Bill Goldsworthy
Met Center fans never got tired of watching this guy's
post goal celebration, known to himself and fans as the "Goldy shuffle".
Bill Goldsworthy was unquestionably the first big North Star talent as well
as one of the league's emerging stars of the expansion era. In his first
season with Minnesota he led all NHL scorers in points in the 1967 playoffs.
He later became the first player to record 200 goals with a post '67 team.
He scored a club record of 48 goals in 1973-74 season that
stood for eight years before Dino Ciccerilli broke the mark. He was elected
to play in five All-Star games. He captained the Stars from 1974 to 1976. He
could play at both ends of the ice and unlike some stars of his day, Bill
was known as a solid team player. It was this very quality that helped him
to be selected on Team Canada's Summit Series team that defeated the
Russians in 1972.
As much ability as Bill possessed some say that he could
of been even better. Most of his best years were spent on talent depleted
squads with little or no depth. His off ice struggle with alcoholism was a
suspect contributor as well.
On February 15th, 1992 Bill's number
eight was retired in a memorable ceremony in front of a sell out crowd at
Met Center. Two years later he was diagnosed with Aids. On May 29th, 1996,
at the age of 51, Bill passed away. He died only a few miles from the
grounds where he entertained hockey audiences so well.
Career Statistics
Season
Team
Lge GP G A
Pts PIM
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1964-65 Boston Bruins
NHL 2 0 0
0 0
1965-66 Oklahoma-City Blazers
CPHL 22 2 5
7 65
1965-66 Boston Bruins
NHL 13 3 1
4 6
1966-67 Oklahoma-City Blazers
CPHL 11 4 1
5 14
1966-67 Buffalo Bison
AHL 22 9 11
20 42
1966-67 Boston Bruins
NHL 18 3 5
8 21
1967-68 Minnesota North Stars
NHL 68 14 19 33
68
1968-69 Memphis South Stars
CHL 6 4 0
4 6
1968-69 Minnesota North Stars
NHL 68 14 10 24
110
1969-70 Minnesota North Stars
NHL 75 36 29 65
89
1970-71 Minnesota North Stars
NHL 77 34 31 65
85
1971-72 Minnesota North Stars
NHL 78 31 31 62
59
1972-73 Minnesota North Stars
NHL 75 27 33 60
97
1973-74 Minnesota North Stars
NHL 74 48 26 74
73
1974-75 Minnesota North Stars
NHL 71 37 35 72
77
1975-76 Minnesota North Stars
NHL 68 24 22 46
47
1976-77 Minnesota North Stars
NHL 16 2 3
5 6
1976-77 New-York Rangers
NHL 61 10 12
22 43
1977-78 New-Haven Nighthawks
AHL 4 1 2
3 4
1977-78 Indianapolis Racers
WHA 32 8 10
18 10
1977-78 New-York Rangers
NHL 7 0
1 1 12
1978-79 Edmonton Oilers
WHA 17 4 2
6 14
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WHA Totals
49 12 12 24 24
NHL Totals
771 283 258 541 793
Data Courtesy of the Internet Hockey Database