Masterton
Location of Masterton District in Wellington Region Location of Masterton District in Wellington Region
Country	New Zealand
Region	Wellington
Territorial authority	Masterton District
Town founded	1854
Electorate	Wairarapa
Government
• MP	John Hayes (National)
• Mayor	Garry Daniell
Area
• Territorial	2,299 km2 (888 sq mi)
Elevation	111 m (364 ft)
Population (June 2011 estimate)[1]
• Territorial	23,500
• Density	10/km2 (26/sq mi)
• Urban	20,200
Time zone	NZST (UTC+12)
• Summer (DST)	NZDT (UTC+13)
Postcode	5810
Area code(s)	06
Website	www.mstn.govt.nz

Masterton (Maori: Te Oreore) is a large town and local government district in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a region separated from Wellington by the Rimutaka ranges. It is 100 kilometres north-east of Wellington, 28 kilometres south of Eketahuna, on the Ruamahanga River.

Masterton is a thriving community with an urban population of 20,200, and district population of 23,500 (June 2011 estimates).^[1]

The Wairarapa Line railway allows many residents easy access to work in the cities of Wellington, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt.

Local industries involve service industries for the surrounding farming community. Industrial development is growing in Masterton, with three new industrial parks being developed in Waingawa, Solway and Upper Plain. The town is the headquarters of the annual Golden Shears sheep-shearing competition.

Suburbs[link]

Despite the fact that Masterton is a town, not a city, it is still home to many suburbs. These include:

• In the northern part of town: Opaki, Lansdowne & Te Ore Ore.
• In the eastern part of town: Eastside & Homebush.
• In the western part of town: Upper Plain & Akura.
• In the southern part of town: Kuripuni, Solway.

History[link]

Named after pioneer Joseph Masters, Masterton was first settled by Europeans on 21 May 1854. It gained borough status in 1877. It did not quite qualify to be a city by 1989 when the minimum population requirement for that status was lifted from 20,000 to 50,000.

The Wairarapa Line railway opened to Masterton on 1 November 1880.

Demographics[link]

At the 2006 census, Masterton District had a population of 22,623, an increase of 6 people, <0.1 percent, since the 2001 census. There were 9030 occupied dwellings, 1248 unoccupied dwellings, and 123 dwellings under construction.^[2]

Of the population, 10,869 (48.0%) were male, and 11,754 (52.0%) female.^[2] The district had a median age of 40.4 years, 4.5 years above the national median age of 35.9 years. People aged 65 years and over made up 16.8% of the population, compared to 12.3% nationally, and people under 15 years made up 21.3%, compared to 21.5% nationally.^[2]

Masterton's ethnicity was made up of (national figure in brackets): 77.9% European (67.6%), 16.9% Maori (14.7%), 1.7% Asian (9.2%), 2.7% Pacific Islanders (6.9%), 0.26% Middle Eastern/Latin American/African (0.9%), 12.1% 'New Zealanders' (11.1%), and 0.05% Other (0.04%).^[2]

Masterton had an unemployment rate of 4.8% of people 15 years and over, compared to 5.1% nationally.^[2] The median annual income of all people 15 years and over was $21,700, compared to $24,400 nationally. Of those, 46.7% earned under $20,000, compared to 43.2% nationally, while 12.3% earned over $50,000, compared to 18.0% nationally.^[2]

Climate[link]

Masterton enjoys a mild temperate climate grading towards a Mediterranean climate. Due to the geography of the Wairarapa valley and the Tararua Range directly to the west, the town's temperature fluctuates more than nearby inland city of Palmerston North. Masterton experiences warmer, dry summers with highs above 30°C possible and colder winters with frequent frost and lows below 0°C.

Golden Shears sign.

Government[link]

The Masterton District Council (MDC) governs the Masterton District territorial authority. It is made up of an elected mayor, a deputy mayor/councillor, and 9 additional councillors. They are elected under the First Past the Post system in triennial elections, with the next election being held on Saturday 9 October 2010.

