Billy McNeill

William Ronald McNeill (January 26, 1936 – August 31, 2007) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings between 1956 and 1963. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1953 to 1971, was mainly spent in the minor Western Hockey League.

Early life McNeill broke in with the local junior team, the Edmonton Oil Kings in 1951. He also played 49 games in 1954-55 with the Hamilton Tiger Cubs of the Ontario Hockey Association junior league.

Professional career

Edmonton and Detroit In 1955 McNeill turned pro with the local Edmonton Flyers of the WHL, who played their games in the old Edmonton Gardens. In 1956 McNeill was called up to the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL following serious injuries to Alex Delvecchio and Bill Dineen. During the next eight seasons, he was called up from the Flyers six times, playing 257 games in the NHL.

On February 5, 1960, McNeill was to be traded to the New York Rangers with Red Kelly for Bill Gadsby and Eddie Shack, but Kelly and McNeill refused to report and the transaction was cancelled. As a result, Kelly temporarily retired and McNeill was suspended for the rest of the season. New York then picked him up in the intra-league draft in June of that year, only to trade him back to Detroit in January 1961, who in turn assigned him back to the Flyers in Edmonton.

In the six seasons he played for Detroit, he wore sweater numbers 19 and 15.

Later WHL career In January 1964, McNeill was traded by Detroit to the Vancouver Canucks (of the WHL) for Barrie Ross and future considerations. In Vancouver he began six seasons with the Canucks wearing sweater number 16. He became an enduring star player and perennial fan favourite in the PNE Forum arena, winning the Leader Cup as MVP of the WHL two years' running, in 1965 and 1966. He was also selected to the WHL's First All-Star team both those years. He was known for his short stick with a rounded bottom to the blade.

His best season as a pro was 1965-'66 in Vancouver when he finished with 40 goals and 62 assists, both career highs. He tied Portland's Art Jones for second place in league scoring. He also had 6 goals and 13 points in the playoffs that year.

On August 19, 1969, he was traded by Vancouver to the Salt Lake Golden Eagles for Germain Gagnon and cash. He missed most of the 1969-70 season with an ankle injury suffered against Phoenix in November 1969. McNeill retired after the 1971 season while with the San Diego Gulls, scoring 29 points in 64 games and appearing in six playoff games.

Assist on record-breaking goal

McNeill assisted on Gordie Howe's (then) record-breaking 545th goal in November 1963.

It was McNeill's first assist of the season. He told reporter Pat Curran that it was a "perfect goal." "Bill Gadsby was yelling at me on one side and Gordie was shouting on the other and telling me to take the lead out. He knew we had a three-on-two break. When I dumped the puck over he shot past (Canadiens' goalie Charlie) Hodge on the short side." Montreal Canadiens' legends Jean Béliveau and Jacques Laperrière were defending on the play.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1951–52 Edmonton Oil Kings WCJHL 42 23 24 47 41 9 4 10 14 2 1952–53 Edmonton Oil Kings WJHL 36 15 15 30 59 10 5 3 8 12 1952–53 Edmonton Flyers WHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1953–54 Edmonton Oil Kings WJHL 35 21 39 60 47 10 10 18 28 23 1953–54 Edmonton Oil Kings M-Cup — — — — — 14 4 13 17 27 1954–55 Hamilton Tiger Cubs OHA 49 22 28 50 66 3 3 2 5 2 1954–55 Edmonton Flyers WHL 3 1 1 2 0 — — — — — 1955–56 Edmonton Flyers WHL 68 19 31 50 69 1 0 0 0 0 1956–57 Detroit Red Wings NHL 64 5 10 15 24 — — — — — 1956–57 Edmonton Flyers WHL 4 1 0 1 26 — — — — — 1957–58 Detroit Red Wings NHL 35 5 10 15 24 4 1 1 2 4 1957–58 Edmonton Flyers WHL 31 17 14 31 42 — — — — — 1958–59 Detroit Red Wings NHL 54 2 5 7 32 — — — — — 1958–59 Edmonton Flyers WHL 12 12 12 24 15 3 1 1 2 0 1959–60 Detroit Red Wings NHL 47 5 13 18 31 — — — — — 1960–61 Edmonton Flyers WHL 23 8 17 25 16 — — — — — 1961–62 Edmonton Flyers WHL 26 13 28 41 68 12 7 4 11 19 1962–63 Detroit Red Wings NHL 42 3 7 10 12 — — — — — 1962–63 Edmonton Flyers WHL 22 5 19 24 8 3 0 3 3 0 1963–64 Detroit Red Wings NHL 15 1 1 2 2 — — — — — 1963–64 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL 20 1 6 7 23 — — — — — 1963–64 Vancouver Canucks WHL 24 4 20 24 4 — — — — — 1964–65 Vancouver Canucks WHL 58 29 59 88 86 5 2 4 6 0 1965–66 Vancouver Canucks WHL 72 40 62 102 20 7 6 7 13 0 1966–67 Vancouver Canucks WHL 6 3 5 8 4 — — — — — 1967–68 Vancouver Canucks WHL 41 11 24 35 41 — — — — — 1968–69 Vancouver Canucks WHL 22 3 2 5 10 — — — — — 1968–69 Rochester Americans AHL 19 3 15 18 18 — — — — — 1969–70 Salt Lake Golden Eagles WHL 24 6 16 22 4 — — — — — 1970–71 Salt Lake Golden Eagles WHL 5 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 1970–71 San Diego Gulls WHL 65 14 15 29 39 6 0 1 1 0 WHL totals 507 186 325 511 454 37 16 20 36 19 NHL totals 257 21 46 67 130 4 1 1 2 4