Bill Butters (born January 10, 1951) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player. He played in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

from 1975 to 1978 and then in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

from 1978 to 1979. After his playing career Butters became a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, serving as an assistant coach for several years with the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and then coaching at the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

and high school levels.

Life and career

Butters was born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

on January 10, 1951, and played high school hockey at White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He played for the

from 1971–73, coached by Glen Sonmor and Herb Brooks, and he served as team captain in 1972-73. Butters went on to play 217 games in the

for the

Minnesota Fighting Saints The Minnesota Fighting Saints was the name of two professional ice hockey teams based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that played in the World Hockey Association. The first team was one of the WHA's original twelve franchises, playing from 1972 to 19 ...

, Houston Aeros,

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

and New England Whalers, followed by 72 games in the

with the Minnesota North Stars. In 1980, after retiring as a player, Butters became involved the Christian Hockey Camps International, run by Hockey Ministries International. From 2010 to 2012, Butters was an assistant coach with the University of Wisconsin Badgers. Butters stepped down from this position in order to return to work with the Ministries.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1951 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen Edmonton Oilers (WHA) players Houston Aeros (WHA) players Ice hockey people from Saint Paul, Minnesota Minnesota Fighting Saints players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Minnesota North Stars players New England Whalers players Oklahoma City Blazers (1965–1977) players Oklahoma City Stars players Undrafted National Hockey League players {{US-icehockey-defenceman-stub