Al Hill (ice hockey)

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| image =

| image_size = 230px

| position = Centre

| shoots = Left

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 1

| weight_lb = 175

| played_for = Philadelphia Flyers

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|04|22|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada

| draft = Undrafted

| career_start = 1976

| career_end = 1989

}}

Alan Douglas Hill (born April 22, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers from 1977 to 1988. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1976 to 1989, was spent in the American Hockey League.

Career

On February 14, 1977, Hill made his NHL debut for the Philadelphia Flyers and scored two goals and three assists in a 6–4 victory against the St. Louis Blues.{{cite web |last1=Meltzer |first1=Bill |title=Great Moments: Al Hill Makes Record-Breaking Debut |url=http://flyers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=436010 |website=Philadelphia Flyers |access-date=November 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105082159/http://flyers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=436010 |archive-date=November 5, 2011 |date=February 18, 2008}} Hill set the NHL record for most points (five) in a debut,{{efn|This excludes the five-goal games scored by Harry Hyland and Joe Malone on opening day of the inaugural 1917–18 NHL season.}} including scoring twice in the first period (0:36) and (11:33) against goaltender Yves Bélanger.{{cite web |title=Most Points, Rookie, First NHL Game |url=https://records.nhl.com/records/skater-records/scoring-by-a-rookie/most-points-rookie-first-game |website=records.nhl.com |access-date=November 10, 2023}}2016-2017 Philadelphia Flyers Daily Calendar, Date- January 19th, 2016. He retired from hockey after the 1988–89 AHL season.

Hill moved into coaching, first as an assistant coach with the Hershey Bears for one season before moving on to the Binghamton Rangers for five seasons.{{cite web |title=Al Hill at eliteprospects.com |url=https://www.eliteprospects.com/staff/5286/al-hill |website=www.eliteprospects.com |access-date=November 10, 2023}} Halfway through his third season as an assistant for Binghamton, he was promoted to the same role with the New York Rangers on January 17, 1993.{{cite web |last1=Frey |first1=Jennifer |title=HOCKEY; Rangers' Strategy Isn't Hard To Figure |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/18/sports/hockey-rangers-strategy-isn-t-hard-to-figure.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=November 10, 2023 |date=January 18, 1993 |quote=Also packing yesterday was Binghamton's assistant coach, AL HILL, who will join the Rangers in New York today as a new assistant coach, filling the vacancy left when COLIN CAMPBELL took over the Binghamton head-coaching job two weeks ago.}} Prior to the 1993–94 season he was named Binghamton’s head coach.{{cite web |title=TRANSACTIONS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/20/sports/transactions-223493.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=November 10, 2023 |date=August 20, 1993 |quote=NEW YORK RANGERS -- Named Al Hill coach of the Binghamton Rangers of the American Hockey League.}} The Rangers did not renew his contract following the 1994–95 season.{{cite web |title=JOB OPENING IN BINGHAMTON |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/1995/05/31/job-opening-in-binghamton/ |website=New York Daily News |access-date=November 10, 2023 |date=May 31, 1995}} Hill served as an associate coach with the IHL‘s Cincinnati Cyclones for the next two seasons.{{cite web |title=Transactions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/25/sports/transactions-651895.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=November 10, 2023 |date=August 25, 1995 |quote=CINCINNATI CYCLONES -- Named Al Hill associate coach.}} He resigned after one season as head coach of the UHL’s B.C. Icemen in order to return to the Flyers organization in 1998 as a pro scout, serving in that role until his retirement in 2023.{{cite web |title=Press-Republican 2 July 1998 — The NYS Historic Newspapers |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=prre19980702-01.1.16&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------- |website=nyshistoricnewspapers.org |access-date=November 10, 2023 |date=July 2, 1998 |quote=B.C. ICEMEN -- Announced the resignation of Al Hill, coach, to become a pro scout for the Philadelphia Flyers.}}{{cite web |last1=Maher |first1=Christopher |title=Flyers Overhaul Hockey Operations Staff |url=https://mahermediaco.hockey/2023/09/06/flyers-overhaul-hockey-operations-staff/ |website=Maher Media |access-date=November 10, 2023 |date=September 6, 2023}}

Career statistics

=Regular season and playoffs=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="5"\|Regular season ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="5"\|Playoffs
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM
1973–74 \| Nanaimo Clippers \| BCHL \| 64	29	41	70	60 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1974–75 \| Victoria Cougars \| WCHL \| 70	21	36	57	75 \| 12	5	2	7	21
1975–76 \| Victoria Cougars \| WCHL \| 68	26	40	66	172 \| 15	5	10	15	94
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1976–77 \| Philadelphia Flyers \| NHL \| 9	2	4	6	27 \| —	—	—	—	—
1976–77 \| Springfield Indians \| AHL \| 63	13	28	41	125 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1977–78 \| Philadelphia Flyers \| NHL \| 3	0	0	0	2 \| —	—	—	—	—
1977–78 \| Maine Mariners \| AHL \| 80	32	59	91	118 \| 12	2	7	9	49
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1978–79 \| Philadelphia Flyers \| NHL \| 31	5	11	16	28 \| 7	1	0	1	2
1978–79 \| Maine Mariners \| AHL \| 35	11	14	25	59 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1979–80 \| Philadelphia Flyers \| NHL \| 61	16	10	26	53 \| 19	3	5	8	19
1980–81 \| Philadelphia Flyers \| NHL \| 57	10	15	25	45 \| 12	2	4	6	18
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1981–82 \| Philadelphia Flyers \| NHL \| 41	6	13	19	58 \| 3	0	0	0	0
1982–83 \| Moncton Alpines \| AHL \| 78	22	22	44	78 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1983–84 \| Maine Mariners \| AHL \| 51	7	17	24	51 \| 17	6	12	18	22
1984–85 \| Hershey Bears \| AHL \| 73	11	30	41	77 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1985–86 \| Hershey Bears \| AHL \| 80	17	40	57	129 \| 18	2	6	8	52
1986–87 \| Philadelphia Flyers \| NHL \| 7	0	2	2	4 \| 9	2	1	3	0
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1986–87 \| Hershey Bears \| AHL \| 76	13	35	48	124 \| 5	0	1	1	2
1987–88 \| Philadelphia Flyers \| NHL \| 12	1	0	1	10 \| 1	0	1	1	4
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1987–88 \| Hershey Bears \| AHL \| 57	10	21	31	62 \| 10	1	6	7	12
1988–89 \| Hershey Bears \| AHL \| 62	13	20	33	63 \| 8	2	0	2	10
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| AHL totals ! 655 !! 149 !! 286 !! 435 !! 886 ! 70 !! 13 !! 32 !! 45 !! 147
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| NHL totals ! 221 !! 40 !! 55 !! 95 !! 227 ! 51 !! 8 !! 11 !! 19 !! 43