William Anthony Derlago (born August 25, 1958) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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

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 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

with the

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

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

and

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

. Derlago was born in Birtle, Manitoba, but grew up in Beulah, Manitoba.

Career

Growing up, Derlago excelled at multiple sports, including

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, and hockey. He achieved best success with ice hockey, playing with the

Brandon Wheat Kings The Brandon Wheat Kings are a Canadians, Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Brandon, Manitoba. Founded in 1936, the team was for three decades a successful junior team playing principally in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Whe ...

and setting a number of WCJHL records. He was selected fourth overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft. As a rookie with the Canucks in 1978–79, Derlago badly injured his knee and was limited to just nine games, though he did score eight points. Though he played well in Vancouver, he was unable to live up to team expectations, and was traded to Toronto along with

Rick Vaive Richard Claude Vaive (; born May 14, 1959) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the final season of the World Hockey Association (WHA) and played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to 1992. While with the T ...

for

Tiger Williams David James "Tiger" Williams (born February 3, 1954) is a Canadian former professional sports, professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1974–75 NHL season, 1974 to 1987–88 NHL season, 1988. He played ...

and

Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (December 8, 1939 – February 20, 2025) was an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, who were inducted into the Rock and ...

on February 18, 1980. In Toronto, Derlago, raised to a star status, worked particularly well with Vaive. Though successful on the ice, it was speculated that Derlago could have achieved more. On October 11, 1985, Derlago was traded to the Boston Bruins for Tom Fergus. In Boston, he played as a defensive forward on the third and fourth line. After only 39 games in Boston he was again traded, this time to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Wade Campbell. In the later stages of his career Derlago was sent to the Quebec Nordiques in 1987. Finally, Derlago was relegated to the

Fredericton Express The Fredericton Express were a professional ice hockey team based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. They played in the American Hockey League between 1981 and 1988. The Express were affiliated with the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks of ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

. Derlago spent one additional season in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

before announcing his retirement in 1988. Derlago currently resides in

Concord, Ontario Concord is a suburban industrial district in the Vaughan, City of Vaughan in Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, York Region, located north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. According to the Canada 2001 Census, 2001 Census, Concord has 8,255 resi ...

, and operates a

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

dealership.

Career statistics

Awards and achievements

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

: WCHL Scoring Champion *1977: WCHL First All-Star Team *1977: WCHL Goals Leader *

: WCHL Goals Leader *1978: WCHL Second All-Star Team *"Honoured Member" of the

Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum for ice hockey in Manitoba, located on the main level of the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1985, when the first honoured members were named ...

References

External links

*
Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derlago, Bill 1958 births Living people Boston Bruins players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Brandon Travellers players Brandon Wheat Kings players Canadian ice hockey centres Dallas Black Hawks players Fredericton Express players HC Ambrì-Piotta players Ice hockey people from Manitoba NHL first-round draft picks Quebec Nordiques players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Toronto Maple Leafs players Vancouver Canucks draft picks Vancouver Canucks players Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) players