Okay, not really. Back in 1973-74 and 1974-75, when O-Pee-Chee produced their ‘leaders’ cards, they set the cards up with each leader from the Eastern Division and Western Division on the front of the card. So, back in 1974-75, O-Pee-Chee hockey card number 1 features Phil Esposito and Bill Goldsworthy on the front of the card as each division’s goal scoring leader.
Goldsworthy did have a great season, scoring 48 goals in 74 games for the less than stellar Minnesota North Stars. It was a far cry from Esposito’s 68 and placed him fifth overall in the league behind Rick Martin of the Buffalo Sabres, Mickey Redmond of the Detroit Red Wings and Ken Hodge of the Boston Bruins.
In fact, Bill scored just over 20% of Minnesota’s goals in 1973-74. Think about it – one in every five goals for the North Stars that season was scored by Bill. With his 74 points, he played at part in over 31% of Minnesota’s total goals. Just for reference, when Alex Ovechkin scored 65 goals for the Washington Capitals in 2007-08, it was 27% of the team’s goals. When Wayne Gretzky set the unreachable record of 92 goals in 1981-82, the total was 22% of the Edmonton Oilers total goals.
The 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee number 1 card featuring Goldsworthy and Esposito on the front is valued at $5.00. The 1974-75 set consists of 396 hockey cards and a complete collection is valued at $500. In comparison, the Bill Goldsworthy rookie card from 1968-69 is valued at $12.00 with the set consisting of 216 cards and the full collection being valued at $2500.
Bill Goldsworthy played in the National Hockey League from 1965-66 to 1977-78. He spent additional time in the World Hockey Association at the end of the 1977-78 season and for 17 games in 1978-79 before retiring. Goldsworthy’s was a career created by the 1967 NHL expansion. With the Bruins, he played just 31 games over two seasons. After being picked up by the North Stars in the expansion draft, Bill was an instant full-time player and continued to be until a trade sent him to the New York Rangers during the 1976-77 season. For his final three years in Minnesota, Goldsworthy wore the ‘C’.
Bill Goldsworthy Collection
1973-74 wasn’t his only time amongst the league’s top goal scorers. In 1969-70, he finished sixth in the NHL with 36 goals over 75 games. His NHL career ended with Bill scoring 283 goals and totalling 541 points over 771 regular season games. The closest he came to winning a Stanley Cup championship came in Minnesota’s first year. The North Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in the quarter-finals before falling to the St. Louis Blues in the semi-finals in seven games. Bill contributed 15 points in those 14 games.
Goldsworthy got his championship but it was before his NHL days. Bill played three years with the Niagara Falls Flyers of the OHA from 1962-63 to 1964-65. In his final campaign in junior, the Flyers reached the Memorial Cup and dispatched the Edmonton Oil Kings in five games.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1962-63 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 50 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 71 |
| 1963-64 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 56 | 21 | 47 | 68 | 91 |
| 1964-65 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1964-65 | Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 54 | 28 | 27 | 55 | 164 |
| 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 Bisons | 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 York Rangers | NHL | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 1977-78 | New Haven Nighthawks | AHL | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 1977-78 | Indianapolis Racers | WHA | 32 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 10 |
| 1978-79 | Edmonton Oilers | WHA | 17 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 14 |
| NHL Totals | 771 | 283 | 258 | 541 | 793 | ||
| WHA Totals | 49 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 24 |