“One thing is for sure” says Hockey Night in Canada’s Don Cherry, “if Bill Sweeney was playing in the NHL today, he’d be in the top 10 scorers. I can guarantee that!”
Sweeney, who passed away in 1991 at the age of 53, is still a legend in the American Hockey League. He is the only player to ever lead the league in scoring three straight seasons, and is tied with two others as the only players to score more than 100 points in three straight years (and he accomplished it in the early 60’s when 100 points was almost unheard of).
Sweeney, a great playmaker with hands of silk, was the outstanding rookie in the AHL during the 1957 – 58 season; he was a first team allstar twice and a second team member once.
He is still 9th on the AHL’s all-time career scoring list with 294 goals, 510 assists for 804 points (he is 7th overall in career assists). Sweeney did have a brief stop in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers recording one goal in four games.
He will go down in history as one of the greatest playmakers in Guelph history.
Inducted into the Guelph Sports Hall of Fame May 8, 1995
