Bill Fairbairn

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CanadaCanada  Bill Fairbairn Ice hockey player
Date of birth January 7, 1947
place of birth Brandon , Manitoba , Canada
Nickname Bulldog
size 178 cm
Weight 77 kg
position Right wing
Shot hand Right
Career stations
1963-1967 Brandon Wheat Kings
1967-1969 Omaha Knights
1969-1976 New York Rangers
1976-1977 Minnesota North Stars
1977-1988 St. Louis Blues

William John "Bill" Fairbairn (born January 7, 1947 in Brandon , Manitoba ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player . The right winger played a total of over 700 games for the New York Rangers , Minnesota North Stars and St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League between 1969 and 1978 . With the Rangers, with whom he spent most of his career, he reached the final for the Stanley Cup in the 1972 playoffs , but lost to the Boston Bruins there .

Career

Bill Fairbairn was born in Brandon and played in his youth exclusively for teams in his hometown, including the Brandon Bobcats and from the 1963/64 season for the Brandon Wheat Kings . With the Wheat Kings, where he formed a well-harmonizing attacking duo with the Swede Juha Widing , he took part in the game operations of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) and the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League , as the Western Canadian Hockey League as an overarching one League was only founded in 1967. During the 1966/67 season, in which he recorded 142 points in 55 games and was therefore elected to the MJHL Second All-Star Team , the attacker gained his first professional experience when he played for the Omaha Knights in the Central Professional Hockey League (CPHL) ran up. He also took part in his junior years twice in the Memorial Cup , where he reached the final in 1967 with the Port Arthur Marrs on loan and lost there against the Toronto Marlboros . In the CPHL, which was only to operate as the Central Hockey League (CHL) a little later , the Canadian subsequently established himself as a regular scorer, after 75 points from 68 games in the 1968/69 season he became the CHL Second All -Star team appointed.

In February 1969, Fairbairn made his debut for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League , which at the time was cooperating with the Omaha Knights as a farm team . With the Broadway Blueshirts he established himself at the beginning of the season 1969/70, where he got 56 scorer points in 76 games and thus led all rookies in the league. In the election for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the best newcomer to the NHL, the winger only finished second behind the goalkeeper and later Hall of Fame member Tony Esposito . In the course of the following years Fairbairn convinced with a constant offensive production, where he recorded his career best with 63 points in 1972/73. In addition, he reached the Stanley Cup finals with the Rangers in the 1972 playoffs , but lost 4-2 to the Boston Bruins there .

After declining performance in the 1975/76 season, Fairbairn was released in November 1976 together with Nick Beverley to the Minnesota North Stars , while in return Bill Goldsworthy moved to New York. He was active there for less than a year before joining the St. Louis Blues via the Waiver in October 1977 . There, too, the right winger only spent a full season before declaring his active career ended after five games in the 1978/79 season. In total, Fairbairn had completed 711 NHL games and recorded 458 points scorer.

Achievements and Awards

  • 1967 MJHL Second All-Star Team
  • 1969 CHL Second All-Star Team

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp T V Pt +/- SM Sp T V Pt +/- SM
1963/64 Brandon Wheat Kings MJHL 4th 1 1 2 2 - - - - - -
1964 Brandon Wheat Kings Memorial Cup 2 1 0 1 0
1964/65 Brandon Wheat Kings SJHL 55 28 31 59 26th 9 6th 5 11 11
1965/66 Brandon Wheat Kings SJHL 60 36 76 112 94 11 5 12 17th 6th
1966/67 Brandon Wheat Kings MJHL 55 60 82 142 75 13 12 18th 30th 33
1966/67 Omaha Knights CPHL 3 0 0 0 2 - - - - - -
1967 Port Arthur Marrs Memorial Cup 5 3 4th 7th 4th
1967/68 Omaha Knights CPHL 70 23 33 56 46 - - - - - -
1968/69 Omaha Knights CHL 68 28 47 75 62 7th 3 6th 9 9
1968/69 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 0 0 -1 0 - - - - - -
1969/70 New York Rangers NHL 76 23 23 56 +23 23 6th 0 1 1 +1 10
1970/71 New York Rangers NHL 56 7th 23 30th -1 32 3 0 0 0 ± 0 0
1971/72 New York Rangers NHL 78 22nd 37 59 +35 53 16 5 7th 12 +6 11
1972/73 New York Rangers NHL 78 30th 33 63 +37 23 10 1 8th 9 +4 2
1973/74 New York Rangers NHL 78 18th 44 62 +13 12 13 3 5 8th +2 6th
1974/75 New York Rangers NHL 80 24 37 61 +13 10 3 4th 0 4th ± 0 13
1975/76 New York Rangers NHL 80 13 15th 28 -14 8th - - - - - -
1976/77 New York Rangers NHL 9 1 2 3 +1 0 - - - - - -
1976/77 Minnesota North Stars NHL 51 9 20th 29 ± 0 2 2 0 1 1 -2 0
1977/78 Minnesota North Stars NHL 6th 0 1 1 -1 0 - - - - - -
1977/78 St. Louis Blues NHL 60 14th 16 30th -23 10 - - - - - -
1978/79 St. Louis Blues NHL 5 1 0 1 -2 0 - - - - - -
MJHL total 59 61 83 144 77 13 12 18th 30th 33
SJHL overall 115 64 107 171 120 20th 11 17th 28 17th
C (P) HL total 141 51 80 131 110 7th 3 6th 9 9
NHL overall 658 162 261 423 +80 173 53 13 22nd 35 +11 42

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Fairbairn, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fairbairn, William John (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Brandon , Manitoba , Canada