Billy Reay

Career

Reay began playing hockey at a young age in Winnipeg, making the St. Boniface Seals in 1937. The Detroit Red Wings signed him as a free agent in 1939. In 1942, at age 24, he became player-coach of the Quebec Aces in the Quebec senior league. He made spot appearances with the Red Wings before being traded to the Montreal Canadiens before the 1945-46 season for Ray Getliffe and Rolly Rossignol. With Montreal, Reay played primarily on the second line behind Elmer Lach and recorded several 40-point seasons. He won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1946 and 1953. In 479 regular-season games, he scored 105 goals and 267 points; in 63 playoff games, he had 13 goals and 29 points. His final NHL game as a player was the 1953 Stanley Cup win. From 1953 to 1955, Reay was player-coach for the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League, then retired as a player to coach the Seattle Americans in 1955-56. He coached one season with the first-year Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. In 1957, he became head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who finished last in the six-team league. Midway through the 1958-59 season, first-year general manager Punch Imlach fired Reay. Reay then became a minor league coach in the Chicago Black Hawks system, starting with the Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds of the Eastern Professional Hockey League in 1960-61. He coached the AHL Buffalo Bisons from 1961 to 1963, winning the Calder Cup in 1963, and was hired to succeed Rudy Pilous as Chicago's head coach on June 10, 1963. Reay remained in that position for fourteen years, leading the Black Hawks to three Stanley Cup Finals (1965, 1971, and 1973) but never winning the Cup. In 1966-67, his fourth year, the Hawks achieved the league's best record for the first time in their 41-year history. On Christmas Eve 1976, Reay was fired after a slow start, reportedly via a note left under his door. He is the franchise's all-time leader in wins (516) and years coached (14).