Al Hill (ice hockey)

Al Hill
Born (1955-04-22) April 22, 1955 (age 69)
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Philadelphia Flyers
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 1976–1989

Alan Douglas Hill (born April 22, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers from 1977 to 1988. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1976 to 1989, was spent in the American Hockey League.

Career

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On February 14, 1977, Hill made his NHL debut for the Philadelphia Flyers and scored two goals and three assists in a 6–4 victory against the St. Louis Blues.[1] Hill set the NHL record for most points (five) in a debut,[a] including scoring twice in the first period (0:36) and (11:33) against goaltender Yves Bélanger.[2][3] He retired from hockey after the 1988–89 AHL season.

Hill moved into coaching, first as an assistant coach with the Hershey Bears for one season before moving on to the Binghamton Rangers for five seasons.[4] Halfway through his third season as an assistant for Binghamton, he was promoted to the same role with the New York Rangers on January 17, 1993.[5] Prior to the 1993–94 season he was named Binghamton’s head coach.[6] The Rangers did not renew his contract following the 1994–95 season.[7] Hill served as an associate coach with the IHL‘s Cincinnati Cyclones for the next two seasons.[8] He resigned after one season as head coach of the UHL’s B.C. Icemen in order to return to the Flyers organization in 1998 as a pro scout, serving in that role until his retirement in 2023.[9][10]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1973–74 Nanaimo Clippers BCHL 64 29 41 70 60
1974–75 Victoria Cougars WCHL 70 21 36 57 75 12 5 2 7 21
1975–76 Victoria Cougars WCHL 68 26 40 66 172 15 5 10 15 94
1976–77 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 9 2 4 6 27
1976–77 Springfield Indians AHL 63 13 28 41 125
1977–78 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 3 0 0 0 2
1977–78 Maine Mariners AHL 80 32 59 91 118 12 2 7 9 49
1978–79 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 31 5 11 16 28 7 1 0 1 2
1978–79 Maine Mariners AHL 35 11 14 25 59
1979–80 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 61 16 10 26 53 19 3 5 8 19
1980–81 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 57 10 15 25 45 12 2 4 6 18
1981–82 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 41 6 13 19 58 3 0 0 0 0
1982–83 Moncton Alpines AHL 78 22 22 44 78
1983–84 Maine Mariners AHL 51 7 17 24 51 17 6 12 18 22
1984–85 Hershey Bears AHL 73 11 30 41 77
1985–86 Hershey Bears AHL 80 17 40 57 129 18 2 6 8 52
1986–87 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 7 0 2 2 4 9 2 1 3 0
1986–87 Hershey Bears AHL 76 13 35 48 124 5 0 1 1 2
1987–88 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 12 1 0 1 10 1 0 1 1 4
1987–88 Hershey Bears AHL 57 10 21 31 62 10 1 6 7 12
1988–89 Hershey Bears AHL 62 13 20 33 63 8 2 0 2 10
AHL totals 655 149 286 435 886 70 13 32 45 147
NHL totals 221 40 55 95 227 51 8 11 19 43

Notes

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  1. ^ This excludes the five-goal games scored by Harry Hyland and Joe Malone on opening day of the inaugural 1917–18 NHL season.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Meltzer, Bill (February 18, 2008). "Great Moments: Al Hill Makes Record-Breaking Debut". Philadelphia Flyers. Archived from the original on November 5, 2011. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Most Points, Rookie, First NHL Game". records.nhl.com. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  3. ^ 2016-2017 Philadelphia Flyers Daily Calendar, Date- January 19th, 2016.
  4. ^ "Al Hill at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  5. ^ Frey, Jennifer (January 18, 1993). "HOCKEY; Rangers' Strategy Isn't Hard To Figure". The New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2023. Also packing yesterday was Binghamton's assistant coach, AL HILL, who will join the Rangers in New York today as a new assistant coach, filling the vacancy left when COLIN CAMPBELL took over the Binghamton head-coaching job two weeks ago.
  6. ^ "TRANSACTIONS". The New York Times. August 20, 1993. Retrieved November 10, 2023. NEW YORK RANGERS -- Named Al Hill coach of the Binghamton Rangers of the American Hockey League.
  7. ^ "JOB OPENING IN BINGHAMTON". New York Daily News. May 31, 1995. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  8. ^ "Transactions". The New York Times. August 25, 1995. Retrieved November 10, 2023. CINCINNATI CYCLONES -- Named Al Hill associate coach.
  9. ^ "Press-Republican 2 July 1998 — The NYS Historic Newspapers". nyshistoricnewspapers.org. July 2, 1998. Retrieved November 10, 2023. B.C. ICEMEN -- Announced the resignation of Al Hill, coach, to become a pro scout for the Philadelphia Flyers.
  10. ^ Maher, Christopher (September 6, 2023). "Flyers Overhaul Hockey Operations Staff". Maher Media. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
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