The Mayor of Masterton and five of the councillors are elected at large, while one councillor is elected from the Rural Ward (outside the Masterton urban area), and four are elected from the Urban Ward (Masterton urban area).

As of 12 May 2010, the current council members are:-

The vacant Urban Ward seat came following the death of councillor Jeff Workman on 11 May 2010. As the seat was vacated within six months of a planned election, a by-election is not required and the seat will remain vacant until the 9 October 2010 election.

Education[link]

Masterton's schools were reviewed over 2003 to take into account a changing demographic of the population, with several primary schools closing and merging. Today, there are five state primary schools in the township – four state contributing primaries: Douglas Park, Fernridge, Masterton Primary and Solway; and one state full primary: Lakeview. In addition, there are five state full primary schools in the surrounding district: Mauriceville, Opaki, Tinui, Wainuiouru and Whareama, and two state integrate primaries: St Patrick's, a Catholic contributing primary, and Hadlow, an Anglican full primary.

Masterton Intermediate School, with 400 students, is the only intermediate school in Masterton (and the Wairarapa), bridging the gap between the state contributing primary schools and the secondary schools.

Two state secondary schools serve Masterton: Wairarapa College is the largest of the two with 1050 students, serving the western side of the town, while Makoura College with 320 students serves the eastern side of town. Four state integrated schools also serve the town: Chanel College is a coeducational Catholic school with its own intermediate department; Rathkeale College and St Matthew's Collegiate are Anglican boys and girls schools respectively, with St Matthew's having an intermediate department; and Solway College is a Presbyterian girls school with intermediate. There is also a composite (primary/secondary combined) Māori immersion school in the town: Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Wairarapa.

Masterton has its own polytechnic, run by UCOL.

Communications[link]

Newspapers[link]

The only daily newspaper based in Masterton is the Wairarapa Times-Age, formed by a merger between the Wairarapa Age and the Wairarapa Daily Times on April 1, 1938. The Times-Age circulates throughout the greater Wairarapa region. The current senior management is Andrew Denholm, commercial manager, Louise Clark, advertising manager, Dave Saunders, editor and Kim Hildred, circulation and newspaper sales manager. The Times-Age also published Wairarapa Midweek, a weekly community paper circulation 19,000. The Wairarapa Times-Age is part of the APN newspaper group.

Telephone[link]

The Masterton telephone exchange opened in 1897 with 53 subscribers. On 31 May 1919, Masterton became the first town in New Zealand to have a completely automatic (Rotary) telephone exchange.

Masterton and nearby Carterton were the first towns in New Zealand to introduce the emergency number 111, in September 1958.^[4]

Before the 1991 to 1993 changes, the area code for Masterton was 059. Today the area code is 06, and numbers begin with 370, 372, 377, 378, 379, and 946. 946 numbers are companies only.

Radio Stations[link]

Masterton is serviced by two local radio stations. Wairarapa's 89.5 / 105.5 / 105.9 MORE FM Wairarapa broadcasts locally from 6am to 1pm daily from studios in Kuripuni. The station was founded by controversial Broadcaster Paul Henry, as TODAY FM 89.3 in Carterton in 1991. Later the station was rebranded as Hitz 89FM, Wairarapa's Best Music. The MORE FM Breakfast Show has been hosted by well-known local broadcaster Brent Gare, since 2004. The Saturday sports show at 8am has been hosted by local sports-caster Chris "Coggie" Cogdale since 1992. Classic Hits 90.3 has a local breakfast show Mon to Friday 6 - 10am hosted by Jordan Brannigan, at all other times a network feed is taken from Classic Hits Auckland.

Internet[link]

In 2007 there were two wireless internet service providers based in Masterton, providing high speed broadband access to the towns and rural areas of the Wairarapa. WISE Net (purchased by Orcon Internet Limited in 2006, and in January 2007 Canning & Associates purchased Orcon WiseNet Wireless Network) and WIZwireless LTD formerly Canning & Associates. ADSL access is widely available.

