Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Bawlf first played senior amateur hockey for Winnipeg of the Manitoba Senior Hockey League in 1903. In 1905, he moved to Ottawa to study at Ottawa College, playing for three seasons with the College. He contracted typhoid fever in 1907 and did not play that season. He became a professional with Haileybury in 1910. He played two seasons for the club, the first in the NHA and the second in the Timiskaming Professional Hockey League (TPHL) after the club left the NHA. In 1911–12, he played for Fort William of the Northern Ontario Hockey League, before returning to the NHA with the Toronto Shamrocks. He was released in mid-season from the Shamrocks and joined the Canadiens. The following season he joined the Wanderers before leaving to enlist in the army.
His cousin Billy Bawlf was also a hockey player and was a member of the 1901 Stanley Cup winning Winnipeg Victorias team, although he did not play in the challenge series on January 29 and 31 against the Montreal Shamrocks (4-3, 2-1).
Nick Bawlf died in Ithaca, New York, on June 6, 1947, after a long illness.[3]
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion