William James Taylor (May 3, 1919 – June 12, 1990) 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 h ...

player 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) from 1939 to 1948.

Playing career

Taylor began his NHL career 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 ...

in 1939–40. He played in Toronto for five seasons, and won the Stanley Cup in

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

before being traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Harry Watson at the start of the 1946–47 season. While in Detroit, he set an NHL record for most assists in one game (7) against 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 ...

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

has since matched that record. After only one season in Motown, he was dealt to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

for his last NHL season, 1947–48. That last season saw him play 39 games for the Bruins and two games for the Rangers. His career was cut short when

Clarence Campbell Clarence Sutherland Campbell, (July 9, 1905 – June 24, 1984) was a Canadian ice hockey executive, referee, and soldier. He refereed in the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1930s, served in the Canadian Army during World War II, th ...

expelled him and Don Gallinger for gambling violations similar to the

Black Sox scandal The Black Sox Scandal was a Major League Baseball game-fixing scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate l ...

in baseball. Taylor was finally reinstated by the NHL in 1970. In 323 career regular season games, he scored 87 goals and 267 points. His son, also named

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the a ...

, also played professional hockey.

Career statistics

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Billy 1919 births 1990 deaths Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey centres Detroit Red Wings players New York Rangers players Pittsburgh Hornets players Pittsburgh Penguins scouts Ice hockey people from Winnipeg Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States