Bill Lochead
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William Alexander "Whip" Lochead ( ;Mulvoy, Mark. "Bold Blades from Sea to Sea," ''Sports Illustrated'', February 25, 1974.
Retrieved December 5, 2020 born October 13, 1954 in
Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
) is a retired
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 and current hockey player agent. He started his junior hockey career in 1969–70 with the Sarnia Bees of OHA Western Jr. B league. In 1970-71 he established the current Western Jr. B goal scoring record of 72 goals in 42 games. Lochead was drafted 2nd overall to the OHA Oshawa Generals in 1971. He was then drafted 1st (9th overall) by the
Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
in the 1974 NHL draft. He was also selected 3rd (32nd overall) by the
Indianapolis Racers The Indianapolis Racers were a major league hockey team in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1974 to 1978. They competed in four full seasons before folding 25 games into the 1978–79 season. They played at Market Square Arena. They are o ...
in the 1974 WHA draft. He was known as Billy Lochead during his playing days in the NHL and was nicknamed "Whip".


Professional career


Minor league hockey

Lochead started his Jr. A career playing for the
Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...
of the
Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...
. He entered the league in 1971 but was slowed down by injuries at the beginning of the 1971–72 season. However, once healthy, Lochead started scoring, as he recorded 110 points with 56 goals in 1972–73 and 121 points with 57 goals in 1973–74 and was selected to the OHA second and first all-star teams in each of those seasons. The Detroit Red Wings drafted him with their first pick in 1974.


National hockey league

Lochead scored 16 goals as a rookie with the Wings in 1974–75 while playing on a line with
Bill Hogaboam William Harold "Hogi" Hogaboam (born May 9, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. His career began in 1970–71 as a member of the Central Hockey League's Omaha Knights, as he played in 63 games, scoring 12 goals, 30 points, ...
and
Nick Libett Lynn Nicholas Libett (born December 9, 1945) is a Canadian retired 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 t ...
. He continued to contribute as a role player for four and a half years which saw his point producing rise as Lochead gained confidence. He finally hit the 20-goal mark in the
1977–78 NHL season The 1977–78 NHL season was the 61st season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens won their third Stanley Cup in a row, defeating the Boston Bruins four games to two in the Stanley Cup Finals. League business Prior to the start ...
, helping the club to reach the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Playing on a line with
Dale McCourt Dale Allen McCourt, (born January 26, 1957), is a former professional ice hockey forward. He was drafted first overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1977 NHL amateur draft. Junior hockey McCourt played major junior in the Ontario Hockey Associ ...
and Paul Woods, the Red Wings defeated the
Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...
in the first round of the playoffs and Lochead scored two goals in the deciding 3–2 win at Olympia Stadium. His series winning goal is still remembered by many Red Wing fans. After missing the first two months of the 1978–79 NHL season due to a training camp knee injury, Lochead could not get his game back to the level of the previous season and he was claimed off waivers by the
Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...
on February 9, 1979. He would play the final 26 games of the season with Colorado. In the off-season he was traded to the New York Rangers but ended up appearing in only seven games that season as he spent most of the year with the
New Haven Nighthawks The New Haven Nighthawks were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1972 to 1992. They had affiliations with the Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Islanders (1972–1973), New York Rangers (19 ...
of 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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
. In the lower-tiered league he scored 46 goals and was placed on the AHL's first all-star team. Lochead contributed strongly to the Nighthawks in playoff scoring that year, but the team fell in the semi-finals to the eventual champion
Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...
. Lochead also won the "Minor League Player of the Year Award" that season.


