Eric Nesterenko

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| name = Eric Nesterenko

| image = Eric Nesterenko.jpg

| image_size = 230px

| caption = Nesterenko with the Chicago Black Hawks

| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|10|31|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada

| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|06|04|1933|10|31}}

| death_place = Grand Junction, Colorado, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 1

| weight_lb = 186

| position = Centre

| shoots = Right

| played_for = Toronto Maple Leafs
Chicago Black Hawks
Chicago Cougars

| career_start = 1951

| career_end = 1974

}}

Eric Paul Nesterenko (October 31, 1933 – June 4, 2022){{Cite web|url=https://www.brownscremationservice.com/obituaries/eric-nesterenko|title=Eric Nesterenko Obituary 2022|website=Brown's Cremation & Funeral Service|accessdate=11 June 2023}} was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1951 until 1956 and for the Chicago Black Hawks from 1956 until 1972.

Early life

Nesterenko was born in Flin Flon, Manitoba, to immigrants from Ukraine. He moved at 16 and attended high school at North Toronto Collegiate Institute.{{cite web|url=http://www.ntci.on.ca/alumni/FN-sp2002.pdf |title=Last call for the 90th!|date=Spring 2002|website=ntci.on.ca|access-date=11 June 2023}} Nesterenko would play as a member of the Toronto Marlboros.{{cite news | url=https://thehockeynews.com/all-access/the-career-after-the-hype | title=The career after the hype | newspaper=The Hockey News }}

Playing career

Nesterenko played five years with the Toronto Maple Leafs before being traded to the Blackhawks for cash.{{cite news |last1=Hawley |first1=Larry |title=Former Blackhawks forward Eric Nesterenko dies at 88 |url=https://wgntv.com/sports/blackhawks/former-blackhawks-forward-eric-nesterenko-dies-at-88/ |access-date=November 1, 2023 |agency=WGN-TV |date=June 6, 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Roumeliotis |first1=Charlie |title=Former Hawks Cup champion Eric Nesterenko dies at 88 |url=https://www.nbcsportschicago.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/former-hawks-cup-champion-eric-nesterenko-dies-at-88/325765 |access-date=November 1, 2023 |agency=NBC Sports |date=June 6, 2022}} He played 16 years with the Blackhawks from 1956 to 1972 for a total of 1,013 games which ranks seventh in team history. Nesterenko was known as a superb penalty killer and was given the nickname of “Elbows". In both 1965 and 1967, he led the league in shorthanded goals.

Nesterenko was an NHL All-Star in 1961 and 1965, and was a key part of 1961 Stanley Cup championship. He also made 12 other playoff appearances with the Blackhawks.

Nesterenko was better known for speed on the ice than for goal-scoring. Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Markus commented, "I've always thought that Nesterenko would have been the greatest player of all time if they played the game without a puck."Chicago Tribune, Feb. 11, 1972, sec.3, p.3 Nesterenko had 495 points (207 goals along with 288 assists) and 1,014 penalty minutes while playing for the Blackhawks. He had a total of 250 goals and 324 assists during his NHL career.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Following his NHL career, Nesterenko played for the Chicago Cougars of the World Hockey Association in 1973-74 after a year of coaching in Switzerland.{{cite web |last1=Frayne |first1=Trent |title=Out of hockey and listening still for that distant drum |url=http://archive.macleans.ca/article/1980/3/10/out-of-hockey-and-listening-still-for-that-distant-drum |website=Maclean's - The Complete Archive |publisher=Maclean's |access-date=15 September 2019 |date=10 March 1980}}

=Controversy=

During one game in 1961, Nesterenko infamously attacked Willie O'Ree, the first Black player in the NHL, with racial slurs and butt-ended O'Ree with his hockey stick, breaking O'Ree's nose and knocking out his front teeth. O'Ree retaliated with his stick and Nesterenko required 15 stitches in his head.{{cite web |title=Willie O'Ree's little-known journey to break the NHL's color barrier |url=http://theconversation.com/willie-orees-little-known-journey-to-break-the-nhls-color-barrier-90219 |website=theconversation.com |access-date=July 12, 2018 |date=January 17, 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Giddens |first1=David |title=Willie O'Ree looked past and fought through racism to become NHL's 1st Black player |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/book-review-willie-oree-1.5914547 |access-date=November 1, 2023 |agency=CBC Sports |date=February 21, 2021}} During the next game that Nesterenko and O'Ree played, Nesterenko slashed O'Ree's ankles. Nesterenko never apologized to O'Ree, despite having an opportunity 30 years later when they met at an all-star game. O'Ree later named Nesterenko and described the incidents in his autobiography.