Television[link]

Masterton is serviced by all the major national television channels, although Four is not available on analogue . The main television transmitter for the town, and most of the southern half of the district, is the Otahoua transmitter atop Bennett's Hill, north-west of the town. TV3 transmits from the Popoiti transmitter east of Greytown. In the northern half of the district, Palmerston North's Mount Wharite transmitter provides the television service. Satellite television, both free-to-air and pay television, is available to all residents.

Digital terrestrial television (Freeview HD) was introduced to the Masterton area in July 2011, in preparedness for the digital switchover, which is due to take place in September 2013 for the area. The service broadcasts from the Popoiti transmitter, necessitating Masterton residents to rotate their UHF aerials to pick up the signal from Popoiti instead of Otahoua, and in some cases, replace them to pick up the signal from a longer distance.^[5]

Transport[link]

Masterton is very well served by public transport with rail, bus and air links. Despite Masterton and the Wairarapa valley being reasonably close to Wellington, they are separated by the Rimutaka Ranges with State Highway 2 cutting a winding hill road through the range, and the Rimutaka railway tunnel. Unlike other parts of the country, the Wairarapa has seen passenger rail services remain, largely due to its proximity to Wellington and the Rimutaka Tunnel's advantage over the Rimutaka Hill road. There has been talk of constructing a road tunnel through the ranges for decades, but this has been ruled out due to the extremely high cost.^[6] According to the latest transportation plan from the Greater Wellington Regional Council,^[7] the only work planned is for upgrades to the Rimutaka Hill road and the addition of passing lanes between Featherston and Masterton.

Rail[link]

Masterton is linked to Wellington and the Hutt Valley by the Wairarapa Connection, a Tranz Metro passenger service run for Greater Wellington Region's Metlink, primarily operating at peak times serving commuters from Masterton and the Wairarapa with five return services on Monday to Thursday, six on Friday and two at weekends and public holidays. There are three railway stations in the town; Masterton, Renall Street and Solway.

Bus[link]

There is a local Metlink bus service in Masterton operated by Tranzit. The buses operate on five routes: three suburban and two regional ^[1] including:

There is also the MPN: Masterton to Palmerston North (via Woodville) service, not operated under the Metlink brand.

Air[link]

Hood Aerodrome is south of Masterton. From early 2009 Air New Zealand provides flights to Auckland, operated by subsidiary Eagle Air six days a week, mainly to serve business customers in the Wairarapa.^[8] There have been a few unsuccessful attempts at commercial air travel in Masterton, mostly due to its proximity to major airports in Wellington and Palmerston North. The most significant was by South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand (SPANZ), which operated daily flights using DC3s during the sixties to destinations nationwide until the airline's closure in 1966.

Sister cities[link]

Masterton has Sister City relationships with:

• Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan
• Changchun, China
• Armidale, New South Wales, Australia

See also[link]

• Masterton Railway Station
• Renall Street Railway Station
• Solway Railway Station

References[link]

External links[link]

• Masterton District Council
• Masterton Tourist Information

Coordinates: 40°58′S 175°39′E / 40.967°S 175.65°E / -40.967; 175.65

Graham Masterton at Salon du livre 2008 (Paris, France)

Graham Masterton (born 16 January 1946 in Edinburgh) is a British horror author. Originally editor of Mayfair and the British edition of Penthouse, Graham Masterton's first novel The Manitou was released in 1976. This novel was adapted in 1978 for the film The Manitou. Further works garnered critical acclaim, including a Special Edgar award by the Mystery Writers of America for Charnel House and a Silver Medal by the West Coast Review of Books for Mirror. He is also the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger for his novel Family Portrait, an imaginative reworking of the Oscar Wilde novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Masterton was also the editor of Scare Care, a horror anthology published for the benefit of abused children in Europe and the USA.

Masterton's novels often contain visceral sex and horror. In addition to his novels Masterton has written a number of sex instruction books, including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed and Wild Sex for New Lovers. A number of his novels have also been adapted into films.

Masterton currently lives in Surrey, England. His wife and agent Wiescka died on 27 April 2011, aged 65.

