Billy Harris (ice hockey, born 1935)

William Edward "Billy" Harris ( born July 29, 1935 in Toronto, Ontario; † 20 September 2001) was a Canadian ice hockey player ( center ) and coach, from 1955 to 1969 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Oakland Seals and Pittsburgh Penguins played in the National Hockey League.

Career

As a junior he played in the Ontario Hockey Association with the Toronto Marlboros. With this team, which made ​​the young talent for the Toronto Maple Leafs, he won the 1955 Memorial Cup.

For the 1955/56 season Harris made ​​his NHL debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The second year he often played in the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans, after he had won his place on the Leafs. Until 1965 he remained with the Leafs, with whom he won the Stanley Cup three times. As a passionate photographer, he held the ten year fixed with the Leafs and published the pictures in the book The Glory Years: Memoirs of a Decade - 1955-65.

In May 1965, the Leafs gave him along with Andy Bathgate in exchange, among other things, for Marcel Pronovost and Lowell MacDonald of the Detroit Red Wings from. He was used mostly in the AHL with the Pittsburgh Hornets, with whom he won the Calder Cup.

When NHL Expansion Draft 1967, he was selected by the Oakland Seals. There he was one of the better scorers on the team. Over the 1968/69 season he was released to the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he brought the season to an end before he finished his pro career. He was still playing for the Canadian national team at the World Cup 1969.

As a coach, Harris took over the Swedish national team. He won at the World Championships in 1972 and led the team bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games in 1972 in Sapporo. After that, he was the first coach of the newly formed Ottawa Nationals in the World Hockey Association. A year later he moved to the 1973/74 season with his team in his hometown of Toronto. The team was now called the Toronto Toros. He was honored as best coach of the WHA with the Howard Baldwin Trophy. He was coach of the 1974 Canadian teams in their Summit Series.

In the early 1980s he was in the NHL assistant coach Glen Sather in the Edmonton Oilers. He later coached the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League.

At the age of 66 years Harris died on 20 September 2001 from the effects of cancer.

NHL stats

Sporting successes

  • Memorial Cup: 1955
  • Calder Cup: 1965 and 1967
  • Stanley Cup: 1962, 1963 and 1964

Personal Awards

  • Participate in the NHL All-Star Game: 1958, 1962, 1963 and 1964
  • Howard Baldwin Trophy: 1974
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