Jerry Toppazzini
Canadian ice hockey player (1931-2012)
Jerry "Topper" Toppazzini (July 29, 1931 — April 21, 2012) was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), most notably for the Boston Bruins, between 1952 and 1964. A skilled defensive specialist and penalty killer, he set the then-NHL record for shorthanded goals in a season in 1958 with seven.
Playing career
Toppazzini was born and raised in Copper Cliff, Ontario. He began playing ice hockey for his local team in Copper Cliff before beginning his junior career. He played junior league hockey in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), most notably with the Barrie Flyers. In his final season with Barrie in 1951–52, he led the team with 40 goals and 90 points in 54 games, going on to add another 34 points in 23 playoff games to spearhead the Flyers to its first Memorial Cup championship.
Signing with the Boston Bruins, he spent the following season with their American Hockey League (AHL) farm team, the Hershey Bears, playing with his younger brother Teddy and helping the Bears to a division title with 20 goals and 45 points in 54 games.
In the subsequent 1952–53 season, Toppazzini made his National Hockey League (NHL) debut with the Bruins, scoring 23 points in 69 games. The following season, splitting time between Hershey and the major league club, he was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks for centre Gus Bodnar, and was subsequently dealt to the Detroit Red Wings in an eight-man multi-player deal, which at the time was the largest transaction in league history. He was traded back to the Bruins in 1956 for centre Murray Costello and left wing Lorne Ferguson.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Jerry Toppazzini” as canadian ice hockey player (1931-2012). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6184542. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1931, 2012, 1952 and 1964.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jerry Toppazzini” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.