His time in the National Hockey League was a fraction of his brother’s. Larry Wilson, however, still became a legend in the game of hockey. Posthumously, the brother of Johnny Wilson was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame in 2011.
Larry passed away in 1979 at the young age of 48 after suffering a heart attack while jogging. An unlikely demise for a man who played pro hockey for over 20 years. His son, Ron Wilson, also played and coached in the NHL. Ron played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Minnesota North Stars. He coached with the Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks, Washington Capitals, San Jose Sharks and the Maple Leafs.
NHL Career
Hockey Card Collection
Junior and Minor Pro
Coaching Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Larry Wilson – NHL
Between 1949-50 and 1955-56, Larry Wilson played 152 regular season games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks. Over that time, he scored 21 and assisted on 48 for 69 points. He appeared in four playoff games, all in 1949-50 after appearing in just one regular season game, his first in the league.
Larry Wilson Collection
In that 1949-50 season, Wilson contributed no points over his four games for the Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs. However, the Red Wings came out on top in the finals over the New York Rangers for the Stanley Cup championship.
Wilson’s best individual performance came in 1953-54 with the Chicago Blackhawks. He led the team with 33 assists and 42 points while playing in 66 of Chicago’s 70 games. The team, coached by the legendary Sid Abel, finished last in the six team league, a whopping 37 points behind the fifth place New York Rangers. The Blackhawks won just 12 games and totaled 31 points.
Larry Wilson – Junior and Minor Pro
Larry Wilson played junior hockey with the Windsor Spitfires in 1947-48 and 1948-49. In both of those seasons, Wilson also played for the Windsor Hettche Spitfires in the IHL. He helped the IHL Spitfires to a championship in 1948-49 with a win over the Toledo Mercurys South in the finals.
As a full fledged pro hockey rookie in 1949-50, Larry played alongside his brother Johnny Wilson with the Omaha Knights in the USHL. The Knights lost in the finals to the Minneapolis Millers. Larry finished fourth in the league with 57 assists. His 79 points placed him ninth, one points behind brother John.
His next championship came in 1952-53 with the Edmonton Flyers in the WHL. The Flyers took out the Saskatoon Quakers in the finals with Glenn Hall a rock wall in net. Earl Reibel was the team’s scoring leader that season.
Larry had played in the American Hockey League previously with the Indianapolis Capitals. It was in 1955-56 that he began a long string of season’s with the Buffalo Bisons that would ultimately put him in the AHL Hall of Fame.
In that 1955-56 season, Wilson was fifth in the AHL with 39 goals and eighth in the race for the John B. Sollenberger Trophy with 78 points. He was named that year a Second Team All-Star.
Two years later, he flexed his offensive muscle again. In 1957-58, Larry tied for fifth with 79 points and was alone in fifth with 53 assists.
The Bisons reached the Calder Cup finals in 1958-59 before losing to the Hershey Bears. Wilson followed that disappointment up with an outstanding 1959-60 season. He finished sixth with 33 goals, ninth with 45 assists and tied for fifth with Willie Marshall of the Hershey Bears, both with 78 points. He was once again named a Second Team All-Star.
He continued on with his soft hands in 1960-61, tying Bill McCreary of the Springfield Indians for fourth with 54 assists. His 84 points placed him sixth.
A Calder Cup championship again eluded Wilson in 1961-62 with the Bisons losing in the finals to the mighty Springfield Indians. However, in 1962-63, with Springfield depleted, Buffalo captured the title, taking out the Hershey Bears in the finals. Buffalo would change drastically after winning the title, not reached the post season for the next five years.
Larry Wilson returned to the IHL for the final two years of his career. He took on the role of player/head coach with the Dayton Gems for the 1968-69 and 1969-70 seasons. In both years, the Gems were crowned Turner Cup champions.
In 1968-69, Wilson played 50 regular season games and contributed a decent 61 points. The Gems finished first overall and took out the Muskegon Mohawks in the finals. However, Larry did not play in the post season.
