• Played in NHL All-Star Game (1981)
• Toronto, Vancouver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Hartford
• 14 year NHL career

While most dominant images of Tiger Williams likely include him sitting in the penalty box, he had an offensive scoring talent which often went overlooked due to his penchant for pugilism.

Williams played for three years with Swift Current of the Western Junior Hockey League. In his first season he scored 12 goals while assisting on 22 others, while compiling a staggering 278 minutes in penalties in 68 games. The next year he spent 12 minutes less time in the penalty box but improved his point production by an incredible 68 points, garnering 102 points on 44 goals and 56 assists. In his final year with Swift Current, Tiger amassed 52 goals and 56 assists for 108 points while spending 310 minutes in the sin bin.

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, but Tiger's dream was to play in the NHL. 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. He was also one of the few players Maple Leafs' owner Harold Ballard seemed to like.

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. To this day Williams will argue he did not deserve half the penalties he was assessed by NHL referees. Then again, there are quite a few who insist he should have been given more!

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, but his offensive production tailed off considerably. Williams had 158 penalty minutes but only three goals and eight assists.

The next stop for Tiger was another West Coast club, this time with the Kings in Los Angeles. He had two reasonably 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, he found the rigors of everyday NHL life had finally caught up to him, so retired soon thereafter.

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 remains close friends with many of his former teammates, most notably Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald.

Interview with a Legend by Ken Newans

The all time “NHL Penalty King” was not considered a can’t miss prospect. Pro scouts at one time felt he couldn’t skate or even score enough to be an impact player. The Tiger shocked them all when Toronto drafted him in the second round and he immediately set out on a rugged, colourful 14 year NHL career. During that time he scored 241 goals, had 513 points and made an impact on every team he played with and developed a huge legion of Tiger Fans.

Q: How can we solve the problems facing minor hockey today? For example, we have too many kids quitting the game when they are 12 to 14 years of age?

Tiger: Minor hockey is being hurt by adult hockey today. The adults can afford to and do book all the prime arena time. Kids are forced to play at 5 a.m. or on Saturdays.

 

Q: Do kids have enough fun playing the game?

Well the kids aren’t having enough fun because the Canadian Hockey Association insists that coaches use the “Dave King” or “Tom Renney” system, neither one of which ever injected any fun in practice or a game. My old coach Roger Neilsen never laughed or smiled at hockey practise in his life and I played for him for seven years. These are the kind of coaches the CHA used to set up their programs. There is no wonder they never allow the kids to have fun. They should use Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock as their model; he is a sound technical coach but he knows how to have fun.

Another thing, the coaches normally coach defensive hockey because it’s easier to coach and the coaches don’t know how to inspire creativity. The coaches also tend to pigeonhole youngsters after a couple of weeks into defensive and offensive players. They seldom allow players to change roles at ten and probably have been told they can’t score so they will be on the checking line. Also, kids are seldom allowed to scrimmage in practice so players don’t play on the ponds, don’t have any fun games, so at 14 or younger they don’t have the opportunity to develop creative skills. Coaches forget about the Gary Howitts, Dirk Grahams, or Harry York who are late bloomers that made the NHL. After all only 1% of all minor hockey players ever plays one game in the NHL.

Thus our kids are structured at home, structured in school and are forced to play and practise in a structured environment so how can kids be creative and have fun.

 

Q: Why is Toronto your favourite place to play?

I believe Toronto is the best place to play in the world. You play a couple of shifts in a Maple Leaf uniform and you’re virtually a household name in Canada. After you finish playing it is easy to get into the Toronto job or business market. I don’t believe there is any city in Canada that provides the players the fringe benefits that Toronto does. It’s tough on your personal life because hockey players live in a fish bowl, but it's fun.

 

Q: What about Vancouver?

Vancouver is a great place for the family, a great place to live but from a hockey viewpoint it can’t touch Toronto.

 

Q: You also played in Los Angeles, Detroit and Hartford?

Detroit was a great city, great fans and like Toronto because it’s in the center of the League you go many weeks and always sleep in your own bed.

Los Angeles was great for your family because the weather is always good and that helped shorten long road trips. You could shop, golf, roam the beaches, go to the theatre and no one ever knew who you were or cared, you were just one of the 12 million.

Hartford was awful and I can’t think of a thing I liked about it.

 

Q: Every year you were in Vancouver they made the playoffs and in 1981–82 you made it all the way to the final. That had to be unforgettable!

It was when we were on a roll our tough guy Curt Fraser pounded the hell out of Willie Plett, the Flames tough guy and it sparked us after a first round victory over Calgary and we went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. Goalie Richard Brodeur was incredible and he was crowned “King”. That’s when the white towels came out and Vancouver fans were on fire. However, the Islanders were just too good for us. I must add that our owner Mr. Frank Griffiths was the best owner I ever met, he knew all of his players by name and treated us very well.

 

Q: Who do you blame for the present crisis in pro hockey?

I blame the owners. It started during the Eagleson Era—when only the stars got paid. The middle-of-the-road player wasn’t considered worthy of consideration. Eagleson went to jail, don’t tell me the owners weren’t involved with him.

I can also remember in Los Angeles a sports writer wrote that the Laker Basketball team used the King’s Hockey players to park their cars.

The hockey players were the lowest paid athletes in pro sports. Now the tables have been turned and the owners can resolve it if they lock players out when they attempt to break their contracts. They must negotiate a new and sensible deal with the NHLPA in five years.

 

Q: Why do you travel with Oldtimers’ Legends of Hockey?

I love playing with all the Hall of Famers. They all have some character and class. It is such a thrill to play before all those packed arenas that still consider hockey “the greatest game in the world.”

 

Q: What is your business?

The company is called Pacific Paragon Investments Group. We are involved in oil and gas, snowboarding, construction, hotels, insurance and mutual funds. We have seven companies on the Stock Exchange.

 

Q: What was your motivation to get involved in business?

As a kid I worked on the oil rigs and I loved it. It was like hockey—every time you went to the rink, you thought you were going to win, and every time we drilled a hole we thought we were going to get a gusher.