International play

Beginning in 1980–81, Lochead decided to try his luck overseas. He joined the highest ice hockey league in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, the
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
. He joined Kolner EC and only played in 17 games before transferring to
ESV Kaufbeuren ESV Kaufbeuren (ESVK) is a professional ice hockey team based in Kaufbeuren, Germany. They currently play in DEL2 DEL2 (also known as DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany, below the '' Deutsche Eishockey Liga'' (DEL) and ah ...
. He finished out the season with 43 goals in 39 games and contributed 5 points in Kaufbeuren's short playoff run. During the off-season, Lochead was recognized as a player who knew the game and could excel if given the chance. He transferred to
EC Bad Nauheim Rote Teufel Bad Nauheim, also known as EC Bad Nauheim, is an ice hockey team in Bad Nauheim, Germany. They currently play in DEL2 DEL2 (also known as DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany, below the '' Deutsche Eishockey Li ...
for the 1981–82 season and did not disappoint. Lochead put up 66 goals and 34 assists in only 42 games. He was far and away the best scorer on the team and the league, but still Bad Nauheim failed to make the playoffs. Lochead would finish as the league leader in both goals and penalty minutes and earn the league
MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
award. Lochead would transfer in the off-season to
Mannheimer ERC The Adler Mannheim (English: ''Mannheim Eagles'', formerly Mannheimer ERC) is a professional ice hockey team of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest-level ice hockey league in Germany. The team is based in Mannheim, a city in the northern par ...
, one of the best teams in the league. He continued to score goals, but at a slower rate as Mannheim also featured scorers such as Manfred Wolf and Doug Berry and he was voted by the Mannheim fans as the team's MVP for 1982–83. Lochead stayed with the team until returning to Bad Nauheim EC for the 1984–85 season. Bad Nauheim was now in the lower-tiered 2nd Bundesliga and Lochead once again found his magical scoring touch. He played his last three years of hockey with the team and put up his best numbers to date in the 1985–86 season. In only 45 games, Lochead scored 71 goals and 49 assists for 120 points on the season. In the spring of 1986 he was chosen to play for the Dave King coached Team Canada in the Pravda Cup tournament in Leningrad (now St.Petersburg, Russia). After short stints with Chur of the
Schweizerischer Eishockeyverband The Swiss Ice Hockey Federation (SIHF) (german: Schweizerischer Eishockeyverband (SEHV), french: Ligue Suisse de Hockey sur Glace (LSHG), it, Federazione Svizzera di hockey su ghiaccio ) is the governing body of ice hockey in Switzerland, as recog ...
and the
Vienna Capitals Vienna Capitals are an Austrian professional ice hockey club that participate in the Erste Bank Hockey League. Founded in 2001, the Capitals play their home games in Vienna, Austria, at Albert Schultz Eishalle. In the 2004–05 season, the Capit ...
of the
Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...
, Lochead retired from the ice after the 1987–88 season.


Coaching career

Lochead decided to try his hand at coaching after retiring as a player. He filled in as a midseason replacement for ESC Wolfsburg in 1988 and remained with them the following season. He led the team to a 16–12–4 record in 1988–89. Lochead again crossed the Atlantic to coach for two teams in Switzerland within the Schweizerischer Eishockeyverband. After coaching Solothurn and Olten he returned to Germany to coach Sauerland Iserlohn ECD in the 1993–94 season. After one season with Sauerland he moved back into the top league of Germany, the
DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes th ...
. He was head coach of the
Ratinger Löwen Ratinger Lowen was an ice hockey team in Ratingen, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous ...
from the 1994–95 season until 1996–97. In 1995-96 Lochead led the team to a surprising 10th-place finish in the 18 team league with the smallest budget in the league. Unfortunately, the team was plagued with financial problems which affected the team's performance and he was let go after Ratingen found themselves as the worst team in the league in 1996–97. Lochead coached Kassel Huskies of the DEL to a .520 win percentage record in 1997–98. He ended his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Frankfurt Lions of the DEL in 1998–1999. He is now a successful hockey player agent living in Frankfurt Germany.


Awards and achievements

*OMJHL Second All-Star Team (1973) *OMJHL First All-Star Team (1974) *AHL First All-Star Team (1980), Minor League Player of the Year Award *Named 1st Bundesliga Deutschland MVP (1982) *Named 2nd Bundesliga Deutschland MVP, 1st All-Star Team (1986)


Career statistics


References


External links

*
Bill's Bio on Hockey Draft Central.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lochead, Bill 1954 births Adler Mannheim players Canadian ice hockey forwards Colorado Rockies (NHL) players Detroit Red Wings draft picks Detroit Red Wings players Deutsche Eishockey Liga coaches ECH Chur players Ice hockey people from Ontario Indianapolis Racers draft picks Kansas City Blues players ESV Kaufbeuren players Kölner Haie players Living people National Hockey League first-round draft picks New Haven Nighthawks players New York Rangers players Oshawa Generals players People from Lambton County Rote Teufel Bad Nauheim players Wiener EV players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Austria Canadian ice hockey coaches