NAHL
Bob Woytowich played part of one season in the North
American Hockey League at the tail end of his pro hockey career. Woytowich was
a player / head coach of the Mohawk Valley Comets for the first 37 games of the
1976-77 NAHL season, the last year for the league.
In 37 games, the defenseman assisted on ten goals and sat
two minor penalties. He was replaced by another player / head coach in Bill
Horton. The Comets finished sixth in the eight team league and were ousted
in the opening round of the Lockhart Cup playoffs by the Binghamton Dusters.
1976-77 was Woytowich’s final year playing pro hockey.
Pro Hockey Career
Bob played pro from 1960-61 to 1976-77. He appeared in 503
games in the National Hockey League between 1964-65 and 1971-72 with the Boston
Bruins, Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings.
In 1967-68 with the expansion Minnesota North Stars, Bob
helped the team reach the Stanley Cup semi-finals against the St. Louis Blues.
The North Stars lost the series in seven games but outscored the Blues 22-18.
Four of the seven games went into overtime with the seventh game being decided
in double overtime.
In 1969-70, Woytowich found himself in another semi-final
series against the Blues, this time as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The
Blues won the series in six games. Bob played in the NHL All-Star game in 1970,
the only time in his career.
Woytowich also played 242 regular season games in the World
Hockey Association between 1972-73 and 1975-76. He played for the Winnipeg Jets
and Indianapolis Racers but had his most success in Manitoba with the Jets
reaching the finals in 1972-73, the inaugural season of the WHA, before bowing
out to the New England Whalers in five games.
Bob Woytowich died in 1988 at the young age of 46.
