Cully Wilson

For the character in the television series Lassie, see Cully Wilson (Lassie).
Cully Wilson
Wilson with the Seattle Metropolitans
Born (1892-06-05)June 5, 1892
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died July 7, 1962(1962-07-07) (aged 70)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for Chicago Black Hawks
Calgary Tigers
Hamilton Tigers
Montreal Canadiens
Toronto St. Pats
Seattle Metropolitans
Toronto Blueshirts
Playing career 1910–1932

Carol William "Cully" Wilson (June 5, 1892 – July 7, 1962) was an Icelandic-Canadian professional ice hockey player. The right winger played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto St. Pats, Montreal Canadiens, Hamilton Tigers, and Chicago Black Hawks between 1919 and 1927. He was also a member of two teams that won the Stanley Cup before the NHL came into existence in 1917, the Toronto Blueshirts and Seattle Metropolitans.

Wilson came from a family of Icelandic descent and was born as Karl Wilhons Erlendson to parents Sigurður Erlendson and Medónía Indriðadóttir. The family later changed its name to Wilson.[1]

Career

Wilson played amateur hockey in his hometown of Winnipeg between 1910 and 1912, with the Winnipeg Falcons and the Winnipeg Monarchs. He began his professional career with the National Hockey Association's Toronto Blueshirts in 1912–13. The next year, in 1913–14, he won his first Stanley Cup when the Blueshirts beat the Montreal Canadiens in the NHA playoffs.

Wilson (far left) with the 1912–13 Toronto Blueshirts

He was a part of the "first" expansion of professional hockey when the Pacific Coast Hockey Association agreed to compete with the NHA in an east-west rivalry for the Stanley Cup championship. As a member of the Seattle Metropolitans, Wilson won the Stanley Cup for a second time in 1917, again beating the Montreal Canadiens.

Wilson signed with the National Hockey League's Toronto St. Pats in 1919, after having been expelled from the PCHA for a cheap shot on Mickey MacKay. In the NHL he also played briefly for the Montreal Canadiens, on a loan from the St. Patricks, and with the Hamilton Tigers. He left the NHL after the 1922–23 season and headed west to play for the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League.

Wilson returned to the NHL for one more season in 1926–27 after the WCHL folded and his rights were traded to the Chicago Black Hawks. After a disappointing year with the Black Hawks, Wilson moved on to the American Hockey Association's St. Paul Saints. Over the next three years he played and coached with the Saints before moving on to the San Francisco Tigers of the Cal-Pro League and the Duluth Hornets of the AHA. His last season was the 1931–32 season with the Kansas City Pla-Mors.

Wilson died in 1962 and is buried in Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery in Seattle.

Playing style

Wilson with Toronto Blueshirts in 1913–14.

Cully Wilson, a right winger position wise and a right-handed shot, was a fairly small-sized player even for his era, standing at 5 feet and 8 inches, but he compensated for his lack of size by playing an aggressive and rough style of hockey, both giving and receiving in the physical aspect of the game, quite similar to a modern day pest. As a result, he received a fair amount of slashes and cuts to his face throughout his hockey career.[2]

One infamous instance of Wilson being involved in a violent tussle happened during the 1919 PCHA season, in a game against the Vancouver Millionaires, where Wilson fought for the puck against Millionaires centre forward Mickey MacKay and slashed him over the mouth. MacKay suffered a fractured jaw and missed the rest of the season. When the season was over PCHA chief disciplinarian Frank Patrick banned Wilson from the league.[3][4] Wilson led three different leagues in penalty minutes in different seasons: 1914–15 in the NHA, 1919 in the PCHA, and 1919–20 in the NHL.

"It was in a skirmish for the puck and my face got in the way of his stick. It wasn't his fault at all. Quite unintentional. Of course, I cannot say that about all the slashes and rips that have gone to disfigure my countenance. Most of them are, because hockey players are good sports, and it is not very often that a fellow deliberately takes a crack at an opponent's face to wound him."

