Bill Needham (January 12, 1932 – January 25, 2022) was a Canadian 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and coach.

Playing career

Needham played for the following minor league teams during his career:

Grand Rapids Rockets The Grand Rapids Rockets are a defunct International Hockey League team. They were members of the IHL from the 1950–1951 season to 1955–1956 season. They were based in Grand Rapids, Michigan and played their home games in Stadium Arena. The ...

, Valleyfield Braves, Glace Bay Miners, New Westminster Royals, North Bay Trappers,

Toledo Hornets Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, O ...

and

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 ...

. He holds the franchise record of most games played for the

, a total of 981, where he spent 15 seasons of his career. In this span, Needham scored 62 goals and 246 assists.

Later Life

Needham assumed the role of Coach-Player for the 1971/72

, but suited up to play in less than half of their games that year. From 1972-1974 he was the

Cleveland Crusaders The Cleveland Crusaders were a professional ice hockey team from Cleveland. They played in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1976. Their home ice was the Cleveland Arena from 1972 to 1974, and the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1976. T ...

head coach 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) ...

Goaltender

Gerry Cheevers Gerald Michael "Cheesie" Cheevers (born 7 December 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA) between 1961 and 1980. Cheevers is best known for ...

emerged as a star for The Crusaders, after several All-Star years with the NHL Boston Bruins. Needham died January 25, 2022 at the age of 90.https://obits.cleveland.com/us/obituaries/cleveland/name/william-needham-obituary?id=32493125

Coaching record

WHA

College

References

External links

* 1932 births 2022 deaths Canadian ice hockey forwards Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Grand Rapids Rockets players New Westminster Royals players Southern Hockey League (1973–1977) coaches Sportspeople from Kirkland Lake Toledo Hornets players {{Canada-icehockey-winger-1930s-stub