The following year, Larry appeared in 68 regular season and 13 playoff games for Dayton. The won the championship again, this time beating the Port Huron Flags or the title.
In 2011, Larry Wilson was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame. Over his American Hockey League career, Wilson scored 298 and assisted on 492 for 790 points over 899 regular season games between 1950-51 and 1967-68 with the Indianapolis Capitals and Buffalo Bisons. In the Calder Cup playoffs, he added 17 points in 46 games.
Larry Wilson – Coaching
As mentioned, Larry Wilson had great success as a player/head coach in the IHL with the Dayton Gems. After the back-to-back championships, he moved on to the AHL to coach the Providence Reds in 1970-71.
The 1970-71 Reds were led offensively by Joe Szura and had Marcel Paille in net. Providence finished first in the four team Eastern Division with just 69 points in 72 games. An incredible match-up occurred in the Calder Cup finals with Providence meeting up with the Springfield Kings.
The Kings were coached by none other than Larry’s brother Johnny Wilson. Johnny won the family battle with Springfield winning the series and taking home the championship.
Larry continued on coaching the AHL with the Reds and Baltimore Robins until 1975-76 but never with the success that he had in that first year. In 1976-77, he took over from Alex Delvecchio as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. In 36 games under Wilson, the Red Wings won just three and tied four while losing 29 games. That marked the end of Larry’s coaching career in the NHL.
He moved on to coach Detroit’s Central Hockey League affiliate for the next two years. In 1977-78 and 1978-79 he was head coach of the Kansas City Red Wings in the CHL.
Larry Wilson – Rookie Card
The Larry Wilson rookie card appears as number 92 in the 1952-53 Parkhurst NHL hockey card set. His only other cards were in the 1953-54 and 1954-55 Parkhurst sets, as well as, the 1954-55 Topps set.
All his cards refer to the family connection with Johnny Wilson.
Larry Wilson Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1947-48 | Windsor Spitfires | OHA | 12 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 2 |
| 1947-48 | Windsor Hettche Spitfires | IHL | 25 | 13 | 29 | 42 | 6 |
| 1948-49 | Windsor Spitfires | OHA | 45 | 23 | 37 | 60 | 22 |
| 1948-49 | Windsor Hettche Spitfires | IHL | 9 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 6 |
| 1949-50 | Omaha Knights | USHL | 70 | 22 | 57 | 79 | 51 |
| 1949-50 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1950-51 | Indianapolis Capitals | AHL | 53 | 12 | 23 | 35 | 14 |
| 1951-52 | Indianapolis Capitals | AHL | 62 | 19 | 40 | 59 | 30 |
| 1951-52 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1952-53 | Edmonton Flyers | WHL | 49 | 17 | 29 | 46 | 24 |
| 1952-53 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 15 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| 1953-54 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 66 | 9 | 33 | 42 | 22 |
| 1954-55 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 63 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 39 |
| 1955-56 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 62 | 39 | 39 | 78 | 74 |
| 1955-56 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1956-57 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 64 | 22 | 45 | 67 | 71 |
| 1957-58 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 70 | 26 | 53 | 79 | 48 |
| 1958-59 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 66 | 24 | 39 | 63 | 26 |
| 1959-60 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 64 | 33 | 45 | 78 | 18 |
| 1960-61 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 72 | 30 | 54 | 84 | 62 |
| 1961-62 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 68 | 9 | 25 | 34 | 28 |
| 1962-63 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 72 | 16 | 29 | 45 | 30 |
| 1963-64 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 71 | 17 | 26 | 43 | 38 |
| 1964-65 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 31 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 12 |
| 1965-66 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 38 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 8 |
| 1966-67 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 65 | 28 | 37 | 65 | 60 |
| 1967-68 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 41 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 24 |
| 1968-69 | Dayton Gems | IHL | 50 | 19 | 42 | 61 | 36 |
| 1969-70 | Dayton Gems | IHL | 68 | 20 | 43 | 63 | 54 |
| NHL Totals | 152 | 21 | 48 | 69 | 75 |