– Wilson describing a skirmish with Art Gagné in 1926.[5]

Towards the end of the 1925–26 WHL season, Wilson had accumulated upwards to 80 stitches in his face alone over the course of his career, the latest courtesy of Edmonton Eskimos forward Art Gagné in a game between the Eskimos and Wilson's Calgary Tigers. Two new stitches were required to the side of his right eye, but Wilson proclaimed that the incident, like most similar incidents throughout his hockey career, had been quite unintentional on Gagné's part and only happened by mistake.[5]

Wilson also had decent scoring upside to go along with his physical playing style, and in 1914–15 he led the reigning Stanley Cup champions Toronto Blueshirts in scoring with 22 goals and 27 points in 20 games, on top of his league leading 138 penalty minutes.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Wilson (second from right) with the 1919 Seattle Metropolitans
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1910–11 Winnipeg Falcons MIPHL 4 4 1 5 3 — — — — —
1910–11 Winnipeg Monarchs MHL-Sr. 1 2 0 2 0 — — — — —
1911–12 Winnipeg Monarchs MHL-Sr. 7 12 4 16 33 — — — — —
1912–13 Toronto Blueshirts NHA 19 12 0 12 45 — — — — —
1913–14 Toronto Blueshirts NHA 20 9 4 13 33 2 0 0 0 2
1913–14 Toronto Blueshirts St-Cup — — — — — 3 3 0 3 15
1914–15 Toronto Blueshirts NHA 20 22 5 27 138 — — — — —
1915–16 Seattle Metropolitans PCHA 18 12 5 17 57 — — — — —
1915–16 PCHA All-Stars Exh. 1 8 0 8 0 — — — — —
1916–17 Seattle Metropolitans PCHA 15 13 7 20 58 — — — — —
1916–17 Seattle Metropolitans St-Cup — — — — — 4 1 4 5 6
1917–18 Seattle Metropolitans PCHA 17 8 6 14 46 2 0 0 0 3
1918–19 Seattle Metropolitans PCHA 18 11 5 16 37 2 1 1 2 0
1918–19 Seattle Metropolitans St-Cup — — — — — 5 1 3 4 6
1919–20 Toronto St. Patricks NHL 23 20 6 26 86 — — — — —
1920–21 Toronto St. Patricks NHL 8 2 3 5 22 — — — — —
1920–21 Montreal Canadiens NHL 11 6 1 7 29 — — — — —
1921–22 Hamilton Tigers NHL 23 7 9 16 20 — — — — —
1922–23 Hamilton Tigers NHL 23 16 5 21 46 — — — — —
1923–24 Calgary Tigers WCHL 30 16 7 23 37 2 1 0 1 6
1923–24 Calgary Tigers West-P — — — — — 3 3 0 3 0
1923–24 Calgary Tigers St-Cup — — — — — 2 0 0 0 2
1924–25 Calgary Tigers WCHL 28 14 6 20 20 2 1 0 1 6
1925–26 Calgary Tigers WHL 30 11 4 15 63 — — — — —
1926–27 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 39 8 4 12 40 2 1 0 1 6
1927–28 St. Paul Saints AHA 38 10 2 12 64 — — — — —
1928–29 St. Paul Saints AHA 40 10 5 15 40 8 2 2 4 14
1929–30 St. Paul Saints AHA 48 7 6 13 57 — — — — —
1930–31 San Francisco Tigers Cal-Pro — 10 2 12 — — — — — —
1930–31 Duluth Hornets AHA 24 10 6 16 24 4 0 0 0 2
1931–32 Kansas City Pla-Mors AHA 34 1 2 3 28 4 0 0 0 2
NHA totals 59 43 9 52 216 2 0 0 0 2
PCHA totals 68 44 23 67 198 4 1 1 2 3
WCHL totals 88 41 17 58 120 4 2 0 2 12
NHL totals 127 59 28 87 243 2 1 0 1 6

Awards and achievements

References

Notes

  1. ^ Wes Wilson; Elma Kozub (25 March 2005). "Discovering Carol 'Cully' Wilson an Icelandic hockey pioneer". Lögberg-Heimskringla. pp. 7–9. Retrieved 28 November 2022 – via Tímarit.is.Open access icon
  2. ^ "Cully Wilson's face hashed by clubs of opposing hockey players --- Doctors have sewed 50 stitches on his "map"" The Pittsburgh Press, January 12, 1916.
  3. ^ "Injuries of Mickey MacKay are serious" The Calgary Daily Herald, March 3, 1919.
  4. ^ "Mickey MacKay may return to oldtime form" The Morning Leader, October 31, 1924.
  5. ^ a b "Another Couple of Stitches In Cully Wilson's Face Now", The Calgary Daily Herald. March 4, 1926 (p. 16). Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  6. ^ "Cully Wilson named to the Hockey Hall of Fame". Lögberg-Heimskringla. 1 May 2015. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved 28 November 2022 – via Tímarit.is.Open access icon
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