1971-72 O-Pee-Chee 215 Bill Fairbairn Hockey Card (Front)
1971-72 O-Pee-Chee 215 Bill Fairbairn Hockey Card (Back)
1971-72 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
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Card Notes
A strong skater, Bill is what coach Emile Francis describes as a fine positional hockey player who is solid on his feet, aggressive and hard to knock down. Suffered mononucleosis and missed much of 1970-71 season after setting a Ranger rookie record of 56 points the season before.
En Français
Bill est un bon patineur et, selon l’instructeur Emile Francis, il sait se placer en bonne position. Il est agressif et solide sur ses patins. Atteint de mononucléose, il manqua une bonne partie de la saison 1970-71. La saison précédente, il avail établi un record pour une recrue des Rangers en accumulant 56 points.
Details
Bill Fairbairn’s rookie 1969-70 NHL season with the New York Rangers came with a pair of four point games. His first was against the Oakland Seals, scoring one and assisting on three. His second was against the Boston Bruins on November 15, 1969 when he scored two and assisted on two more. His second goal of that 6-5 win was his first of five game winners that year.
That performance in 1969-70 placed him second in the voting for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. There was simply no way he was topping Tony Esposito‘s incredible performance in his rookie year with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Between 1968-69 and 1978-79, Bill Fairbairn played 658 regular season and 53 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and St. Louis Blues. He topped out with a career high of 30 goals with the Rangers in 1972-73.