Bill Sutherland, Canadian ice hockey player, Died at 82

  Sports

William Fraser Sutherland was born on November 10, 1934, and died on April 9, 2017.

Sutherland was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and a former National Hockey League (NHL) coach.

Sutherland scored the first goal in Philadelphia Flyers history.

He played two seasons with the St. Boniface Canadiens of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, scoring 60 points in 25 games during the 1954-55 season.

After that Bill embarked on a long minor league career, serving stints with the Cincinnati Mohawks, Montreal Royals, Cleveland Barons, and Quebec Aces.

Sutherland made his NHL debut in 1963, playing two playoff games after a series of injuries to the Montreal Canadiens forward unit.

After his retirement, he was involved with sports broadcasting until his hiring by the Jets as an assistant coach in 1979.

After Tom McVie was sacked with three games left in the 1979-80 season, Sutherland became head coach.

However, he was fired after 29 games into the next campaign.

Bill Sutherland passed away at 87 years old.