Bill Riley (ice hockey, born 1950)

William James Riley (born September 20, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, and was the third black player in the National Hockey League (NHL).[1] He played for the Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets between 1974 and 1980. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1974 to 1984, was spent in the minor leagues.

Bill Riley
Born (1950-09-20) September 20, 1950
Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for Washington Capitals
Winnipeg Jets
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1974–1984

Early life

Riley's mother worked as a cleaning lady, while his father earned the minimum wage of $1.25 per hour. With limited finances, they made the necessary sacrifices to outfit their son with the required equipment to play hockey starting in peewee.[2] Riley stuck with the game in spite of the absence of many black role models in the sport. After two seasons with the Amherst Ramblers, a team he would go on to coach many years later, he held no aspirations of pursuing hockey as a big-league career.[3]

In 1973 while working in a factory and playing senior hockey with the Kitimat Eagles senior team in the Pacific Northwest Hockey League in British Columbia, Riley was discovered after putting up 206 points in 80 games across two seasons. Future NHL coach Tom McVie was in the process of fortifying his lineup for the Dayton Gems of the International Hockey League (IHL). He discovered Riley in Kitimat and invited him for a tryout. Riley accepted and made the club in 1974.[3]

Career

Riley was given a tryout with the Washington Capitals during their inaugural season in 1974-75 and played in one game, but he spent most of his time in the minors, primarily with the Dayton Gems. It was during this time that he was reunited with and played under future Capitals' coach McVie. He would eventually be signed as a free agent by the Capitals during the 1976–77 NHL season and played for the Capitals in parts of the next three seasons.

Riley was claimed by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft, but only played in 14 games before he was sent to the minors, where he played, with the New Brunswick Hawks, Moncton Alpines and the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, until he retired following the 1983–84 season.[2]

Riley was player-coach and captain of the St. John's Capitals of the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League for three seasons during the late 1980s.[2]

Coaching career

After retiring from professional play, Riley returned to coaching in 1989-90, when he landed a head coaching position with the Amherst Ramblers of the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League. Later, he was the head coach, general manager and director of player personnel of the Miramichi Timberwolves of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. He also served as head coach of the Moncton Wildcats during the 1996–97 season, finishing with a 16–52–2 record.[2]

Personal life

Riley's son, Billy Jr., was killed in a motor vehicle accident in 2011 in Moncton at age 35.[4]

In 2017, after seeing a segment on Hockey Night in Canada about Toronto Maple Leafs legend Bill Barilko, Riley sent his daughter Tracey, who lived in Timmins, to the site of Barilko's grave to clean his tombstone.[4]

Awards and Honours

As a player, he won a Calder Cup in 1982 with the New Brunswick Hawks.[5]

As coach, he won the Callaghan Cup (forerunner to the Kent Cup) in 1990, and advanced to the Centennial Cup (now known as the Royal Bank Cup).[2]

In 1998, he was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame.[6]

In 2013, the Amherst Ramblers retired his number 8 jersey during a pre-game ceremony.[2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1968–69 Amherst Ramblers MJHL 48323264— —————
1969–70 Amherst Ramblers MJHL 30342862— 10000
1970–71 Amherst Square M's MJHL ————— —————
1971–72 Kitimat Eagles BCSHL ————— —————
1972–73 Kitimat Eagles BCSHL 40563288— —————
1973–74 Kitimat Eagles BCSHL 407642118— —————
1974–75 Washington Capitals NHL 10000 —————
1974–75 Dayton Gems IHL 63121628279 1450529
1975–76 Dayton Gems IHL 69353166301 156101654
1976–77 Washington Capitals NHL 43131427124 —————
1976–77 Dayton Gems IHL 3019153469 —————
1977–78 Washington Capitals NHL 57131225125 —————
1978–79 Washington Capitals NHL 2422464 —————
1978–79 Hershey Bears AHL 51151530118 41018
1979–80 Winnipeg Jets NHL 143257 —————
1979–80 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 63313364157 40002
1980–81 New Brunswick Hawks AHL 46122537107 1233649
1981–82 New Brunswick Hawks AHL 80323062104 1588166
1982–83 Moncton Alpines AHL 73333063134 —————
1983–84 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 7824244879 122578
1986–87 St. John's Capitals NFLD 44293362— —————
1987–88 St. John's Capitals NFLD 37396310243 —————
1988–89 St. John's Capitals NFLD 29253661— —————
AHL totals 391147157304699 4714163073
NHL totals 139313061320 —————

References
  1. Aubé, Benjamin (May 22, 2017). "Barilko's gravestone cleaned as one former NHLer honours another". timminspress.com. Timmins. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018. Riley became just the third black man to play in the NHL, following in the strides of Willie O'Ree and Mike Marson
  2. Cole, Darrell (1 March 2013). "Honouring an Amherst hockey icon". Amherst News Citizen-Record. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  3. "Legends of Hockey - NHL Player Search - Player - Bill Riley". Hhof.com. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  4. The Guardian. "Amherst's Bill Riley enlists daughter to tend fellow former NHLer Barilko's gravestone | Regional | News". The Guardian. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  5. "Bill Riley Page". Eliteprospects. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  6. "Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame > Inductees > Search > Inductee Details". Sportnovascotia.ca. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
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