Bill Bowler

William J. Bowler (born September 25, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played nine games in the National Hockey League with the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2000–01 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1995 to 2003, was spent in the minor leagues. He is currently the General Manager of the Windsor Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League.

Biography As a youth, Bowler played in the 1988 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Mississauga.

In 1994–95, while playing for the Ontario Hockey League's Windsor Spitfires, Bowler was awarded the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy as the best overage player in the league. During four seasons with the Windsor Spitfires, from the 1991-92 season to the 1994–95 season, Bill Bowler set a franchise record for most career points, with 467 points. He also set the OHL record for most career assists, with 318. , both records still stand. On December 10, 2011, Bowler's number 9 was retired by the Windsor Spitfires - he was the eighth player in Windsor Spitfire history to have his jersey hung from the rafters.

In 1995, Bowler was charged with sexual assault alongside Spitfires teammates Ed Jovanowski and Cory Evans. The charges were later dismissed.

Bowler played nine games with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2000–01 season, recording two assists. In 2000–01, Bowler set a team record for the AHL's Syracuse Crunch with 58 assists, and tied the team record with 79 points (set in 1995–96 by Lonny Bohonos. This record would be later be broken by Carter Verhaeghe in the 2018-19 season).

Bowler also played professionally in the International Hockey League, and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

In 2015, Bowler entered his third season as general manager and head coach of the LaSalle Vipers. He had previously served as the general manager and head coach of the Chatham Maroons for two seasons.

In July 2019, it was announced Bowler would take over for Warren Rychel as General Manager of the Windsor Spitfires for the 2019-20 season.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1990–91 Toronto Red Wings U18 GTHL 69 58 99 157 — — — — — — 1991–92 Windsor Spitfires OHL 66 25 63 88 28 7 2 3 5 13 1992–93 Windsor Spitfires OHL 57 44 77 121 41 — — — — — 1993–94 Windsor Spitfires OHL 66 47 76 123 39 — — — — — 1994–95 Windsor Spitfires OHL 61 33 102 135 63 10 7 15 22 13 1994–95 Las Vegas Thunder IHL — — — — — 1 0 0 0 0 1995–96 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 75 31 55 86 26 14 3 5 8 22 1996–97 Houston Aeros IHL 78 22 43 65 79 13 2 5 7 6 1997–98 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 46 7 24 31 22 — — — — — 1997–98 Manitoba Moose IHL 30 9 26 35 30 3 0 2 2 4 1998–99 Manitoba Moose IHL 82 26 67 93 59 5 6 5 11 6 1999–00 Manitoba Moose IHL 75 20 42 62 59 2 1 2 3 6 2000–01 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 9 0 2 2 8 — — — — — 2000–01 Syracuse Crunch AHL 72 21 58 79 50 4 1 3 4 2 2001–02 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 17 2 5 7 6 — — — — — 2001–02 Norfolk Admirals AHL 28 3 16 19 35 — — — — — 2002–03 Krefeld Pinguine DEL 7 1 2 3 4 14 1 1 2 12 IHL totals 340 108 232 341 253 38 12 19 31 44 NHL totals 9 0 2 2 8 — — — — —