William Gerald Klatt (October 16, 1947 – December 23, 2011) was an American 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 143 regular season games 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) ...

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 ...

between 1972 and 1974. Klatt moved overseas to play in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

following the 1974–75 season and also was a member of the United States national team at the 1976 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

. Klatt died on December 23, 2011 of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

aged 64.

Awards and honors

References

*The Complete Historical and Statistical Reference to the World Hockey Association by Scott Surgent, Xaler Press,

External links

* 1947 births 2011 deaths American men's ice hockey right wingers ATSE Graz players Deaths from cancer in Minnesota Deaths from leukemia Minnesota Fighting Saints players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Oklahoma City Blazers (1965–1977) players Omaha Knights (CHL) players Ice hockey people from Minneapolis {{US-icehockey-winger-stub