Wochy reflects on NHL career on 100th birthday

Editor's note: Ty Dilello is the best-selling author of several hockey books including, "Mosienko: The Man Who Caught Lightning In A Bottle." He runs a weekly NHL history newsletter (nhlhistory.substack.com) and is a professional curler on the World Curling Tour.

Steve Wochy turned 100 years old Sunday. He is believed to be only the second player in NHL history to become a Centenarian, joining Al Suomi, who was 101 when he died in 2014.
Wochy was born in Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay), on Christmas Day in 1922. The sixth of six children of Polish immigrants, he was named
Stefan Wojciechowski
at birth; Wochy shortened his name when he started playing hockey, much to the joy of sportswriters and radio broadcasters across North America.
He learned to skate at a young age on the local ponds in and around Fort William.
"In my day you were lucky to have a pair of boots to play on the rink, let alone skates," Wochy said earlier this month. "I can remember playing on the lake. My older brother had a pair of skates, and when he went to work on the highways camp, I'd put my boots in his skates to learn how to skate. I was about 9 when I finally got my own skates to play hockey."
In 1938, at the ripe age of 15, Wochy attended training camp of the NHL's New York Americans in Port Arthur. Wochy attended the Americans training camp for a few seasons after that as well, but the club dropped out of the league around the time of World War II, and Wochy's NHL rights were given to the Detroit Red Wings.
"If I had stayed there and the New York Americans survived the War, I would have been better off," Wochy said. "But the team just dropped out. In Port Arthur they used to have NHL scouts watch my junior games, and they picked me up because they had training camps in Thunder Bay and wanted good young players. The New York Americans manager, Red Dutton, was a great guy and signed me, saying that I had a bright future."
Wochy played junior hockey with the West Fort Maroons, Port Arthur West End Bruins and then played some senior hockey with the Port Arthur Bearcats, who reached the final of the 1942 Allan Cup.
After spending a season with the St. Catharines Saints, Wochy enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1943. He was in the Army for a year before being discharged due to a stomach ailment, but during that time he played hockey for the Winnipeg Army team.
After Wochy got out of the Army, Red Wings manager Jack Adams offered him a tryout with the big club as many NHL rosters were depleted during World War II, and young replacements were needed.
Wochy (5-foot-7, 155 pounds) made the Red Wings out of training camp and joined a star-studded 1944-45 team that included Syd Howe, Ted Lindsay, Earl Seibert, Bill Quackenbush, Harry Lumley, Joe Carveth, Mud Bruneteau, Flash Hollett and many others.

Steve Wochy, Jud McAtee and Ted Lindsay pose for a portrait as members of the Detroit Red Wings during the 1944-45 NHL season at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Photo credit: Imperial Oil-Turofsky/Hockey Hall of Fame
Lindsay and Wochy were the rookies who made the squad from a 63-man training camp roster. During the season, they lived together at a boarding house across the river in Windsor, Ontario, at 666 Ouelette Ave., after they were unable to find accommodations in Detroit. Another rookie called up during the season, Eddie Bruneteau, moved in with them later in the year.
Wochy made his NHL debut on Oct. 29th, 1944, at home against the Boston Bruins. He scored his first two NHL goals in his second game, at home against the New York Rangers on Nov. 2.
He had 39 points (19 goals, 20 assists) in his rookie season, breaking the Red Wings rookie goal-scoring record of 17 set by future Hall of Famer Ebbie Goodfellow in 1929.
Wochy said he could have had more goals if not for Detroit sending center Don Grosso to the Chicago Black Hawks on Jan. 2. Wochy had 14 goals in 24 goals at the time of the trade.
"I had a good thing going with Don Grosso as my center," Wochy said. "By Christmas, I was doing great. But then in the New Year, Jack Adams sold off Grosso to Chicago, and my numbers plummeted. But we were the third line, and in those days there was no fourth line, so we barely got on the ice. And when I lost Grosso, I went down the drain. You need someone that you can team up with as you can't just do it alone."
Although Wochy outscored Lindsay (17 goals) in their rookie seasons, it was the latter who would go on to become a Hockey Hall of Famer and be named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players during the League's Centennial Celebration in 2017.
"At Christmas time I think I had about 15 goals, and Jack Adams gave me a bonus, you wouldn't believe it," Wochy said. "It was a great bonus; it was about $25. He gave me a letter, said it was a gift from big boss James Norris. He said don't tell anybody. I laugh about it every now and then."
In the playoffs, Detroit defeated the Boston Bruins in seven games to advance to the 1945 Stanley Cup Final with Toronto. In the Final, it was a back-and-forth series in which the Maple Leafs prevailed 2-1 in Game 7 after a late third-period goal from Babe Pratt.
Wochy came one goal from winning a Stanley Cup and reaching the pinnacle of the sport.
The following season, Wochy was a casualty of NHL players returning from the service after World War II and subsequently lost his job. He became a teammate of a young Gordie Howe, who was making his professional debut with the Omaha Knights of the USHL.
Unfortunately, it was Howe who took Wochy's spot at right wing with Detroit. Wochy, who played 49 games his rookie season, played five more games with Detroit in 1946-47, and that was it for his NHL career.

Team photo of the Philadelphia Rockets from the 1948-49 AHL season. Top row L-R: Wally Kilrea (coach), Bill Hartsburg, Rudy Brodeur, Eric Prentice, Harry Pidhirny, Ken Kilrea, trainer Lefty Jordan, Larry Archambeault, Mike Narduzzi, Steve Wochy, Charlie Krager, Max Kaminsky (general manager). Seated L-R: Rusty Waldriff, Sam Mulholland, Floyd Perras, captain Phil Hergesheimer, Don Dougall, Wally Stefanie, John Mahaffy. The Rockets finished 10th that season and missed the playoffs. Photo taken at Philadelphia Arena in Philadelphia. Photo credit: Hockey Hall of Fame
For the rest of his career, Wochy became a solid player in the American Hockey League with the Indianapolis Capitals, Philadelphia Rockets, Cleveland Barons and Buffalo Bisons, scoring 248 goals in 547 games. With the Barons, Wochy won two Calder Cup titles and was named an AHL First-Team All Star in 1951-52 when he had 78 points (37 goals, 41 assists) in 68 games.
He hung up his skates for good after the 1954-55 season. Wochy had 39 points (19 goals, 20 assists) in 54 regular-season NHL games and one assist in six Stanley Cup playoff games.
Today, Wochy feels a little bitter toward Jack Adams, who he feels never gave him a real shot at becoming an NHL player.
"When I started in the National Hockey League, I was already going on 23 years old, and my four good years were gone. Eighteen to 25 years-old was your prime in those days in the minds of coaches and general managers. There are a lot of things I could say, but it doesn't matter. I survived. I'm still here."
Wochy moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in 1954 and has been there ever since. He eventually caught on with Algoma Steel and retired from there after a long career working in the security field.
As he turns 100, Wochy still is living alone in his home in Sault Ste. Marie. He was still driving until recently, when his license was taken away. But he still walks to the nearby grocery store to do his shopping.
"I'm hard of hearing and am getting weaker in the back and legs, but I still manage for now," he said. "I have a granddaughter that comes and helps, but only when I need her, as I try and stay as independent as I can. I have my health problems, but I'm still here."
Happy 100th birthday, Steve! An NHL Centenarian.
Top photos:Steve Wochy during his NHL playing days (l.) and a snapshot of a recent video of him, at age 99, teaching young neighbor kids his snapshot.