John Wensink

John Wensink, son of Dutch immigrants George Wensink & Nellie Bleyenberg, grew up in Maxville, Ontario. His junior-hockey he played with Cornwall of the QJMHL. Wensink was selected as number 104th overall in the 7th round of the 1973 NHL-draft by the St-Louis Blues. He was a tough player who had spells with the Boston Bruins, St.-Louis Blues, Quebec Nordiques and New Jersey Devils and was a respected utility-player by his teammates and coaches.

During his period with Boston, under the inspirering guidance of famous NHL-coach Don Cherry, he made himself unforgetable for the fans there by challenging the entire Minnesota North Stars bench at a game in the Boston Gardens. An injured John Wensink even got dressed sometimes and sat on the bench just to scare the other team.

In his short spell with Nijmegen John Wensink managed to score 15 goals and 12 assists in only 14 games in the 1984-1985 season. Furthermore he had ‘only’ had 39 minutes in penalties.

Some nice hockey quotes related to John Wensink and the Bruins:

‘Just play Hockey, and if anyone touches you, I’ll be right here’ – Told John Wensink former Bruins Legend Ray Bourque when Bourque was a rookie.

‘John, put the fear of God into me’ – Former Boston Bruins coach Don Cherry

‘Just play your game and don’t worry about the rest of the stuff. We’ll take care of that.’ John Wensink told Ray Bourque according to Ray when Bourque joined the Boston Bruins Training Camp.