1969-70 O-Pee-Chee 145 Bill Hicke Hockey Card (Front)
1969-70 O-Pee-Chee 145 Bill Hicke Hockey Card (Back)
1969-70 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
Card Notes
Last season finally turned out to be the big one that had been long predicted for Bill Hicke. It was his best ever. One of the NHL’s fastest skaters. He’s a right winger, but shoots from the left hand side.
En Français
La saison dernière est finalement devenue “la saison” qu’on avait prédit pour Bill Hicke. Ce fut sa meilleure. Un des plus rapides patineurs de la LHN, il est ailier droit mais lance du côté gauche.
Details
Unfortunately for Bill Hicke, the stats he put up in 1968-69 would remain his best ever. He played his final games in the NHL just three years later, with 12 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1971-72. He played a full season with the Alberta Oilers in the World Hockey Association in 1972-73 before calling it a career.
Expectations were high with Hicke right from his first year of pro hockey, 1958-59. After a stellar junior career with the Regina Pats, Bill burst onto the scene with the Rochester Americans in the AHL.
In his rookie pro season, Hicke scored 41 and assisted on 56 for 97 points with the Amerks. He took the American Hockey League triple crown, winning the Dudley Red Garrett Memorial Award as rookie of the year, the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL’s top scorer and the Les Cunningham Award and most valuable player.
In 1958-59, he also saw his first NHL action, in the form of a single playoff game with the Montreal Canadiens. He would go on to play 43 regular season and seven playoff games the following season for the Habs. In both those years, Montreal won the Stanley Cup championship.
In all, Bill Hicke played in 729 regular season and 42 playoff games in the National Hockey League between 1958-59 and 1971-72 with the Canadiens, Rangers, Golden Seals and Penguins. On November 22, 1971, Hicke was traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Detroit Red Wings but never played with that NHL club.