Bibliography[link]

Horror[link]

• The Djinn (featuring Harry Erskine of The Manitou series)
• The Sphinx
• Charnel House
• The Devils of D-Day
• The Hell Candidate
• The Heirloom
• The Wells of Hell
• Tengu
• The Pariah
• Family Portrait (based on Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Also published as Picture of Evil)
• Death Trance
• Mirror (referencing Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass)
• Ritual
• Walkers
• Salamander
• Apparition
• Black Angel (also published as Master of Lies)
• The Hymn (also published as The Burning)
• Prey (based on H. P. Lovecraft's short story "The Dreams in the Witch House")
• The Sleepless
• Flesh & Blood
• Spirit (referencing Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen)
• The House That Jack Built
• The Chosen Child
• House of Bones
• The Doorkeepers
• Hair Raiser
• Trauma
• The Hidden World
• The Devil In Gray
• Unspeakable
• Descendant (only, so far, published volume of a proposed Vampire Hunter series)
• Edgewise
• The 5th Witch
• Death Mask
• Ghost Music
• Fire Spirit

Manitou series[link]

1. The Manitou
2. Revenge of the Manitou
3. Burial
4. Spirit Jump (short story)
5. Manitou Blood
6. Blind Panic

Night Warriors series[link]

1. Night Warriors
2. Death Dream
3. Night Plague
4. Night Wars
5. The Ninth Nightmare

Rook series[link]

1. Rook
2. Tooth and Claw
3. The Terror
4. Snowman
5. Swimmer
6. Darkroom
7. Demon's Door
8. Garden of Lies

Sissy Sawyer series[link]

1. Touchy and Feely (based on the Beltway snipers)
2. The Painted Man (also published as Death Mask)
3. The Red Hotel

Nathan Underhill series[link]

1. Basilisk
2. Petrified

Historical fiction[link]

• Heartbreaker
• Rich
• Railroad
• Solitaire
• Corroboree
• Maiden Voyage
• Lady of Fortune
• Headlines
• Silver
• Lords of the Air
• Empress

Thrillers[link]

• Fireflash 5 (also published as A Mile Before Morning)
• Plague
• The Sweetman Curve
• Famine
• Ikon
• Condor
• Sacrifice
• Genius
• Holy Terror
• Katie Maguire
• Innocent Blood
• Chaos Theory
• Rules of Duel
• Voice of an Angel (tba)
• Panic (tba)

Short stories[link]

• Absence of Beas
• Anaïs
• Anka
• A Polite Murder
• The Ballyhooly Boy
• Beijing Craps
• Bridal Suite
• The Burgers of Calais
• Camelot
• Changeling
• Cold Turkey
• Eau Noire
• Edgewise (short story unrelated to novel of the same name serialised in issues #3, #4 and #5 of The Horror Express magazine Edited by Marc Shemmans)
• Egg
• Eric the Pie
• Ever, Ever After
• Evidence of Angles
• Fairy Story
• 5A Bedford Row
• Friend in Need
• The Grey Madonna
• Grease Monkey
• Grief
• The Heart of Helen Day
• Heart of Stone
• Heroine
• The Hungry Moon
• Hurry Monster
• I, The Martian
• J.R.E. Ponsford
• Jack Be Quick
• The Jajouka Penis-Beetle
• Laird of Dunain
• Lolicia
• Making Belinda
• Men of Maes
• Mother of Invention
• Neighbors From Hell
• Out of Her Depth
• Picnic at Lac Du Sang
• Pig's Dinner
• Roadkill
• Rococo
• The Root of All Evil
• Rug
• Saint Joan
• Saving Grace
• The Scrawler
• The Secret Shih-Tan
• Sex Object
• The Sixth Man
• Son of Beast
• Spirit Jump
• Spirits of the Age
• St. Bronach's Shrift
• Suffer Kate
• The Sympathy Society
• The Taking of Mr. Bill
• Underbed
• Voodoo Child
• Will (Cthulhu Mythos pastiche, features Yog-Sothoth)
• The Woman in the Wall

