Bill Sweeney

William Sweeney (January 30, 1937 – March 21, 1991), was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played 4 games in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers during the 1959–60 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1957 to 1970, was mainly spent with the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League (AHL), for whom he played nine seasons and is the all-time career leading scorer for the franchise.

Playing career Sweeney led the Ontario Hockey Association in scoring while playing for the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters in 1956–57, and followed that up by winning the 1958 AHL rookie of the year award playing for the Providence Reds. Sweeney later won three consecutive Calder Cup championships with the Springfield Indians, also leading the league in scoring three consecutive seasons.

Sweeney's career was impacted by alcoholism and by the time league expansion opened up the NHL in 1967 to promising minor-league scorers, Sweeney's skills were in decline. He remained in the minors, and his rights were sold by Springfield to the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League early in the 1968 season; he played only 26 more professional hockey games in his career. His final professional action was in the following season with the Rochester Americans of the AHL, in which he played ten games without a point. Sweeney's final organized hockey match was in 1970 with the Ontario senior league Oakville Oaks.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1953–54 Guelph Biltmores OHA 14 4 3 7 0 3 0 1 1 2 1954–55 Guelph Biltmores OHA 47 18 37 55 25 6 5 5 10 7 1955–56 Guelph Biltmores OHA 48 29 38 67 16 3 0 1 1 2 1956–57 Guelph Biltmores OHA 52 49 57 106 20 10 19 7 26 11 1956–57 Guelph Biltmores M-Cup — — — — — 6 2 3 5 0 1957–58 Providence Reds AHL 70 31 46 77 24 5 1 1 2 2 1958–59 Buffalo Bisons AHL 70 31 44 75 12 11 4 5 9 4 1959–60 New York Rangers NHL 4 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 1959–60 Springfield Indians AHL 67 37 59 96 14 10 7 7 14 0 1960–61 Springfield Indians AHL 70 40 68 108 26 8 4 5 9 2 1961–62 Springfield Indians AHL 70 40 61 101 14 11 5 5 10 0 1962–63 Springfield Indians AHL 69 38 65 103 16 — — — — — 1963–64 Springfield Indians AHL 72 25 48 73 18 — — — — — 1964–65 Springfield Indians AHL 51 13 31 44 26 — — — — — 1965–66 Springfield Indians AHL 72 22 37 59 10 6 2 3 5 0 1966–67 Springfield Indians AHL 65 16 50 66 12 — — — — — 1967–68 Springfield Kings AHL 9 1 1 2 0 — — — — — 1967–68 Vancouver Canucks WHL 15 3 5 8 2 — — — — — 1967–68 Memphis South Stars CPHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1968–69 Rochester Americans AHL 10 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 1969–70 Oakville Oaks OHA Sr 11 2 10 12 0 — — — — — AHL totals 695 294 510 804 174 51 23 26 49 8 NHL totals 4 1 0 1 0 — — — — —

Awards At the time of Sweeney's retirement, he was in the top ten in AHL history in goals (10th), assists (4th) and points (4th). He is, as of 2013, 11th in points, 22nd in goals and 9th in assists.

In the history of the Springfield Indians' franchise, Sweeney is third in goals behind Jim Anderson and Harry Pidhirny, second in points behind Anderson, and first in assists.

1956–57 - Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy 1957–58 - Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award 1960–61 - John B. Sollenberger Trophy 1961–62 - John B. Sollenberger Trophy 1962–63 - John B. Sollenberger Trophy

Sweeney was also named to the AHL's First All-Star Team in 1960 and 1962, and to the Second All-Star Team in 1961.