Wild Bill Ezinicki's Love Of Poetry

 

This is Rudyard Kipling, a British literary genius who mastered the short story and won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1907. I'm sure University English professors would probably put his importance on par with Gordie Howe or Bobby Orr in terms of hockey equivalence. Maybe they are right, but like myself you may not know of him, though you probably are familiar with the film adaptations of The Jungle Book. 

This issue of The Hockey News (December 1st, 1951) features Wild Bill Ezinicki. He was kind of the Claude Lemieux or Tom Wilson of his day. He embraced the rough and tumble aspects of the game, and made more than enemies over the years. He feuded with Ted Lindsay and Rocket Richard, two of hockey's most explosive powder kegs. 

It's always dangerous to stereotype such individuals. You wouldn't think such a ruffian of the ice would be much into poetry. But Ezinicki was said to be absolutely enthralled with Kipling's famous poem "If." He would read it before games or during intermissions, or on the golf course where he was one of Canada's top amateur golfers. He used it to find his composure when he knew he had to perform - be it going to war on the ice or putting for the win on the 18th hole.

You can read all about Wild Bill Ezinicki here. You can read more about Rudyard Kipling here.