Sex instruction books[link]

• Acts of Love
• Your Erotic Fantasies
• Girls Who Said Yes
• How a Woman Longs to be Loved
• How to be the Perfect Lover
• Isn't It Time You Did Something Kinky?
• Sex is Everything
• How to be a Good Bad Girl
• Women's Erotic Dreams
• 1,001 Erotic Dreams Interpreted
• How to Drive Your Man Wild in Bed
• How to Drive Your Woman Wild in Bed
• The High Intensity Sex Plan
• More Ways to Drive Your Man Wild in Bed
• Sex Secrets of the Other Woman
• How to Drive Your Lover Wild in Bed
• How to Make Love Six Nights a Week
• Wild in Bed Together
• Drive Him Wild
• Single, Wild, Sexy ... and Safe
• How to Drive Your Man Even Wilder in Bed
• How to Make His Wildest Dreams Come True
• Secrets of the Sexually Irresistible Woman
• The Seven Secrets of Really Great Sex
• The Secrets of Sexual Play
• Wild Sex for New Lovers
• Up All Night

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Graham Masterton

• Graham Masterton official website
• Official Polish website by Piotr Pocztarek and Robert Cichowlas
• Internet Movie Database entry for Graham Masterton
• Graham Masterton at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Brett Kenny (born 16 March 1961 in Gerringong, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 90s. He was a five-eighth for the Australian national team, the New South Wales Blues representative side and the Parramatta Eels. He played in 17 Tests, made 17 State of Origin appearances and won 4 premierships with Parramatta. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.^[1]

Youth and baseball[link]

The son of a former Australian baseball representative, Brett Kenny did not turn to rugby league until well into his teenage years after baseball and athletics. Despite a lack of experience, his talent was quickly noticed by Parramatta when playing in the juniors at Guildford and he was graded in 1980. So successful was Kenny in the lower grades that he was partnering established champion Mick Cronin in the centres by the end of that year making seven first grade performances in his rookie season.

Parramatta[link]

A swap with five-eighth Steve Ella in the middle of the 1981 season worked wonders for a team that had struggled during the previous season and a half and under coach Jack Gibson they developed into formidable competitors.

Kenny was the pivot between the fearsome backline combination of Cronin, Ella and Eric Grothe and a tremendous scrum-base force of halfback, Peter Sterling and lock, Ray Price. These stars formed the nucleus of a side which dominated the New South Wales Rugby League premiership between 1981 and 1986 winning four premierships, once runners-up and once third.

In the 1981 Grand Final against Newtown, Parramatta were behind for most of the match but exerted a continuous pressure after half time which took its toll on the Jets. The Eels powered away to win comfortably with Kenny scoring two fine tries - the first when he flew away into the corner after a Ray Price break.

Along with Wally Lewis, Kenny was selected to have his likeness adorn the newly-created state of Origin Shield. His superb performance in the 1982 Grand Final against Manly - scoring two tries and producing a wonderful step near the touchline to set up one for Eric Grothe - made him a certainty for that year's Kangaroo tour.

The 1983 season saw Kenny continue his irrepressible form for the most part - his 21 tries is the standing record for a five-eighth in an Australian rugby league premiership season and included eight tries over five consecutive games. However at one point that season he was rested for a time by coach Jack Gibson. He returned to his best in the finals, scoring two Grand Final tries for the third successive time in the Eels 18-6 win over Manly.

Wigan[link]

After the ban on foreign imports was lifted, the '82 invincibles were in high demand. Wally Lewis had a spell at Wakefield whilst Peter Sterling moved to Humberside with Hull, but it was Kenny who made a lasting impression on the British game. He arrived in Wigan on the 3 December 1984 and made his debut in the 22-8 win against Warrington. In the next 4 months Kenny went on to become an immortal at the club, scoring 19 tries and forming an elusive partnership with John Ferguson, who had been signed for a 3 month spell.

