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Billy Dea

{{short description|Canadian ice hockey player}}

{{use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| image = 1957 Topps Billy Dea.JPG

| image_size = 230px

| caption = Dea on a Topps hockey card from 1957

| played_for = Pittsburgh Penguins
Chicago Black Hawks
Detroit Red Wings
New York Rangers

| position = Centre

| shoots = Left

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 7

| weight_lb = 170

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1933|4|3|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

| career_start = 1964

| career_end = 1972

}}

William Fraser Dea (born April 3, 1933) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and head coach in the National Hockey League (NHL).{{Cite web|url=http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=1300|title=Billy Dea's hockey statistics profile|accessdate=2008-09-24|publisher=HockeyDB.com}} He played in the NHL from 1953 to 1971, and then served as a coach during the 1981–82 season.

Playing career

A minor league standout, Dea began his NHL career with a brief fourteen-game assignment with the New York Rangers during the 1953–54 season. On August 18, 1955, the Rangers traded the NHL rights to Dea and Aggie Kukulowicz to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Bronco Horvath and Dave Creighton.{{cite web|url=http://www.nhltradetracker.com/user/trade_list_by_player/Kukulowicz,Aggie|title=Aggie Kukulowicz trades|website=NHL Trade Tracker|access-date=2020-02-01}}

In 1957, he joined the Red Wings as a starting two-way forward. The next season, he was traded mid-season to the Chicago Black Hawks. For the next nine years, Dea would play exclusively in the American Hockey League, before expansion gave him another crack at the NHL. During the 1967–68 and 1968-69 campaigns, he was a regular on the Pittsburgh Penguins. He then returned to the Red Wings for an additional two years, ending his career with 67 goals and 54 assists in 397 games.{{cite web |url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=12422 |title=Legends of Hockey -- NHL Player Search -- Player -- Billy Dea |website=www.legendsofhockey.net |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925030804/http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=12422 |archive-date=2012-09-25}} In 1975, Dea became an assistant coach with the Red Wings.

Post-playing career

In retirement, Dea joined the Detroit front office. During the 1981–82 NHL season, he became the head coach as a mid-season replacement for Wayne Maxner. He currently serves as a scout for the Florida Panthers.

In 2017, he was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame.{{cite web |url=http://theahl.com/ahl-hall-of-fame-welcomes-class-of-2017 |title=AHL HALL OF FAME WELCOMES CLASS OF 2017 |publisher=AHL |date=January 30, 2017}}

Dea earned the nickname "Hard Rock" for his punishing style of play.{{Cite web |url=http://rangers.nhl.com/club/atrplayer.htm?id=8445855 |title=Billy Dea New York Rangers - 2013-2014 Stats - New York Rangers - All Time Roster |access-date=2013-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031225459/http://rangers.nhl.com/club/atrplayer.htm?id=8445855 |archive-date=2013-10-31 |url-status=dead }} He is an uncle to NHL defenceman James Wisniewski.{{cite web|url=http://www.foxsportsdetroit.com/06/24/11/Red-Wings-gameplan-about-to-be-implement/landing.html?blockID=534640 |title=Red Wings' gameplan about to be implemented |publisher=Fox Sports Detroit |author= |date=2011-06-24 |accessdate=2011-08-21}}

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

1949–50

| Lethbridge Native Sons

| WCJHL

| 29

2013334

| 10

4040
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1950–51

| Lethbridge Native Sons

| WCJHL

| 38

2522476

| —

————
1951–52

| Lethbridge Native Sons

| WCJHL

| 41

44297310

| —

————
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1952–53

| Saskatoon Quakers

| WHL

| 3

2130

| —

————
1952–53

| Lethbridge Native Sons

| WJHL

| 34

34215553

| 14

1292112
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1952–53

| Lethbridge Native Sons

| M-Cup

| —

————

| 11

114156
1953–54

| New York Rangers

| NHL

| 14

1122

| —

————
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1953–54

| Vancouver Canucks

| WHL

| 53

2113348

| 12

65114
1954–55

| Vancouver Canucks

| WHL

| 59

18133113

| 4

0110
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1955–56

| Edmonton Flyers

| WHL

| 70

29427114

| 3

2134
1956–57

| Detroit Red Wings

| NHL

| 69

15153014

| 5

2022
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1957–58

| Detroit Red Wings

| NHL

| 29

4486

| —

————
1957–58

| Chicago Black Hawks

| NHL

| 34

58134

| —

————
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1958–59

| Buffalo Bisons

| AHL

| 70

25457019

| 11

5494
1959–60

| Buffalo Bisons

| AHL

| 72

28265420

| —

————
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1960–61

| Buffalo Bisons

| AHL

| 72

35397410

| 4

1230
1961–62

| Buffalo Bisons

| AHL

| 70

30225217

| 11

0222
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1962–63

| Buffalo Bisons

| AHL

| 72

20123225

| 13

28100
1963–64

| Buffalo Bisons

| AHL

| 72

2516414

| —

————
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1964–65

| Buffalo Bisons

| AHL

| 72

21194015

| 9

3030
1965–66

| Buffalo Bisons

| AHL

| 70

32235517

| —

————
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1966–67

| Buffalo Bisons

| AHL

| 71

2539645

| —

————
1966–67

| Chicago Black Hawks

| NHL

| —

————

| 2

0002
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1967–68

| Pittsburgh Penguins

| NHL

| 73

1612286

| —

————
1968–69

| Pittsburgh Penguins

| NHL

| 66

108184

| —

————
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1969–70

| Baltimore Clippers

| AHL

| 7

0112

| —

————
1969–70

| Detroit Red Wings

| NHL

| 70

103136

| 4

0112
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1970–71

| Detroit Red Wings

| NHL

| 42

6392

| —

————
1970–71

| Fort Worth Wings

| CHL

| 26

8152310

| 4

0440
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1971–72

| Tidewater Wings

| AHL

| 72

77148

| —

————
bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | AHL totals

! 720 !! 248 !! 249 !! 497 !! 182

! 48 !! 11 !! 16 !! 27 !! 6

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | NHL totals

! 397 !! 67 !! 54 !! 121 !! 44

! 11 !! 2 !! 1 !! 3 !! 6

NHL coaching record

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
rowspan="2"|Teamrowspan="2"|Yearcolspan="6"|Regular seasoncolspan="1"|Post season
GWLTPtsFinishResult
Detroit Red Wings

| 1981-82

| 11 || 3 || 8 || 0 || 6 || 6th in Norris

| Missed playoffs

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{icehockeystats}}

{{s-start}}

{{succession box | before = Wayne Maxner | title = Head coach of the Detroit Red Wings | years = 1982 | after = Nick Polano}}

{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dea, Billy}}

Category:1933 births

Category:Living people

Category:Baltimore Clippers players

Category:Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players

Category:Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States

Category:Canadian ice hockey centres

Category:Canadian ice hockey coaches

Category:Chicago Blackhawks players

Category:Detroit Red Wings coaches

Category:Detroit Red Wings players

Category:Detroit Red Wings scouts

Category:Edmonton Flyers (WHL) players

Category:Ice hockey people from Edmonton

Category:New York Rangers players

Category:Pittsburgh Penguins players

Category:Saskatoon Quakers players

Category:Vancouver Canucks (WHL) players

Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen

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