William Fraser Dea (born April 3, 1933) is a Canadian 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 h ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

and

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

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 ...

(NHL). He played in the NHL from 1953 to 1971, and then served as a coach during the 1981–82 season.

Playing career

A minor league standout, Dea began his NHL career with a brief fourteen game assignment 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 ...

during the 1953–54 season. On August 18, 1955, the Rangers traded the NHL rights to Dea and

Aggie Kukulowicz Adolph Frank "Aggie" Kukulowicz (April 2, 1933 – September 26, 2008) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and Russian-language interpreter. He played four games in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers, then played 12 ...

to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for

Bronco Horvath Bronco Joseph Horvath (March 12, 1930 – December 17, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 434 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1955 and 1968. Early life Horvath was born to an ethnic Hungarian family ...

and

Dave Creighton David Theodore Creighton (June 24, 1930 – August 18, 2017) was a Canadian ice hockey forward. Creighton started his National Hockey League career with the Boston Bruins in 1948. He would also play with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Black H ...

. In 1957, he joined the Red Wings as a starting two-way forward. The next season, he was traded mid-season to the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. For the next nine years, Dea would play exclusively in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

, before expansion gave him another crack at the NHL. During the 1967–68 and 1968-69 campaigns, he was a regular on the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

. He then returned to the Red Wings for an additional two years, ending his career with 67 goals and 54 assists in 397 games. In

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, Dea became an assistant coach with the Red Wings.

Post-playing career

In retirement, Dea joined the Detroit front office. During the

1981–82 NHL season The 1981–82 NHL season was the List of NHL seasons, 65th Season (sports), season of the National Hockey League. The William M. Jennings Trophy made its debut this year as the trophy for the goaltenders from the team with the fewest goals against ...

, he became the head coach as a mid-season replacement for

Wayne Maxner Wayne Douglas Maxner (born September 27, 1942 in Halifax, Nova Scotia) is a Canadian former hockey player for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He led the Ontario Hockey Association junior A league in scoring in 1962–63 a ...

. He currently serves as a scout for the Florida Panthers. In 2017, he was inducted into the

AHL Hall of Fame The AHL Hall of Fame is an online ice hockey museum dedicated to honoring members of the American Hockey League. Each year, a new class of inductees is enshrined during the AHL's All-Star Classic. On January 5, 2006, the league announced that Joh ...

. Dea earned the nickname "Hard Rock" for his punishing style of play. He is an uncle to NHL defenceman

James Wisniewski James Joseph Wisniewski (born February 21, 1984) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Kassel Huskies of the German DEL2. He has previously played in the Na ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

NHL coaching record

References

External links

* 1933 births Living people Baltimore Clippers players Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian ice hockey coaches Chicago Blackhawks players Detroit Red Wings coaches Detroit Red Wings players Detroit Red Wings scouts Edmonton Flyers (WHL) players Ice hockey people from Alberta New York Rangers players Pittsburgh Penguins players Saskatoon Quakers players Sportspeople from Edmonton Vancouver Canucks (WHL) players {{Canada-icehockey-coach-stub