Johnny Wilson could win. He won a championship in the IHL with the Windsor Hettche Spitfires while still a junior with the OHA Junior A Windsor Spitfires.
He was a four time Stanley Cup champion with the Detroit Red Wings and a finalist with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wilson then coached the AHL’s Springfield Kings to a Calder Cup championship in 1970-71.
Minor Career
NHL Career
Hockey Card Collection
Coaching Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Johnny Wilson – Minor Pro
As mentioned, Johnny Wilson was a member of the Windsor Hettche Spitfires that won the IHL playoff title in 1948-49. Johnny played 25 games with the junior Spitfires, scoring 30 and assisting on 20 for 50 points. He joined the IHL Spitfires for just four regular season games, scoring five and and assisting on four.
In the IHL playoffs, Wilson exploded for 16 goals and seven assists over 13 games, leading the team in goals and points. Leading the team in assists with 17 was Johnny’s brother Larry Wilson. Windsor won the title with a 4-3 victory in the finals over the Toledo Mercurys South.
1950-51 was Johnny’s last full season in the minors. He played 70 games for the Indianapolis Capitals of the American Hockey League, scoring 34 and assisting on 21 for 55 points. Wilson tied for eighth in the league for goal scoring. He was joined on that Indianapolis team by Fred Glover, Marcel Pronovost and Jim ‘Sugar’ Henry.
Wilson would play 42 games for the Capitals in 1951-52 before making the jump to the National Hockey League.
Johnny Wilson – NHL
between 1949-50 and 1961-62, Wilson played 688 regular season games in the NHL, scoring 161 and assisting on 171 for 332 points. In the Stanley Cup playoffs, Johnny played an additional 66 games and added 27 points.
580 of his games came consecutively between 1951-52 and 1959-60, making him the first real ironman of the game. Over his career, Wilson played for the Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers.
Johnny Wilson Collection
In 1949-50, Wilson appeared in a single regular season game with the Red Wings. He also played in eight playoff games for Detroit. That year, the Red Wings placed first overall in the NHL with an eleven point cushion between themselves and the second place Montreal Canadiens.
In the playoffs, Detroit had a tough go. In the first round, they beat the Maple Leafs but the series went a full seven games with Toronto outscoring the Red Wings 11-10 on the series and two games going into overtime. In the finals, Detroit was down 3-2 to the New York Rangers before coming back to win in seven. Three of the last four games in that series went into overtime. Johnny Wilson won his first of four Stanley Cup championships.
Two years later, in 1951-52, Wilson was called back up to the Red Wings to stay. He finished off the season with 28 games for Detroit. In the playoffs, he appeared in all eight games as the Red Wings swept their way to a Stanley Cup championship. Detroit beat Toronto in four in the first round and Montreal in four in the finals. Over the eight games, the Red Wings allowed just five goals.
In 1953-54 and 1954-55, Johnny helped Detroit to consecutive regular season and Stanley Cup championships. In both seasons, Detroit met the Montreal Canadiens in the finals. In both years, the series went the full seven games. Wilson would find himself in one more Stanley Cup final series in his NHL career. With the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1959-60, the team reached the finals before being swept by the Canadiens.
Johnny Wilson – Coach
His first stint as a head coach came in the American Hockey League with the Springfield Kings. Wilson coached the Los Angeles affiliate from 1967-68 to 1970-71, taking a break during 1969-70 to serve as interim head coach of the NHL Kings for 52 games.
With the 1970-71 Springfield team, the regular season was not spectacular with the club finishing sixth of eight in the AHL with just 66 points over 72 games. However, in the Calder Cup playoffs, Butch Goring came through with 25 points in 12 games while Billy Smith guarded between the pipes. The Kings swept the Providence Reds in the finals for the championship.
Johnny took over as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings midseason 1971-72. The following year, Detroit finished fifth in the East Division with 86 points over 78 games and two points behind the Buffalo Sabres for the final playoff spot. In an unbalanced NHL, Detroit would have finished second in the West Division with that point total.
Wilson had a two year stint in the WHA, coaching the Michigan Stags in 1974-75 and the Cleveland Crusaders in 1975-76 before returning to the NHL for 1976-77 and the unenviable job of coaching the Colorado Rockies.
For three years, 1977-78 to 1979-80, Johnny Wilson was the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the middle season, he had his best season as a head coach in the NHL. The Penguins placed second in the Norris Division with 85 points over 80 games and behind the Montreal Canadiens. The Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres in the preliminary round and it would prove to be the only playoff series that Wilson would win as an NHL head coach. Pittsburgh was then swept in the quarter-finals by the Boston Bruins.
Wilson had one more year of coaching in 1980-81. He was back in Springfield except this time the AHL club had lost the Kings nickname and reverted back to the Indians. Springfield had a losing record during the regular season with 73 points over 80 games and finished last in the four team Northern Division.
The Indians lost in the opening round of the Calder Cup playoffs but I’m sure they were happy with the series just the same. Springfield fell to the Maine Mariners with the series going the full seven games. The Indians actually outscored the Mariners 34-32 on the series.
Johnny Wilson – Rookie Card
For his first hockey card, it was just John. The Johnny Wilson rookie card appears as number 89 in the 1952-53 Parkhurst set. The card shows him as John Wilson of the Detroit Red Wings. The card is valued as a common card.
Johnny Wilson Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1947-48 | Windsor Spitfires | OHA | 34 | 23 | 28 | 51 | 15 |
| 1947-48 | Windsor Hettche Spitfires | IHL | 25 | 21 | 13 | 34 | 19 |
| 1948-49 | Windsor Hettche Spitfires | IHL | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| 1949-50 | Omaha Knights | USHL | 70 | 41 | 39 | 80 | 46 |
| 1949-50 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1950-51 | Indianapolis Capitals | AHL | 70 | 34 | 21 | 55 | 48 |
| 1950-51 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | Playoffs only | ||||
| 1951-52 | Indianapolis Capitals | AHL | 42 | 25 | 14 | 39 | 16 |
| 1951-52 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 28 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 18 |
| 1952-53 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 23 | 19 | 42 | 22 |
| 1953-54 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 17 | 17 | 34 | 22 |
| 1954-55 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 14 |
| 1955-56 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 24 | 9 | 33 | 12 |
| 1956-57 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 18 | 30 | 48 | 24 |
| 1957-58 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 12 | 27 | 39 | 14 |
| 1958-59 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 18 |
| 1959-60 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 70 | 15 | 16 | 31 | 8 |
| 1960-61 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 1960-61 | New York Rangers | NHL | 56 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 24 |
| 1960-61 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1961-62 | New York Rangers | NHL | 40 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 14 |
| NHL Totals | 688 | 161 | 171 | 332 | 190 | ||