Bart Crashley (born June 15, 1946) is a
Canadian former professional
ice hockey defenceman who played 148 games in the
National Hockey League and 140 games in the
World Hockey Association. He played for the
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
,
Los Angeles Sharks,
Kansas City Scouts, and
Los Angeles Kings between 1965 and 1976.
Playing career
Crashley was promising rushing defenceman in his rookie year of 1967–68 with Detroit where he wore jersey #15 and was paired with
Gary Bergman. His style of play was not encouraged by coach
Sid Abel who reportedly instructed Crashley to not carry the puck past his own blueline. Crashley was subsequently traded to Montreal where he played in their farm system.
Crashley was selected by the
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...
in 1972 expansion draft, but opted to join
Los Angeles Sharks of the
World Hockey Association, spending two seasons there. He returned to the NHL in 1974 with the expansion
Kansas City Scouts, wearing #4. He returned to Detroit via a trade halfway through that season where he again wore #4. Went to the
Los Angeles Kings along with
Marcel Dionne in a blockbuster trade. He played four games for the Kings, spending most of the season in the minor leagues.
After two more seasons in the minors Crashley went to Austria, where he served as
player-coach of
Villacher SV during the
1979–80 season. He retired from playing and coached full time, though returned to play in 1983 with
Innsbrucker EV for two seasons before retiring for good in 1985.
Post-playing career
After retiring from playing in 1980 Crashley became a coach in the
Austrian Hockey League
The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...
, and served as player-coach during his comeback from 1983 to 1985. He coached in Austria until 1993. In 1998–99 he was the assistant coach of the
Guelph Storm of the
Ontario Hockey League, and in 2007–08 coached the
Couchiching Terriers of the
Ontario Junior Hockey League. He also coached of the
Campbellford Rebels
The Campbellford Rebels are a Canadian Junior ice hockey team based in Campbellford, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Tod Division of the Provincial Junior Hockey League, and were formerly members of the Empire B Junior C Hockey League of the ...
of the
Empire B Junior C Hockey League in 2012–13.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
External links
*
1946 births
Living people
Binghamton Dusters players
Canadian ice hockey coaches
Canadian ice hockey defencemen
Detroit Red Wings players
EC VSV players
Fort Worth Texans players
Fort Worth Wings players
Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) players
Innsbrucker EV players
Kansas City Scouts players
Los Angeles Kings players
Los Angeles Sharks players
Memphis Wings players
Montreal Voyageurs players
Pittsburgh Hornets players
Ice hockey people from Toronto
Springfield Indians players
{{Canada-icehockey-defenceman-1940s-stub