Bill Pye

William Pye is an American ice hockey coach and former goaltender who was an All-American for Northern Michigan and helped the team win its first National Championship in 1991. Northern Michigan wasn't able to make it out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament but the Buffalo Sabres had seen enough to select Pye in the 6th round of NHL Draft.

Pye had a rocky year as a junior, seeing his goals against average swell by more than a goal per game. The team managed a middling season and lost two overtime games in the conference tournament to finish in 4th place. In Pye's senior season, however, everything turned up roses. Northern Michigan won its first WCHA regular season title and Pye finished in the top 10 in the nation. He led the country with 32 wins and was named an All-American. In the postseason he shut down some of the strongest offenses in the country, enabling NMU to win their second WCHA title and became the only player to earn two WCHA tournament MVP's. Northern Michigan received a bye into the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament and Pye proved solid in net while the offense ran over their opponents. NMU made its second championship appearance that year and the final game turned out to be one for the ages. Pye allowed three goals in the first but became a bulwark in the middle frame while the Wildcats scored five goals to take a commanding lead. Boston University, peppered with future NHL stars like Tony Amonte and Shawn McEachern, roared back with a 4-goal third and the two teams ended regulation with a 7–7 tie. The match became just the second championship game in history to need multiple overtime sessions and ended when Darryl Plandowski got the Wildcats the win in the third 10-minute extra frame.

After graduating, Pye began his professional career in the Sabres' minor league system. The closest Pye got to playing in the NHL was as an emergency call-up on two occasions. In November 1992, Dominik Hašek was suffering from a groin injury and Pye sat on the bench in game against the Ottawa Senators. He was replaced the following day by Clint Malarchuk. Almost two months later both Darren Puppa and Dominik Hašek were injured and Pye was recalled to serve as a backup for Tom Draper. He remained with the Sabres for a week but didn't play in any of the games. Pye was never able to find his form in the pro game and was progressively demoted until landing in the WPHL in the mid-90's. Pye had three 20-win seasons over a 4-year span and decided to call it quits in 2000. Upon his retirement as a player, Pye founded the "Billy Pye Goaltending Academy" and continued to operate the business in the Dallas–Fort Worth area.

While operating his business, Pye served as the goaltending coach for a few local junior teams, including the Wichita Falls Wildcats. He was inducted into the Northern Michigan Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1985–86 St. Clair Shores Falcons NAHL 23 13 7 2 1315 89 0 4.06 .847 — — — — — — — — 1986–87 Detroit Falcons NAHL 20 13 4 2 1084 60 0 3.32 — — — — — — — — — 1987–88 Northern Michigan WCHA 13 3 7 0 654 49 0 4.49 .872 — — — — — — — — 1988–89 Northern Michigan WCHA 43 26 15 2 2533 133 1 3.15 .905 — — — — — — — — 1989–90 Northern Michigan WCHA 36 20 14 1 2035 149 1 4.39 .860 — — — — — — — — 1990–91 Northern Michigan WCHA 39 32 3 4 2300 109 4 2.84 .886 — — — — — — — — 1991–92 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 8 5 2 1 451 29 0 3.86 — — — — — — — — — 1991–92 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 4 0 3 1 200 19 0 5.70 .806 — — — — — — — — 1991–92 Rochester Americans AHL 8 1 4 0 332 15 0 2.71 .893 1 — — — — — 2.00 .933 1991–92 Erie Panthers ECHL 5 5 0 0 310 22 0 4.26 .859 4 — — — — — — — 1992–93 Rochester Americans AHL 26 9 14 2 1427 107 0 4.50 .865 — — — — — — — — 1993–94 Rochester Americans AHL 19 7 7 2 980 70 0 4.29 .868 — — — — — — — — 1993–94 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 28 15 10 2 1578 95 1 3.61 .895 3 — — — — — — — 1994–95 Saginaw Wheels CoHL 13 5 7 0 663 51 0 4.83 .836 — — — — — — — — 1995–96 Columbus Chill ECHL 25 12 5 1 1227 92 0 4.50 .855 — — — — — — — — 1996–97 Waco Wizards WPHL 46 22 21 2 2620 159 0 3.64 .885 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Waco Wizards WPHL 15 2 11 2 860 69 0 4.81 .857 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Odessa Jackalopes WPHL 42 20 18 3 2348 175 1 4.47 .891 — — — — — — — — 1998–99 Odessa Jackalopes WPHL 45 20 22 2 2549 133 2 3.13 .898 3 — — — — — 2.70 .924 1999–00 Odessa Jackalopes WPHL 20 5 11 2 1069 82 0 4.60 .875 — — — — — — — — 1999–00 Fort Worth Brahmas WPHL 28 7 18 2 1625 115 1 4.25 .886 — — — — — — — — NAHL totals 43 26 11 4 2399 149 0 3.73 — — — — — — — — — NCAA totals 131 81 39 7 7522 440 6 3.51 .884 — — — — — — — — AHL totals 57 17 28 5 2939 211 0 4.31 .865 1 — — — — — 2.00 .933 ECHL totals 58 32 15 3 3115 209 1 4.03 .877 7 — — — — — — — WPHL totals 196 76 101 13 11071 733 4 3.97 .886 3 — — — — — 2.70 .924

Awards and honors Award Year WCHA All-Tournament Team 1989 All-WCHA First Team 1990–91 AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1990–91 All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1991