Personal life

In 1986, Nesterenko played the father of character Dean Youngblood (Rob Lowe) in the movie Youngblood, and was also the film's hockey consultant.{{cite news|last1=Barry|first1=Sal|title=The Making of 'Youngblood: An Oral History|url=http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/article/the-making-of-youngblood-an-oral-history|access-date=October 24, 2016|publisher=The Hockey News|date=August 7, 2016}} He has worked as a disk jockey, a stockbroker, a travel broker, a freelance writer, a university professor, and a ski instructor.{{Cite web|url=http://blackhawkslegends.blogspot.com/2006/05/eric-nesterenko.html|title=Eric Nesterenko|accessdate=11 June 2023}}

Near the end of Nesterenko's NHL career, he was interviewed for Studs Terkel's bestselling book, Working: What People do all Day and How They Feel About What They Do.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Eric Nesterenko spent his later life in Colorado and died on June 4, 2022, at the age of 88.{{cite web|url=https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/news/verdict-former-blackhawk-eric-nesterenko-dies-at-88/c-334507002|title=Former Blackhawk Eric Nesterenko Dies at 88|first=Bob|last=Verdi|work=Chicago Blackhawks|date=6 June 2022|access-date=6 June 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Thompson |first1=Phil |title=Eric Nesterenko, member of the 1961 Chicago Blackhawks, dies at 88 — and leaves behind a complicated hockey legacy |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/blackhawks/ct-eric-nesterenko-chicago-blackhawks-dies-20220607-yoklfg27d5hv5khphdmfqeoaha-story.html |access-date=11 June 2022 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=7 June 2022}}

Awards and achievements

WHL championship (1956)
Edinburgh Trophy championship (1956)
Stanley Cup championship (1961)
Played in NHL All-Star Game (1961 and 1965)
Honoured Member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame

Career statistics

=Regular season and playoffs=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="5"\|Regular season ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="5"\|Playoffs
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM
1949–50 \| Toronto Marlboros \| OHA \| 1	0	0	0	0 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1950–51 \| Toronto Marlboros \| OHA \| 46	28	22	50	90 \| 13	7	9	16	27
1951–52 \| Toronto Marlboros \| OHA \| 52	53	42	95	133 \| 6	2	6	8	12
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1951–52 \| Toronto Maple Leafs \| NHL \| 1	0	0	0	0 \| —	—	—	—	—
1952–53 \| Toronto Marlboros \| OHA \| 34	27	21	48	46 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1952–53 \| Toronto Maple Leafs \| NHL \| 35	10	6	16	27 \| —	—	—	—	—
1953–54 \| Toronto Maple Leafs \| NHL \| 68	14	9	23	70 \| 5	0	1	1	9
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1954–55 \| Toronto Maple Leafs \| NHL \| 62	15	15	30	99 \| 4	0	1	1	6
1955–56 \| Toronto Maple Leafs \| NHL \| 40	4	6	10	65 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1955–56 \| Winnipeg Warriors \| WHL \| 20	8	6	14	27 \| 14	3	7	10	22
1956–57 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 24	8	15	23	32 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1957–58 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 70	20	18	38	104 \| —	—	—	—	—
1958–59 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 70	16	18	34	81 \| 6	2	2	4	8
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1959–60 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 61	13	23	36	71 \| 4	0	0	0	2
1960–61 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 68	19	19	38	125 \| 11	2	3	5	6
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1961–62 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 68	15	14	29	97 \| 12	0	5	5	22
1962–63 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 67	12	15	27	103 \| 6	2	3	5	8
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1963–64 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 70	7	19	26	93 \| 7	2	1	3	8
1964–65 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 56	14	16	30	63 \| 14	2	2	4	16
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1965–66 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 67	15	25	40	58 \| 6	1	0	1	4
1966–67 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 68	14	23	37	38 \| 6	1	2	3	2
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1967–68 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 71	11	25	36	37 \| 10	0	1	1	2
1968–69 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 72	15	17	32	29 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1969–70 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 67	16	18	34	26 \| 7	1	2	3	4
1970–71 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 76	8	15	23	28 \| 18	0	1	1	19
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1971–72 \| Chicago Black Hawks \| NHL \| 38	4	8	12	27 \| 8	0	0	0	11
1973–74 \| Chicago Cougars \| WHA \| 29	2	5	7	8 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1975–76 \| Trail Smoke Eaters \| WIHL \| 40	10	25	35	38 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| WHA totals ! 29 !! 2 !! 5 !! 7 !! 8 ! — !! — !! — !! — !! —
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| NHL totals ! 1,219 !! 250 !! 324 !! 574 !! 1,273 ! 124 !! 13 !! 24 !! 37 !! 127