Bill Barber

For other uses, see William Barber (disambiguation).
Bill Barber
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1990

Barber in 2013
Born (1952-07-11) July 11, 1952
Callander, ON, CAN
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for Philadelphia Flyers
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 7th overall, 1972
Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career 19721984

William Charles Barber (born July 11, 1952) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played twelve seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers in the National Hockey League (NHL). As part of the famed LCB (Leach, Clarke, Barber) line, Barber helped lead the Flyers to the franchise's two Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975. He is currently a scouting consultant with the Flyers.[1]

Playing career

Barber was drafted by the Flyers 7th in the first round of the 1972 draft. He was called up after only 11 games in the AHL with the Richmond Robins. In his first season with the Flyers Barber scored 30 goals and 34 assists and was a contender for the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year.

Barber was converted to left wing by coach Fred Shero. He scored at least 20 goals every season. His best season was 50 goals and 62 assists in the 1975–76 season. In the Flyers' successful 1974 and 1975 Stanley Cup playoff campaigns, Barber contributed six goals in each, 15 and 13 points respectively. In addition to his respectable scoring abilities, Barber was also a well rounded player. On a power play he was equally valuable for setting up the play as he was at pulling the trigger. And if forced into a defensive role, he was capable. Barber said of himself, "I want to be remembered as being capable of doing my job day in and day out, not just as a goal scorer, but as a good all-around player for every kind of situation."

In the 1976 Canada Cup, Barber scored one of his most famous goals while playing for Team Canada. Behind in the final against Czechoslovakia, Barber scored to send the game into overtime, and an eventual Team Canada victory.

He was a team leader for the next decade. In 1979–80, the Flyers had their record 35 game unbeaten streak, and Barber was in the centre of it all. He helped the Flyers reach the Stanley Cup Finals in the spring of 1980 with a number of key playoff goals against the NY Rangers and Minnesota North Stars.

Barber captained the Flyers in the 1981–82 season and part of 1982–83. As of the end of the 2012–2013 season, he still holds the Flyers regular season career scoring record with 420 goals. He is tied for the lead for Flyers career playoff goal with Rick MacLeish; both have 53 playoff tallies.

Coaching career

After his playing career, Barber started coaching. He coached the Hershey Bears for 16 games in 1985. He was the Flyers assistant coach between 1985–1988. After coaching the Flyers farm team (Phantoms) for 4 years, he was hired by the Flyers to be the head coach of the NHL club. Barber won the Jack Adams Award in 2001 as coach of the year. The awards ceremony was in Toronto, on live national television, and many Toronto Maple Leaf fans were in attendance. When Barber's name was announced as the winner, many Leaf fans booed the selection. Barber handled it with grace and made a joke about the popularity of the Flyers in Toronto. He was fired in 2002, and has since stopped coaching.

Retirement

Barber was forced to retire as a player after the 1984–85 season after being unable to return from reconstructive knee surgery in the spring of 1984.

The Flyers retired his number, 7, on October 7, 1990, just after he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. After his playing career he would coach the Flyers from December 2000 until April 2002, winning the Jack Adams Trophy after 2000–01. He also coached the Flyers' AHL affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms, to their first Calder Cup victory in 1998. He was the Director of Player Personnel for the Tampa Bay Lightning, a position he held from August 2002 to June 2008. Barber's name was added to the Stanley Cup for a third time in 2004 with Tampa Bay. On October 13, 2008, he returned to the Flyers organization when he was named a scouting consultant.[1]

On September 25, 2010, his hometown of Callander, Ontario opened the Bill Barber Sports Complex in his honour.[2]

Barber and his late wife, Jenny have two children, Brooks and Kerri. Jenny Barber died from lung cancer in 2001.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1967–68 North Bay Trappers NOJHA 34 18 35 53 44
1968–69 North Bay Trappers NOJHA 48 32 38 70 100
1969–70 Kitchener Rangers OHA-Jr. 54 37 49 86 42 8 5 10 15 22
1970–71 Kitchener Rangers OHA-Jr. 61 46 59 105 129 4 2 3 5 2
1971–72 Kitchener Rangers OHA-Jr. 62 44 63 107 89 5 2 7 9 6
1972–73 Richmond Robins AHL 11 9 5 14 4 2 0 0 0 2
1972–73 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 69 30 34 64 46 11 3 2 5 22
1973–74 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 75 34 35 69 54 17 3 6 9 18
1974–75 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 79 34 37 71 66 17 6 9 15 8
1975–76 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 50 62 112 104 16 6 7 13 18
1976–77 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 73 20 35 55 62 10 1 4 5 2
1977–78 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 41 31 72 34 12 6 3 9 2
1978–79 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 79 34 46 80 22 8 3 4 7 10
1979–80 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 79 40 32 72 17 19 12 9 21 23
1980–81 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 43 42 85 69 12 11 5 16 0
1981–82 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 45 44 89 85 4 1 5 6 4
1982–83 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 66 27 33 60 28 3 1 1 2 2
1983–84 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 63 22 32 54 36
NHL totals 903 420 463 883 623 129 53 55 108 109

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1976 Canada CC 7 2 0 2 4
1979 NHL All-Stars Ch-Cup 3 0 1 1 0
1982 Canada WC 10 8 1 9 10
Senior totals 20 10 2 12 14

All-Star Games

Year Location   G A P
1975 Montreal 0 0 0
1976 Philadelphia 0 0 0
1978 Buffalo 1 0 1
1980 Detroit 0 0 0
1981 Los Angeles 1 1 2
1982 Washington 0 0 0
All-Star totals 2 1 3

Coaching record

NHL

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T OTL Pts Finish Result
PHI2000–01 54311373(100)2nd in AtlanticLost in first round
PHI2001–02 824227103971st in AtlanticLost in first round
Total 1367340176

AHL

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T OTL Pts Finish Result
HER1984–85 166910(63)6th in SouthOut of Playoffs
PHI1996–97 8049181331111st in Mid-AtlanticLost in second round
PHI1997–98 8047211221061st in Mid-AtlanticWon Championship
PHI1998–99 804722921051st in Mid-AtlanticLost in third round
PHI1999–00 80443132933rd in Mid-AtlanticLost in first round
Total 336193101389

Awards

Award Year(s)
Calder Cup champion 1998
Class Guy Award (Philadelphia Flyers team award) 1981
Jack Adams Award 2001
NHL First All-Star Team 1976
NHL Second All-Star Team 1979, 1981
Stanley Cup champion 1974, 1975, 2004

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "News: Bill Barber Named as Scouting Consultant". Philadelphia Flyers. Archived from the original on October 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  2. http://openparliament.ca/hansards/2298/109/only/

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bill Barber.
Preceded by
Pierre Plante
Philadelphia Flyers' first round draft pick
1972
Succeeded by
Mel Bridgman
Preceded by
Mel Bridgman
Philadelphia Flyers captain
198182
Succeeded by
Bobby Clarke
Preceded by
Joel Quenneville
Jack Adams Award Winners
2001
Succeeded by
Bob Francis
Preceded by
Craig Ramsay
Head Coach of the Philadelphia Flyers
2000–02
Succeeded by
Ken Hitchcock
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