William Robert Baker (born November 29, 1956) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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 l ...

who played 143 regular season games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

between 1980 and 1983.

Playing career

College career

Bill Baker attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and was team captain for the 1978-1979 season. He was originally selected 54th overall by the

in the 1976 NHL Entry Draft. Baker is best known for being a member of the

Miracle on Ice The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. It was played between the hosting United States and the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, during the medal round of the men's ice hockey t ...

1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that won the

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in Lake Placid, NY. Specifically, he is known for scoring the tying goal as the extra skater in the final minute forcing a 2–2 tie with Sweden in the opening game. This tie allowed the team to eventually advance to the medal round. Baker's jersey from the famed "Miracle On Ice" is on display at the Smithsonian in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, U.S. along with a stick autographed by all the members of the team.

Professional career

He joined the Canadiens after the Olympics, and was later traded to the

in 1981. He also played for Team USA at the 1981

Ice Hockey World Championship The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the E ...

and

1981 Canada Cup The 1981 Labatt Canada Cup was the second best-on-best ice hockey world championship and involved the world's top six hockey nations. Tournament games were held in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Ottawa. The Soviet Union defeated Canada in a s ...

tournaments. Colorado later traded him to the

in exchange for

Joe Micheletti Joseph Robert Micheletti (born October 24, 1954) is an American ice hockey analyst and reporter, and a former defenseman who played in 142 World Hockey Association (WHA) games with the Calgary Cowboys and Edmonton Oilers between 1977 and 1979, a ...

and Dick Lamby. Baker spent the full 1982–83 season with the

. He spent the 1983-84 season in the CHL playing for the eventual league championships, the

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tulsa ...

coached by Tom Webster. He played 59 regular season games for Tulsa Oilers, but was not with team during post-season.

Awards and achievements

* CHL Adams Cup: 1984 (Tulsa Oilers)

International play

* 1980 Winter Olympics,

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...

* Ice Hockey World Championships, 1979 and 1981 * 1981 Canada Cup

In popular culture

In a

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

TV movie about the gold medal-winning hockey team entitled ''

'', Baker is played by David Wallace. In the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

film ''

Miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

'', he is portrayed by Nick Postle.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Bill Baker's bio at hockeydraftcentral
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Bill 1956 births 1980 US Olympic ice hockey team AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey defensemen Colorado Rockies (NHL) players Fort Worth Texans players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Ice hockey players at the 1980 Winter Olympics Living people Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens players New England Whalers draft picks New York Rangers players Nova Scotia Voyageurs players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in ice hockey Sportspeople from Grand Rapids, Minnesota St. Louis Blues players Tulsa Oilers (1964–1984) players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions