William Ronald Plager (July 6, 1945 — January 3, 2016) was a Canadian 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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. Plager started his

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 ...

(NHL) career 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 ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

. He also played for the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

and

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

. He left the NHL after the

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

season.

Personal life

Before playing in the

, Plager played for the

Peterborough Petes The Peterborough Petes are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The team has played at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, since 1956, and is the oldest continuously operating team in the league. ...

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

, where he met his wife Donna Hickey. After retiring from the NHL, Plager returned to Peterborough with Donna, sons William Jr., Brett and daughter Dara. Plager is the brother of former NHL players/coaches

Bob Plager Robert Bryant Plager (March 11, 1943 – March 24, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 14 seasons from 1964 until 1978, primarily for the St. Louis Blues. Plager spent over ha ...

and Barclay Plager. All three played together for four seasons with the

. Plager retired from hockey and became a manager at

Quaker Oats The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and launched a national ad ...

Peterborough plant and was head coach of Atom B/C IceKats, girls hockey teams in the Peterborough Girls Hockey Association. He died on January 3, 2016.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Transactions

* Traded to Minnesota by Montreal with the rights to

Barrie Meissner Barrie Michael Meissner (born July 26, 1946) is a Canadian former ice hockey player. He played 6 games in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota North Stars during the 1967–68 and 1968–69 seasons. The rest of his career, which lasted ...

and Leo Thiffault for Bryan Watson, June 6, 1967. * Claimed by NY Rangers from Minnesota in Intra-League Draft, June 12, 1968. * Traded to St. Louis by NY Rangers with

Camille Henry Joseph Wilfred Camille "The Eel" Henry (January 31, 1933 – September 11, 1997) was a Canadian professional Canadian ice hockey left winger/centre who played for the New York Rangers, the Chicago Black Hawks and the St. Louis Blues in the Natio ...

and Robbie Irons for Don Caley and

Wayne Rivers Wayne Rivers (born February 1, 1942) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 108 games in the National Hockey League and 357 games in the World Hockey Association. During the 1977–78 season, Rivers coached the San Franci ...

, June 13, 1968. * Claimed by Atlanta from St. Louis in Expansion Draft, June 6, 1972. * Claimed by Minnesota from Atlanta in Intra-League Draft, June 12, 1973.

Awards and achievements

* AHL Second All-Star Team (1975)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Plager, Bill 1945 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Atlanta Flames players Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Denver Spurs (WHL) players Erie Blades players Houston Apollos players Ice hockey people from Kirkland Lake Kansas City Blues (ice hockey) players Memphis South Stars players Minnesota North Stars players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States New Haven Nighthawks players Peterborough Petes (ice hockey) players St. Louis Blues players