Bill Goldthorpe Biography
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- Born June 20, 1953
Bill "Goldie" (also "Harpo") Goldthorpe (born June 20, 1953) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player. He is best known as the inspiration for Ogie Ogilthorpe in the 1977 film Slap Shot. Goldthorpe, a left winger, was a notorious hockey enforcer, a man once dubbed the "wildest, meanest, most unpredictable player in hockey." In his chequered eight-year career (1973–80, 83-84), Goldthorpe played for ten minor league teams and four World Hockey Association squads; along the way, he racked up 1,132 penalty minutes in just 194 professional games.\n', '
Born in Hornepayne, Ontario, Goldthorpe played his minor hockey in Thunder Bay, Ontario. His father was an engineer for the Canadian National Railway and his mother was a nurse\'s aide. At their wedding, Leo Boivin (now in the Hockey Hall of Fame) served as the best man.\n', '
Goldthorpe played junior hockey with the Port Arthur Marrs, Thunder Bay Vulcans and Thunder Bay Centennials from 1969-73. Goldthorpe first met his junior coach, Albert Cava, at a midget tournament in Dauphin, Manitoba when Cava was wrestling with a referee who had slugged a spectator. In his last season with the Centennials, he led the league with 189 penalty minutes.\n', '
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