Height: 6-0
Weight: 205
Shoot: L
Born: 11 Jun 1953, Thunder Bay ON
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1977-78 | Cincinnati | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
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Willie Trognitz may have played in utter obscurity were it not for a stick-swinging incident in a minor-league game that earned him a "ban for life", and his subsequent signing by the Cincinnati Stingers less than a week later. The series of events in Fall 1977 brought scrutiny and some notoriety onto the WHA, the Stingers and to Trognitz. Trognitz was never more than a fringe player, a 1973 draft pick of the California Golden Seals who toiled in the low minors, amassing a number of fights and penalty minutes upwards of 300 per season. He was a member of an infamous line put together in Toledo (International League) by coach Ted Garvin — the Murder, Inc. line — with fellow rumblers Paul Tantardini and Doug Mahood. As the name suggests, this line was not meant for scoring, and during the height of goon-era hockey, even the Murder, Inc. line seemed to be on the periphery of what was considered acceptable. Playing for Dayton in the IHL, Trognitz was involved in a brawl in a game against Port Huron on October 29, 1977. At the end of the fracas, Trognitz was charged by Port Huron's Archie Henderson: Trognitz reacted with a swing of his stick that clocked Henderson and sent him to the hospital. In the game Trognitz was assessed 63 minutes in penalties, and was given a lifetime suspension afterwards. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Stingers had got off to a slow start and needed some muscle to protect their skaters. In early November, Trognitz was signed to a ten-game contract. The WHA was concerned enough to force the Stingers to post a bond as a means to ensure Trognitz would behave. His stay in Cincinnati ultimately stretched to 29 games, during which he scored 2 goals and collected 94 minutes. This would be it for his major-league career; he retired after two more seasons in the minor leagues. After hockey, Trognitz went on to a career with the Canadian Coast Guard, stationed in Thunder Bay. As a crew member of the Westfort, Trognitz participated in the daring rescues of the stranded vessels Glenada and Grampa Woo on Lake Superior, during a tremendous fall squall. For his heroism, he was given awards for bravery by the Canadian Coast Guard as well as from the United States Coast Guard. The date of this event? October 29, 1996. |
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