His finest moment came at Wembley as he led Wigan to their first Rugby League Challenge Cup victory in 20 years. Having flown back John Ferguson for the game, the club were confident of a win. He caused controversy before a ball had been kicked by keeping his hands in his pockets during the National Anthem and the pre match ritual, looking uninterested. But all doubters were proved wrong as Kenny became the first Australian to be awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his Man-of-the-Match performance in the 1984–85 Challenge Cup final, commonly regarded as the greatest final in Challenge Cup history (played before 99,801 spectators). His solo try scored when Hull had full cover defence across the field was memorable but so too was his marshalling of the Wigan defence and his own tackle count contribution. Kenny in his one season became a firm favourite at Wigans' Central Park and found fans among many neutral supporters.

Golden Boot[link]

Kenny was acclaimed as the best player in rugby league history by former GB and Wigan great Billy Boston. In 1986 - when the Eels were hit by injuries to most of their top players - the Kenny/Sterling partnership reached its zenith, with the two stars regularly winning matches for the Eels. In the Grand Final, though Kenny was disallowed two tries the Eels won 4-2. That year Kenny won the Golden Boot as the best player in the world.

At the end of 1986 with the retirement or absence through injury of former Eels champions, things went downhill. Kenny was hit by injury in 1987 and was never at his best. His 1988 season was wiped out by a serious knee injury leading to a decision to retire from representative rugby league. Yet, even having lost a lot of pace, Kenny's footwork, passing skills and anticipation were stronger than ever. Between 1989 and 1992 he missed only three games for the Eels, constantly standing out in a struggling side after Sterling succumbed to severe shoulder problems. His tackling ability was so good that he was successfully moved to lock forward in 1991 despite his lack of kilograms. Back at five-eighth, his testimonial year in 1992 was again superb, and he recovered from contractual disputes and shoulder problems to finish his career on a high note in 1993 even if his form was not as good as in previous seasons.

Representative career[link]

Bert (to his fans) debuted at the State of Origin level in 1982 as a replacement in game II before being selected in the run-on side for game III.

His season form saw him selected for the 1982 Kangaroo Tour of a team that came to be known as the Invincibles where Kenny played so well that he was selected in all six of the tour's Tests and for three of those he kept Wally Lewis out of the Test team. He scored six tries in the Tests plus six minor tour matches. For the rest of Kenny's international career he was picked in the centres to accommodate Lewis at five-eighth.

He toured in 1986 with the second Kangaroo side to go through a tour unbeaten, scoring eight tries in five Tests and nine minor tour matches. That year he was also named man-of-the-match in the final game of the State of Origin series.

Playing style[link]

He was a prodigiously skilled five-eighth with tremendous footwork and anticipation. Parramatta didn't suffer from Kenny's lack of kicking prowess since Sterling, Mick Cronin, Steve Ella and John Muggleton were able to do this, enabling Kenny to focus on his kick-chase which accounted for many of his 110 first grade tries for Parramatta. Kenny was also a brilliant tackler, consistently able to bring down much bigger players like Wally Lewis, Mal Meninga and Gene Miles in State of Origin games during the 1980s. Kenny was in his early days capable of great acceleration, often aided by feigning to deceive a would-be tackler or a quite simple dummy. When Wally Lewis was at the height of his Origin dominance Kenny was one of the few NSW players with an ability to match and possibly contain him.

Statistical highlights[link]

He held the Parramatta club record for the most first grade games (265) from 1993 to 2010, and also held the record for most tries for the club (110), which was surpassed by Luke Burt during the 2011 NRL season. His 21 tries in the 1983 season stands second behind Steve Ella's 23 for most tries in a season.

Post playing[link]

Since retirement, Brett Kenny has kept a low profile other than publishing an autobiography, The Natural, and writing occasionally about the game.

In 2000 he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. In 2006 he coached the Penrith Panthers under 20 Jersey Flegg Cup side to a premiership title.He is married to Julie Kenny and has 3 children, Joshua, Nikkolah and Mitchell.

