Terrance James Ball (born November 29, 1944) 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 ...

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

. Ball 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 ...

, 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) ...

, the Finnish

SM-Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

, and several minor leagues in a career that spanned from 1964 until 1979.

Early life

Ball was born in Selkirk,

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

. He played junior with the Winnipeg Rangers and

Brandon Wheat Kings The Brandon Wheat Kings are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Brandon, Manitoba. They are members of the Western Hockey League (WHL) since joining the league in the 1967–68 season. Previously, they played in the Manitoba Junior Hocke ...

, and

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

Career

In 1963–64, Ball played eight games with the

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 (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

of the Western Hockey League, but finished the season in junior. He played one further season in junior, with Kitchener and signed underage 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 ...

. In 1964–65, Ball moved on to minor professional leagues, with the Minnesota Rangers. Ball remained in the New York Rangers farm system until 1967, when he was claimed in the expansion draft by Philadelphia. He played one game for the Flyers, but spent the rest of the season with their Quebec Aces affiliate. Ball played full-time in the NHL in 1969–70 with the Flyers, before being traded in the off-season to 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 ...

. Ball did not play in the NHL for the Penguins, and was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in 1971. Ball was a European scout for the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

during the 1970s.Oilers name Lunde as European scout
/ref> Ball was chosen by the

Minnesota Fighting Saints The Minnesota Fighting Saints was the name of two professional ice hockey teams based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that played in the World Hockey Association. The first team was one of the WHA's original twelve franchises, playing from 1972 to 19 ...

in the 1972 general draft, and he signed with them. Ball played three seasons with Minnesota before being claimed by 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 ...

in 1975. Ball played one season with Cleveland before being traded to the

Cincinnati Stingers The Cincinnati Stingers were an ice hockey team based in Cincinnati that played in the World Hockey Association from 1975 to 1979 and in the Central Hockey League during the 1979–80 season. Their home arena was Riverfront Coliseum. They are t ...

. Ball was picked up by the Birmingham Bulls in 1976, and he split the season between the Bulls and the minors. In 1977, Ball signed with HIFK Helsinki, where he played two further seasons of hockey before ending his career. Ball was inducted into the

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...

in 2012.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and achievements

MJHL The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirteen teams all based ...

All-Star Team (1964) *

Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum for ice hockey in Manitoba, located on the main level of the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1985, when the first honoured members were named ...

(2011)

References

External links

* 1944 births Living people Amarillo Wranglers players Birmingham Bulls players Brandon Wheat Kings players Buffalo Sabres players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Canadian ice hockey defencemen Cincinnati Stingers players Cincinnati Swords players Cleveland Crusaders players Edmonton Oilers scouts HIFK (ice hockey) players Ice hockey people from Manitoba Kitchener Rangers players Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inductees Minnesota Fighting Saints players Minnesota Rangers players Oklahoma City Blazers (1965–1977) players Omaha Knights (CHL) players Philadelphia Flyers players Quebec Aces (AHL) players Salt Lake Golden Eagles (WHL) players Sportspeople from Selkirk, Manitoba St. Paul Rangers players Vancouver Canucks (WHL) players Winnipeg Rangers players {{Canada-icehockey-defenceman-1940s-stub