
455here
|
..
NHL
AWARDS AND HONORS
All-Star Game: 1981
(Vancouver)
Stanley Cup Finals (Lost): 1982
(Vancouver)
NHL Records: Most penalty minutes
career (3,966 PIM), most penalty
minutes, career, including playoffs
(4,421 PIM)
NHL PIM Leader: 1976-77 (338),
1978-79 (298), 1980-81 (343)
NHL Playoffs PIM Leader: 1978
(63), 1979 (48), 1982 (116)
Toronto Records: Most playoff
penalty minutes (240), most playoff
penalty minutes in one season by a left
wing (75 in 1976)
Vancouver 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)
Los Angeles Records: Most playoff
penalty minutes (30 in 1987), most
penalty minutes in a regular season (320
in 1986) & (358 in 1987), playoff
goals leader (3 in 1987), and the team's
most inspiration player award in '86
& '87 |