| John Wensink | |
| Birth Date: | 1 April 1953 |
| Birth Place: | Cornwall, Ontario, Canada |
| Height Ft: | 5 |
| Height In: | 10 |
| Weight Lb: | 198 |
| Position: | Left wing |
| Shoots: | Left |
| Played For: | St. Louis Blues Boston Bruins Quebec Nordiques Colorado Rockies New Jersey Devils |
| Ntl Team: | NLD |
| Draft: | 104th overall |
| Draft Year: | 1973 |
| Draft Team: | St. Louis Blues |
| Wha Draft: | 28th overall |
| Wha Draft Year: | 1973 |
| Wha Draft Team: | New York Golden Blades |
| Career Start: | 1973 |
| Career End: | 1983 |
John Wensink (born April 1, 1953) is a Dutch–Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played over 400 games in the National Hockey League (NHL), most prominently with the Boston Bruins. Wensink played in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals with the Bruins in 1977 and 1978.
Wensink grew up in Maxville, Ontario, the son of Dutch immigrants, and played for the Netherlands national team in the 1989 World Championships.
Wensink is best remembered for his time with the Boston Bruins, where he teamed with Terry O'Reilly and Stan Jonathan as the team's enforcers. On December 1, 1977, Wensink, after fighting Alex Pirus of the Minnesota North Stars, skated to the Minnesota bench and challenged the entire team, but no player responded.[1] Wensink is also well-known for the large afro that he sported on the ice. In another scrap with Bob Kelly, Wensink and Kelly were pulling at each other's hair.
Besides his skill as a fighter, Wensink could score as well. He had a career high 46 points in the 1978–79 season for the Bruins.
Wensink also played for the St. Louis Blues, Quebec Nordiques, the Colorado Rockies and the New Jersey Devils. He finished his career with the Nijmegen Tigers in the Dutch Eredivisie in 1984–85.
After his playing career ended, Wensink moved to St. Charles, Missouri, and started a home renovation company,[2] where he also plays senior hockey. Wensink has been active as a pee-wee hockey coach.[3] He is still active with the St. Louis Blues Alumni and the Boston Bruins Alumni hockey teams.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |||||
| 1970–71 | Cornwall Royals | QMJHL | 57 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 151 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | Cornwall Royals | QMJHL | 60 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 169 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 64 | ||
| 1972–73 | Cornwall Royals | QMJHL | 52 | 9 | 26 | 35 | 242 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 55 | ||
| 1973–74 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 36 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 139 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | ||
| 1974–75 | Denver Spurs | CHL | 21 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 75 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 23 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 32 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 1977–78 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 80 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 181 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 54 | ||
| 1978–79 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 76 | 28 | 18 | 46 | 108 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | ||
| 1979–80 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 69 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 110 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 1980–81 | Quebec Nordiques | NHL | 53 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 124 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1981–82 | Colorado Rockies | NHL | 57 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 152 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 42 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 135 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | Wichita Wind | CHL | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984–85 | Vissers Nijmegen | NED | 14 | 15 | 12 | 27 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 403 | 70 | 68 | 138 | 842 | 43 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 86 | ||||