Bill Fairbairn
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
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
- Bill Fairbairn in the database of the National Hockey League (English)
- Bill Fairbairn at eliteprospects.com (English)
- Bill Fairbairn at legendsofhockey.net (English)
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 |