Playing career

Barber was drafted by the Flyers 7th in the first round of the 1972 draft. He was called up after only 11 games in the AHL with the Richmond Robins. In his first season with the Flyers Barber scored 30 goals and 34 assists and was a contender for the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year.

Barber was converted to left wing by coach Fred Shero. He scored at least 20 goals every season. His best season was 50 goals and 62 assists in the 1975-76 season. In the Flyers' successful 1974 and 1975 Stanley Cup playoff campaigns, Barber contributed six goals in each, 15 and 13 points respectively. In addition to his respectable scoring abilities, Barber was also a well rounded player. On a power play he was equally valuable for setting up the play as he was at pulling the trigger. And if forced into a defensive role, he was capable. Barber said of himself, "I want to be remembered as being capable of doing my job day in and day out, not just as a goal scorer, but as a good all-around player for every kind of situation."

In the 1976 Canada Cup, Barber scored one of his most famous goals while playing for Team Canada. Behind in the final against Czechoslovakia, Barber scored to send the game into overtime, and an eventual Team Canada victory.

He was a team leader for the next decade. In 1979-80, the Flyers had their record 35 game unbeaten streak, and Barber was in the centre of it all. He helped the Flyers reach the Stanley Cup Finals in the spring of 1980 with a number of key playoff goals against the NY Rangers and Minnesota North Stars.

Barber captained the Flyers in the 1981-82 season and part of 1982-83. As of the end of the 2012-2013 season, he still holds the Flyers regular season career scoring record with 420 goals. He is tied for the lead for Flyers career playoff goal with Rick MacLeish; both have 53 playoff tallies.

Coaching career

After his playing career, Barber started coaching. He coached the Hershey Bears for 16 games in 1985. He was the Flyers assistant coach between 1985-1988. After coaching the Flyers farm team (Phantoms) for 4 years, he was hired by the Flyers to be the head coach of the NHL club. Barber won the Jack Adams Award in 2001 as coach of the year. The awards ceremony was in Toronto, on live national television, and many Toronto Maple Leaf fans were in attendance. When Barber's name was announced as the winner, many Leaf fans booed the selection. Barber handled it with grace and made a joke about the popularity of the Flyers in Toronto. He was fired in 2002, and has since stopped coaching.

Retirement

Barber was forced to retire as a player after the 1984-85 season after being unable to return from reconstructive knee surgery in the spring of 1984.

The Flyers retired his number, 7, on October 7, 1990, just after he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. After his playing career he would coach the Flyers from December 2000 until April 2002, winning the Jack Adams Trophy after 2000-01. He also coached the Flyers' AHL affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms, to their first Calder Cup victory in 1998. He was the Director of Player Personnel for the Tampa Bay Lightning, a position he held from August 2002 to June 2008. Barber's name was added to the Stanley Cup for a third time in 2004 with Tampa Bay. On October 13, 2008, he returned to the Flyers organization when he was named a scouting consultant.

On September 25, 2010, his hometown of Callander, Ontario opened the Bill Barber Sports Complex in his honour.

Barber and his late wife, Jenny have two children, Brooks and Kerri. Jenny Barber died from lung cancer in 2001.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1967-68	North Bay Trappers	NOJHA		34	18	35	53	44		—	—	—	—	—
1968-69	North Bay Trappers	NOJHA		48	32	38	70	100		—	—	—	—	—
1969-70	Kitchener Rangers	OHA-Jr.		54	37	49	86	42		8	5	10	15	22
1970-71	Kitchener Rangers	OHA-Jr.		61	46	59	105	129		4	2	3	5	2
1971-72	Kitchener Rangers	OHA-Jr.		62	44	63	107	89		5	2	7	9	6
1972-73	Richmond Robins	AHL		11	9	5	14	4		2	0	0	0	2
1972-73	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		69	30	34	64	46		11	3	2	5	22
1973-74	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		75	34	35	69	54		17	3	6	9	18
1974-75	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		79	34	37	71	66		17	6	9	15	8
1975-76	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		80	50	62	112	104		16	6	7	13	18
1976-77	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		73	20	35	55	62		10	1	4	5	2
1977-78	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		80	41	31	72	34		12	6	3	9	2
1978-79	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		79	34	46	80	22		8	3	4	7	10
1979-80	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		79	40	32	72	17		19	12	9	21	23
1980-81	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		80	43	42	85	69		12	11	5	16	0
1981-82	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		80	45	44	89	85		4	1	5	6	4
1982-83	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		66	27	33	60	28		3	1	1	2	2
1983-84	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		63	22	32	54	36		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				903	420	463	883	623		129	53	55	108	109

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1976	Canada	CC		7	2	0	2	4
1979	NHL All-Stars	Ch-Cup		3	0	1	1	0
1982	Canada	WC		10	8	1	9	10
Senior totals				20	10	2	12	14

All-Star Games

Year	Location		G	A	P
1975	Montreal		0	0	0
1976	Philadelphia		0	0	0
1978	Buffalo		1	0	1
1980	Detroit		0	0	0
1981	Los Angeles		1	1	2
1982	Washington		0	0	0
All-Star totals			2	1	3

Coaching record

NHL

Team	Year	Regular season							Post season
		G	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	Finish	Result
PHI	2000-01	54	31	13	7	3	(100)	2nd in Atlantic	Lost in first round
PHI	2001-02	82	42	27	10	3	97	1st in Atlantic	Lost in first round
Total		136	73	40	17	6

AHL

Team	Year	Regular season							Post season
		G	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	Finish	Result
HER	1984-85	16	6	9	1	0	(63)	6th in South	Out of Playoffs
PHI	1996-97	80	49	18	13	3	111	1st in Mid-Atlantic	Lost in second round
PHI	1997-98	80	47	21	12	2	106	1st in Mid-Atlantic	Won Championship
PHI	1998-99	80	47	22	9	2	105	1st in Mid-Atlantic	Lost in third round
PHI	1999-00	80	44	31	3	2	93	3rd in Mid-Atlantic	Lost in first round
Total		336	193	101	38	9

Awards

Award	Year(s)
Calder Cup champion	1998
Class Guy Award (Philadelphia Flyers team award)	1981
Jack Adams Award	2001
NHL First All-Star Team	1976
NHL Second All-Star Team	1979, 1981
Stanley Cup champion	1974, 1975, 2004

[ Source: Wikipedia ]