Kenny made a cameo appearance in the 2006 film, Footy Legends.^[2]

In February 2008, Kenny was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.^[3]

In 2010, Kenny became the coach of the Wentworthville Magpies in the NSW Cup competition, taking over from Rip Taylor.^[4]

In 2012, Kenny took over the coaching of The Entrance Tigers, Central Coast

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

• Brett Kenny at stateoforigin.com.au
• Brett Kenny Wigan Playing Career Page on the Wigan RL Fansite.
• Whiticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen; The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players (1998, 3rd ed) Gary Allen Pty. Ltd
• Kenny, Brett with Cardigan, Neil The Natural: Brett Kenny's Life in League (1993) Ironbark Press, Randwick, N.S.W.
• Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney

Bill Masterton
Born	(1938-08-16)August 16, 1938 Winnipeg, MB, CAN
Died	January 15, 1968(1968-01-15) (aged 29) Minneapolis, MN, USA
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Right
Played for	Minnesota North Stars
National team	United States
Playing career	1967–1968

William J. Masterton (August 13, 1938 – January 15, 1968) was a Canadian-American professional ice hockey centre who played one season in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Minnesota North Stars before succumbing to an injury he suffered during a game against the Oakland Seals in 1968. He is one of only two players in NHL history to die as a direct result of an on-ice incident during a game, the other being Howie Morenz of the Montreal Canadiens, in 1937.

Early life and career[link]

A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Masterton began playing hockey in Canada's far-flung junior hockey program with the St. Boniface Canadiens in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League in 1956-57. Masterton went on to play collegiate hockey at the University of Denver in 1957-58 where he would be named an All-American and help the Pioneers win three NCAA national titles in 1958, 1960 and 1961. He was signed by the Montreal Canadiens soon after he came out of the University of Denver in 1961 and would play a few years in the minors before retiring in 1963 in order to work for the Honeywell Corporation in Minneapolis, MN. In 1966 Masterton played as an amateur for the United States men's national ice hockey team and eventually became an American citizen in 1967. The Montreal Canadiens traded his rights to the Minnesota North Stars before their inaugural season in 1967-68. He scored the first goal in North Stars history on October 11, 1967.^[1]

Death[link]

On January 13, 1968, four minutes into a game against the Oakland Seals at the Met Center, Masterton was carrying the puck into the Seals' zone. Shortly after completing a pass to teammate Wayne Connelly, he was checked by Oakland's Larry Cahan and Ron Harris and fell backwards onto the ice head-first. The force of the back of his head hitting the ice caused blood to gush from his mouth and nose. Before Masterton lost consciousness, a teammate who rushed to his aid heard him murmur, "Never again. Never again."^[2]

Masterton sustained a massive brain hemorrhage that damaged the pons. The injury was so severe that doctors were unable to perform surgery, and Masterton died two days later.^[3]Masterton was not wearing a helmet^[4]

His death would result in more intense lobbying to make it mandatory for hockey players to wear helmets, which were uncommon in North American professional hockey at the time. Helmets were made a mandatory piece of equipment for incoming professional players before the start of the 1979–80 season, though older players were not required to wear them.

Masterton's #19 jersey has never been worn again by any player in the North Stars/Stars franchise, and it was officially retired in 1987, six years before the North Stars left Minnesota.^[5]

The Bill Masterton Trophy is named in his honour. The trophy is awarded for dedication, sportsmanship, and perseverance.^[6][7] Masterton attended Miles MacDonell Collegiate in Winnipeg, where he was the male athlete of the year at the school in 1955. In 1968, his family created a scholarship in his honour for MacDonell students.

Career statistics[link]

Regular season and playoffs[link]

Awards and achievements[link]

• Turnbull Cup MJHL Championship (1956)
• NCAA National Championships (1958, 1960, & 1961)
• WCHA First All-Star Team (1960 & 1961)
• NCAA West First All-American Team (1960 & 1961)
• NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team (1961)
• NCAA Championship Tournament MVP (1961)
• “Honored Member” of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame

See also[link]

• List of ice hockey players who died during their playing career

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bill Masterton's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Bill Masterton's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Bill Masterton's biography at Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
• [1]