Jack Bionda

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Jack Bionda

Jack Bionda (September 18, 1933 - November 3, 1999) was a lacrosse and hockey player. Known more as a lacrosse superstar, he dominated the sport throughout the 1950s and early 1960s.

Bionda was born 1933 in Huntsville, Ontario. From the time he was eleven years old he loved lacrosse, practicing for four to five hours per day. Just before his 19th birthday, Bionda led his Brampton Excelsiors to victory over the Kerrisdale Kerries of Vancouver in the 1952 Minto Cup playoffs.

In 1954, he joined the Victoria Shamrocks, capturing the league scoring title and leading the Shamrocks to a berth in the Mann Cup. Bionda spent the next two years playing for the Pittsburgh Hornets of the American Hockey League. In the 1955-56 season, he led the league in Penalties in Minutes (PIM), with 190 in 46 games.

In 1957, he returned to the Shamrocks, taking his second scoring title. However, he was unable to play in the Mann Cup due to hockey commitments; the Shamrocks would win the championship that year despite not having their superstar. Over the next two years, Bionda went on to win Mann Cups with the New Westminster Salmonbellies, then in 1960 it was off to Nanaimo where he registered his fifth scoring title while leading the Timbermen to the Mann Cup.

During his lacrosse career, Bionda won the scoring title in all six complete seasons in which he played, an unequalled feat. In 1974, he was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Then, in 1982 he became a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. In 1998, Jack was added to the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2001, Huntsville, Ontario dedicated their new arena: the Jack Bionda Arena.

Bionda died Nov 3, 1999 in London, Ontario.