William Edward McCreary Sr. (December 2, 1934 – November 25, 2019) was an

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 ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, coach and general manager. He played 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 ...

with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

and the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

from between 1953 and 1971, and then coached in the league with the Blues,

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

, and

California Golden Seals The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The S ...

between 1971 and 1975. After stepping down as coach of the Golden Seals he served as their general manager from 1975 to 1977, including their first year as the

Cleveland Barons The name Cleveland Barons has been used by three professional hockey teams and one junior team. *Cleveland Barons (NHL), the National Hockey League team that played between 1976 and 1978 *Cleveland Barons (1937–1973), the original American Hockey ...

Early life

McCreary was born in

Sundridge, Ontario Sundridge is a village in central Ontario, Canada, approximately 75 km south of North Bay, Ontario along Highway 11, on the shore of Lake Bernard. Sundridge is a tourist destination in both winter and summer, with boating and snowmobiling ...

Career

During his pro career, McCreary played for the

and the

. He later coached the

for the first half of the 1973–74 season and then became general manager of the

in August 1974. Although the Seals were performing fairly well, McCreary did not like the coaching methods of

Marshall Johnston Lawrence Marshall Johnston (born June 6, 1941) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach and executive. He played as a Winger (ice hockey), right winger for the Minnesota North Stars and California Golden Seals of th ...

, and fired Johnston on January 22, 1975, taking over the position himself. He hired Jack Evans, who had coached their minor league affiliate the

Salt Lake Golden Eagles The Salt Lake Golden Eagles were a minor professional hockey team based in Salt Lake City from 1969 to 1994. History They played in the Western Hockey League from 1969 to 1974, the Central Hockey League from 1974 to 1984 and the International H ...

, as coach the following year, while remaining as general manager. The team moved to Cleveland in 1976 and became the

. Yet, the club struggled and McCreary was fired as general manager in January 1977, and was replaced by Harry Howell, who had been serving as the assistant general manager. He was the elder brother of

Keith McCreary Vernon Keith McCreary (June 19, 1940 – December 9, 2003) was a Canadians, Canadian Winger (ice hockey), left winger in the National Hockey League who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins and Atlanta Flames. Playing career As ...

, also an NHL left winger. His son

Bill McCreary Jr. William Edward McCreary Jr. (born April 15, 1960) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 12 games in the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1980–81 season. The rest of his career, which laste ...

played 12 games in the NHL with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

during the 1980–81 season. He is also the brother-in-law of

Ron Attwell Ronald Allan Attwell (February 9, 1935 – December 4, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 22 games in the National Hockey League with the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers during the 1967–68 season. The rest of h ...

. McCreary died on November 25, 2019.NHL Alumni
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

Awards and achievements

* WHL Prairie Division Second All-Star Team (1957) *CPHL First All-Star Team (1964, 1966)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Coaching record

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCreary, Bill Sr. 1934 births 2019 deaths California Golden Seals executives California Golden Seals coaches Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey left wingers Cleveland Barons (NHL) Detroit Red Wings players Edmonton Flyers (WHL) players Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters players Hershey Bears players Houston Apollos players Hull-Ottawa Canadiens players Ice hockey people from Ontario Montreal Canadiens players New York Rangers players Omaha Knights (CHL) players People from Parry Sound District Providence Reds players St. Louis Blues coaches St. Louis Blues players Saskatoon Quakers players Springfield Indians players Toronto Marlboros players Vancouver Canucks coaches