HHOF Chairman Bill Hay addresses the crowd prior to the 2005 Hockey Hall of Fame Legends Classic between Team Canada and Team Russia at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, ON. Canada on November 6, 2005.
photo: © HHOF Images / Dave Sandford
Bill Hay, longtime Chairman and CEO of the Hockey Hall of Fame, died today at the age of 88. He was a player in the NHL and an executive with Hockey Canada, and an important part of the reason the Hockey Hall of Fame partnered with the IIHF to create an international zone at the HHOF museum in Toronto.
“He was an elegant player, and I admired him greatly,” said IIHF President Luc Tardif. “He played for Chicago, which was my favourite team growing up. It was thanks to him the IIHF developed such a strong bond with the Hockey Hall of Fame and created the international zone at the museum in Toronto. His contributions to the game will carry on for a long time. Our sympathies go out to his family at this time.”
A native of Saskatoon, Hay made a sensational entry into the NHL in 1959-60 with the Chicago Black Hawks. Playing on the Million Dollar Line with Bobby Hull and Murray Balfour, Hay won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie. A year later, he helped the Hawks end Montreal’s historic run of five consecutive Stanley Cups, bringing the Cup to the Windy City for the first time since 1938.
“Bill Hay was born into a hockey family, won the Stanley Cup as a player, and then devoted his post-playing career to growing the game at all levels and honouring its brightest stars,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “The National Hockey League family mourns his passing and sends our deepest condolences to his family and many friends throughout the hockey world.”
Hay retired from the game as a player at age 31, after only eight seasons, in order to pursue a career in oil. He was tremendously successful, but he always maintained close ties to hockey, first as CEO with the Calgary Flames and later with Hockey Canada. Indeed, Hay and Murray Costello helped negotiate the merger of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and Hockey Canada in the mid-1990s, creating one body to oversee all hockey in the country. It was under Hay that Hockey Canada created the Program of Excellence, which to this day drives the organization’s mandate.
In 1980, Hay was named to the HHOF’s Selection Committee, a role he held until 1997 when he became Chairman and CEO. He filled the latter two roles until his retirement in 2013. He was also part of the Hall’s Board of Directors from 1995 until 2013. In 2015, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Builder, joining his father, Charles, who had been inducted in 1973, and in 2021 he was named to the Order of Hockey in Canada.
Under Hay’s guidance, the HHOF underwent two large renovations at its home in downtown Toronto, expanding its square footage significantly and including an international zone to promote the IIHF and its now-84 member nations. He also moved the Resource Centre from its increasingly cramped quarters at the Hall to a massive facility at the MasterCard Centre in the city’s west end, ensuring years of safe storage and easy access for the millions of artifacts collected by the Hall over the decades.
“He was an elegant player, and I admired him greatly,” said IIHF President Luc Tardif. “He played for Chicago, which was my favourite team growing up. It was thanks to him the IIHF developed such a strong bond with the Hockey Hall of Fame and created the international zone at the museum in Toronto. His contributions to the game will carry on for a long time. Our sympathies go out to his family at this time.”
A native of Saskatoon, Hay made a sensational entry into the NHL in 1959-60 with the Chicago Black Hawks. Playing on the Million Dollar Line with Bobby Hull and Murray Balfour, Hay won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie. A year later, he helped the Hawks end Montreal’s historic run of five consecutive Stanley Cups, bringing the Cup to the Windy City for the first time since 1938.
“Bill Hay was born into a hockey family, won the Stanley Cup as a player, and then devoted his post-playing career to growing the game at all levels and honouring its brightest stars,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “The National Hockey League family mourns his passing and sends our deepest condolences to his family and many friends throughout the hockey world.”
Hay retired from the game as a player at age 31, after only eight seasons, in order to pursue a career in oil. He was tremendously successful, but he always maintained close ties to hockey, first as CEO with the Calgary Flames and later with Hockey Canada. Indeed, Hay and Murray Costello helped negotiate the merger of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and Hockey Canada in the mid-1990s, creating one body to oversee all hockey in the country. It was under Hay that Hockey Canada created the Program of Excellence, which to this day drives the organization’s mandate.
In 1980, Hay was named to the HHOF’s Selection Committee, a role he held until 1997 when he became Chairman and CEO. He filled the latter two roles until his retirement in 2013. He was also part of the Hall’s Board of Directors from 1995 until 2013. In 2015, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Builder, joining his father, Charles, who had been inducted in 1973, and in 2021 he was named to the Order of Hockey in Canada.
Under Hay’s guidance, the HHOF underwent two large renovations at its home in downtown Toronto, expanding its square footage significantly and including an international zone to promote the IIHF and its now-84 member nations. He also moved the Resource Centre from its increasingly cramped quarters at the Hall to a massive facility at the MasterCard Centre in the city’s west end, ensuring years of safe storage and easy access for the millions of artifacts collected by the Hall over the decades.