Height: 5-11
Weight: 195
Shoot: R
Born: 13 Feb 1955, Saskatoon SK
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1975-76 | Indianapolis | |||||||||||
| 1976-77 | Indianapolis | |||||||||||
| 1977-78 | Winnipeg | |||||||||||
| 1978-79 | Winnipeg | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander Complete Hockey Handbook, 1976-77 (by Reyn Davis) Knocked more chips off the shoulders of would-be intimidators than any other player in league history ... Claimed to be unbeaten in his first 25 fights by his coach, Jacques Demers, who anxiously pointed out that in almost every case, his opponent was on acknowledged tough guy ... Wants to become a doctor of medicine ... Attends the University of Saskatchewan in the offseason ... Played beside Pat Stapleton, who marvelled at his fistic abilities but groomed him into a thinking man's defenseman ... Soft spoken, very mannerly and unmarked ... Had more fights 33, than any other player in the league ... Had 38 minutes in one night alone, drawing two misconducts, two majors, a double minor, and two minors against Quebec. |
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Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1976-77 (by Dan Proudfoot)
Kim Clackson drinks milk, trains hard, tries hard to live an exemplary life, and beats up on people. This combination earned him considerable publicity, for the youngster had a record 359 minutes in penalties and he got most of them in the first half of the season. "I don't go looking for trouble but I guess I have a reputation now," he offered at mid-season. "If someone gives me a cheap-shot I'll pay them back ten-fold. I don't mind admitting I keep a grudge.'' The most important development of 1975-76, though, was that Clackson got to play defense in partnership with the crafty Pat Stapleton. "I know I've got a lot to learn," says Clackson. "I want to be more than the league's penalty leader." Racers want him to retain his toughness because many of the Indianapolis forwards are small and subject to intimidation. "Because of him, other teams know they can't intimidate us," says Jacques Demers. |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Guide to Pro Hockey, 1978-79 (by Reyn Davis)
Nicknamed "The Kid" by Pat Stapleton in Indianapolis when he challenged all comers for the Racers ... A factor player whose statistics bely his contributions ... With him in the lineup, all of the Jets are braver ... Well read person ... A goon hunter is probably his most apt description ... No matter what the odds, the situation, or the locale, he'll challenge the heavies ... Works hard at trying to become a better hockey player ... Took skating lessons in the off season ... Makes one defiant circle around the whole ice surface when the teams appear to start a period |
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Clackson Claims His Place With Jets • by Reyn Davis • The Winnipeg Free Press • May 18, 1978
Look back to those days of indecision, Kim, in September when the Jets were playing exhibition games in Sweden and you were apparently on your way back to Indianapolis, did you ever think you would be here in May playing for the Avco Cup? Kim Clackson drew back, his eyes popped wide and gasped: "Whaddya mean September?" he said. "Don't you mean October, November, December, January, February and March?" It was not until March 15th that Clackson knew for sure he would be a member of the Jets for the balance of the season. That's the trading deadline in the World Hockey Association. Tonight he'll be one of the 20 players dressed in Jets' uniforms when they meet New England Whalers in the third game of the best-of-seven series for the WHA's symbol of supremacy, the Avco Cup. A win tonight would pull the Jets within a win of their second WHA title in the six-year history of the league. Clackson, 23, has been a factor in the Jets' success story this season. Hardly the fast, fancy style of player that his teammates are, he has provided every member of the team with varying amounts of gumption. No matter what the numbers, reputation or size of opponents who posed as intimidators of the Jets, they were hunted and found and erased by Clackson. He intimidated intimidators, not by beating them everytime but by challenging the ones who are prone to challenge others. His icy glare, jutting jaw and pugnacious remarks mellowed many. Technically, he lacks many of the professional graces of his peers. His stickhandling is less than deft, his shooting is welcomed by goaltenders and he passes with all the imagination of a truck dumping a load of gravel. But he hits for keeps. "When I play I've got only 20 friends," he said. "The rest are my enemies, trying to take money out of my pockets." Being a Saskatoon product, does he have any allegiance toward Gordie Howe? "Yeah," he replied, "off the ice." The 50-year-old Howe and Clackson have a bit of a feud going. Clackson gives him precious little room and Howe answers with the sharpest elbows in hockey. Last weekend Howe cuffed Clackson over the head with his glove as they jostled behind the Jets' net. Clackson was mad. This summer Clackson intends to enroll in the Laura Stamm skating school in Penticton, B.C. "I want to lengthen my stride, to make it a little easier to play this game," he said. "I'd like to look a little smoother." Though the times were many when Clackson thought he would be traded away, it has become clear that the main reason he's stayed is because he's made every teammate a bit more comfortable and a bit more able to do the finer things that win hockey games and, perhaps, a championship. |
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