Bill McCreary Sr. (original) (raw)

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Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and general manager (1934–2019)

Ice hockey player

William Edward McCreary Sr. (December 2, 1934 – November 25, 2019) was an ice hockey left winger, coach and general manager.[1] He played in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and the St. Louis Blues from between 1953 and 1971, and then coached in the league with the Blues, Vancouver Canucks, and California Golden Seals between 1971 and 1975. After stepping down as coach of the Golden Seals he served as their general manager from 1975 to 1977, including their first year as the Cleveland Barons.

McCreary was born in Sundridge, Ontario.

During his pro career, McCreary played for the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and the St. Louis Blues. He later coached the Vancouver Canucks for the first half of the 1973–74 season and then became general manager of the California Golden Seals in August 1974.[2] Although the Seals were performing fairly well, McCreary did not like the coaching methods of Marshall Johnston, and fired Johnston on January 22, 1975, taking over the position himself.[3] He hired Jack Evans, who had coached their minor league affiliate the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, as coach the following year, while remaining as general manager.[4] The team moved to Cleveland in 1976 and became the Cleveland Barons.[5] Yet, the club struggled and McCreary was fired as general manager in January 1977, and was replaced by Harry Howell, who had been serving as the assistant general manager.[6]

He was the elder brother of Keith McCreary, also an NHL left winger. His son Bill McCreary Jr. played 12 games in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1980–81 season. He is also the brother-in-law of Ron Attwell.

McCreary died on November 25, 2019.[7]

Awards and achievements

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• WHL Prairie Division Second All-Star Team (1957)
• CPHL First All-Star Team (1964, 1966)

Regular season and playoffs

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| | | Regular season | | Playoffs | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | -- | -- | -- | --- | --- | | Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | | 1951–52 | Guelph Biltmores | OHA | 52 | 30 | 28 | 58 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | | 1951–52 | Guelph Biltmores | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 4 | | 1952–53 | Guelph Biltmores | OHA | 50 | 32 | 25 | 57 | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | | 1952–53 | Guelph Biltmores | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | | 1953–54 | Guelph Biltmores | OHA | 59 | 35 | 49 | 84 | 57 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | | 1953–54 | New York Rangers | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | | 1954–55 | Guelph Biltmores | OHA | 48 | 46 | 37 | 83 | 38 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | | 1954–55 | New York Rangers | NHL | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | | 1955–56 | Providence Reds | AHL | 37 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | | 1955–56 | Saskatoon Quakers | WHL | 25 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 45 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 1956–57 | Edmonton Flyers | WHL | 69 | 33 | 26 | 59 | 37 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 4 | | 1957–58 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | | 1957–58 | Edmonton Flyers | WHL | 21 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | | 1957–58 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 31 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | | 1958–59 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 65 | 14 | 34 | 48 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | | 1959–60 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 69 | 19 | 31 | 50 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 6 | | 1960–61 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 72 | 33 | 54 | 87 | 26 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 6 | | 1961–62 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 69 | 27 | 49 | 76 | 49 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | | 1962–63 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 14 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | | 1962–63 | Hull-Ottawa Canadiens | EPHL | 46 | 15 | 32 | 47 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | | 1963–64 | Omaha Knights | CHL | 72 | 24 | 51 | 75 | 56 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | | 1964–65 | Omaha Knights | CHL | 70 | 24 | 44 | 68 | 48 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | | 1965–66 | Houston Apollos | CHL | 70 | 26 | 26 | 52 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | | 1966–67 | Houston Apollos | CHL | 56 | 22 | 34 | 56 | 34 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | | 1967–68 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 70 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 22 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | | 1968–69 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 71 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 50 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 14 | | 1969–70 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 73 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | | 1970–71 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 68 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | | NHL totals | 309 | 53 | 62 | 115 | 106 | 48 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 14 | | |

1. ^ "William E McCreary". Hometown Life. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
2. ^ Currier 2017, p. 257
3. ^ Currier 2017, p. 269
4. ^ Currier 2017, p. 287
5. ^ Currier 2017, p. 315
6. ^ Currier 2017, p. 322
7. ^ NHL Alumni on Twitter

• Currier, Steve (2017), The California Golden Seals: A Tale of White Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL's Most Outlandish Teams, Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 978-0-8032-8848-5

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database