Bill Butters (born January 10, 1951) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. He played in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

from 1975 to 1978 and then in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

from 1978 to 1979. After his playing career Butters became a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, serving as an assistant coach for several years with the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and then coaching at the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

and high school levels.

Life and career

Butters was born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

on January 10, 1951, and played high school hockey at

White Bear Lake White Bear Lake may refer to: Canada * White Bear (Carlyle) Lake United States *White Bear Lake (Minnesota), a lake in Ramsey and Washington counties in Minnesota *White Bear Lake, Minnesota, a city in Ramsey County **White Bear Lake Area High Sch ...

, Minnesota. He played for the

from 1971–73, coached by

Glen Sonmor Glen Robert Sonmor (April 22, 1929 – December 14, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, scout and coach. He played 28 games in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers from 1953 to 1955, though most of his career was ...

and

Herb Brooks Herbert Paul Brooks (August 5, 1937 – August 11, 2003) was an American ice hockey player and coach (ice hockey), coach. His most notable achievement came in Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics, 1980 as head coach of the gold medal-winning Un ...

, and he served as team captain in 1972-73. Butters went on to play 217 games in the

for the

Minnesota Fighting Saints The Minnesota Fighting Saints was the name of two professional ice hockey teams based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that played in the World Hockey Association. The first team was one of the WHA's original twelve franchises, playing from 1972 to 1976 ...

, Houston Aeros,

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

and

New England Whalers New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, followed by 72 games in the

with the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

. In 1980, after retiring as a player, Butters became involved the Christian Hockey Camps International, run by Hockey Ministries International. From 2010 to 2012, Butters was an assistant coach with the University of Wisconsin Badgers. Butters stepped down from this position in order to return to work with the Ministries.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1951 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen Edmonton Oilers (WHA) players Houston Aeros (WHA) players Ice hockey people from Saint Paul, Minnesota Minnesota Fighting Saints players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Minnesota North Stars players New England Whalers players Oklahoma City Blazers (1965–1977) players Oklahoma City Stars players Undrafted National Hockey League players {{US-icehockey-defenceman-stub