Hall of Famer
Jack Bionda
Inducted in 1982
Member Details
Career Highlights
Commissioner's Trophy for Most Valuable Player
Mike Kelly Medal for Most Outstanding Player in the Mann Cup
![Hall of Famer Jack Bionda](/media/member_files/upload/983.38.1.3.jpg)
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Story
Jack Bionda was a lacrosse legend. Every year he played a full season, he won the league scoring title. Every time he changed teams, that team went on to the national championships. Bionda was not just an asset to, but the driving force behind, any team he played with. In 1954, his first season with the Victoria Shamrocks, Bionda won the league scoring championship and led his team to the B.C. championships. He repeated these feats numerous times over the course of his 23-year career with teams from Victoria, New Westminster, Nanaimo, and Portland, Oregon. From 1954 to 1968, Bionda played in seven Mann Cup finals and won five championships. He won the B.C. Senior A league scoring title seven times, his most impressive year in 1959 when he nearly doubled the points earned by his nearest rival. In 245 regular-season games, Bionda scored 515 goals and added 391 assists. He was awarded the Commissioner's Trophy for Most Valuable Player in 1959, as well as the Mike Kelly Medal as outstanding player in the Mann Cup in 1959 and 1962. Bionda was also a seasoned hockey player, playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1955 and 1956 seasons and the Boston Bruins from 1956-59. Playing NHL hockey, however, was merely an off-season pastime and source of employment, while lacrosse was his true passion. Bionda's incredible athletic ability combined with his love of the sport has rightly earned him the title of the "greatest box lacrosse player in the history of the game."