Robert Hill is an American retired ice hockey

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

and coach who was the first All-American for Minnesota–Duluth.

Career

Hill was born and raised in

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, playing hockey for Duluth East alongside Dick Fisher and won the 1960 State Championship. In 1962 Hill followed his defensive partner Fisher to Minnesota–Duluth. The Bulldogs were in the process of transition to the top level of college hockey but were playing as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. This allowed Hill to start playing for UMD as a freshman and he proved to be one of the top Bulldogs defenders from the start. When he was a senior Hill's team joined the

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

and, to very little surprise, the team finished last in their first season of conference play. Despite this, Hill was named as the program's first All-American. After graduating Hill remained in the area and worked as a teacher. He became the head coach of the hockey team at

Denfeld High School Duluth Denfeld High School, also known as Denfeld High School, is one of two high schools in Duluth, Minnesota along with Duluth East as of 2011 after the closure of Duluth Central and the previous closing of Morgan Park HS in 1982. Serving over ...

in 1970 and earned a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

the following year. He remained at Denfield until 1984 when he returned to his old high school, Duluth East, to coach both of his sons on the hockey team, as well as Dick Fisher's son Dave. Hill retired after the 1986 season and was inducted into the Minnesota–Duluth Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.

Personal life

Hill's two sons, Noel and

Sean Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

both played college hockey after being coached by their father in high school. Noel played at Wisconsin–Eau Claire while Sean attended Wisconsin–Madison and went on to a 17-year

NHL 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 ...

career.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Bob 1944 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen Ice hockey coaches from Minnesota People from Duluth, Minnesota Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Ice hockey players from Minnesota