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]

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 pulled in the minimum wage of $1.25 per hour. In spite of finances, they made the necessary sacrifices to outfit their son with the necessary skates and pads 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]

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. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/279970/bill-riley
  6. "Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame > Inductees > Search > Inductee Details". Sportnovascotia.ca. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
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