Recently, we were doing an article at OHL Alumni Central about James Wisniewski moving on from the NHL to the KHL to play for Admiral Vladivostok. It was the first time we noticed that Wisniewski’s uncle Billy Dea had also played in the National Hockey League.
Not a household name, except maybe in Buffalo, Dea had a long and interesting hockey career. This is a guy that had a 20 year pro career and was able to get into nearly 400 regular season NHL games.
The most unusual fact about Billy Dea is the decade gap between NHL games. He last played for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1957-58, returning to the club for two playoff games in 1966-67.
Junior and Minor Pro
Hockey Card Collection
Buffalo Bisons Era
NHL Career
Staff
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Billy Dea – Junior and Minor Pro
Billy Dea played four years of junior hockey in the WCJHL with the Lethbridge Native Sons from 1949-50 to 1952-53. In 1951-52, Dea was an all-star left winger with 44 goals over 41 games.
In 1952-53, he helped the Native Sons to a WCJHL championship, upsetting the Edmonton Oil Kings in the finals. Lethbridge moved on to the Western Canada Memorial Cup playoffs, losing to the St. Boniface Canadiens in the Abbott Cup finals. That year, he also saw his first pro action, appearing in three games with the Saskatoon Quakers of the WHL.
Billy Dea Collection
Billy’s first full year of pro hockey came in 1953-54 with the Vancouver Canucks of the WHL. He put up fine rookie numbers with 21 goals in 53 games. The Canucks, with Gump Worsley in net, finished first in the seven team league but fell to the Calgary Stampeders in the finals.
Two years later, Billy Dea was in his hometown, playing for the Edmonton Flyers in the WHL. His 29 goals and 42 assists for 71 points over 70 games caught the eye of the parent club Detroit and he was a NHL regular the following season.
Buffalo Bisons Era
His first go around at the National Hockey League didn’t last long and by 1958-59, he was back in the minors. Between 1958-59 and 1966-67, Dea played 643 regular season American Hockey League games with the Buffalo Bisons. He helped the club to some playoff success and did pretty good on an individual level, as well.
In his first year with the Bisons, Billy finished fifth in the AHL with 45 assists. He was also ninth in the race for the John B. Sollenberger Trophy with 70 assists. Dea helped the Bisons to the Calder Cup finals before being upset by the fourth seed Hershey Bears.
In 1960-61, he was once again among the league’s scoring leaders. Dea tied for sixth in the AHL with 35 goals. His 74 points tied him with Hank Ciesla of the Rochester Americans for ninth place.
Playoff success returned for 1961-62. With a strong Bisons team that included the likes of Chico Maki and Ed Van Impe, along with Denis Dejordy in net, the team reached the Calder Cup finals. However, it was the time of the great Springfield Indians dynasty and Buffalo had to play bridesmaid.
It did all come together for the Bisons in 1962-63. With Springfield depleted, it was Buffalo and the Hershey Bears in the Calder Cup finals. This time, the Bisons came out with the championship.
After his return to the NHL, Billy Dea found himself in the minors again in 1970-71. After starting the year with the Detroit Red Wings, Dea was relegated to the Fort Worth Wings of the Central Hockey League to finish out the season.
His final year of pro hockey came in 1971-72. Billy appeared in 72 AHL games with the Tidewater Wings. Long gone were his offensive days and Dea contributed just 14 points.
Billy Dea – NHL
Between 1953-54 and 1970-71, Billy Dea played in 397 regular season National Hockey League games. Over that time, the 5’7″ winger scored 67 goals and assisted on 54 for 121 points. He appeared in just eleven Stanley Cup playoff games, adding three assists. During his career, Billy played for the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins.
His time in New York was limited to 14 games during the 1953-54 NHL season. In August, 1955, Dea was traded to Detroit with Aggie Kukulowicz for Dave Creighton and Bronco Horvath.
In his first full season in the NHL, 1956-57 with the Red Wings, Dea put up good rookie numbers with 15 goals and 15 assists over 69 games. However, Detroit off-loaded Billy midway through the following season. On December 16, 1957, he was traded to Chicago with Bill Dineen, Lorne Ferguson and Earl Reibel for Bob Bailey, Hec Lalande, Jack McIntyre and Nick Mickoski.
He finished up that 1957-58 season with the Blackhawks but Chicago sent him down for his long exile in Buffalo shortly after. He returned to the team in 1966-67 to play two games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. That would be the end of his time in Chicago.
The Pittsburgh Penguins selected Dea in the 16th round of the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, 94th overall. Billy played two full seasons with the Penguins before making his return to Detroit. He was traded October 28, 1969 with Mike McMahon making the switch from Detroit to Pittsburgh.
Back with Detroit, Dea played the full 1969-70 season but saw just half of 1970-71 before being sent back to the minors, this time for good.
Billy Dea – Staff
Billy stuck with the Red Wings and stood on the bench through the team’s Dead Wings era. From 1974-75 to 1976-77 and from 1979-80 to 1981-82, Dea was an assistant coach with Detroit, at times sharing duties with his long ago Buffalo Bisons teammate Denis Dejordy.
In the ever-changing head coaching job for the Red Wings in the 1970’s, Dea served under Alex Delvecchio, Doug Barkley, Larry Wilson, Bobby Kromm, Ted Lindsay and Wayne Maxner. For the final eleven games of 1981-82, Billy took over the head coaching duties after Maxner was let go.
In more recent years, Billy has taken on the more relaxing job as scout for the Florida Panthers.
Billy Dea – Rookie Card
The Billy Dea rookie card appears as number 39 in the 1957-58 Topps hockey card set. He is shown with the Detroit Red Wings, four years after his first NHL action with the New York Rangers in 1953-54.
Despite playing pro for two decades and appearing in nearly 400 NHL games, Dea is shown on just two other hockey cards. In the 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee set, he is shown as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the 1970-71 OPC set, he is once again with the Red Wings, for one last time.
Billy Dea Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1949-50 | Lethbridge Native Sons | WCJHL | 29 | 20 | 13 | 33 | |
| 1950-51 | Lethbridge Native Sons | WCJHL | 38 | 25 | 22 | 47 | 6 |
| 1951-52 | Lethbridge Native Sons | WCJHL | 41 | 44 | 29 | 73 | 10 |
| 1952-53 | Saskatoon Quakers | WHL | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 1952-53 | Lethbridge Native Sons | WCJHL | 34 | 34 | 23 | 57 | 0 |
| 1953-54 | New York Rangers | NHL | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 1953-54 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 53 | 21 | 13 | 34 | 8 |
| 1954-55 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 59 | 18 | 13 | 31 | 13 |
| 1955-56 | Edmonton Flyers | WHL | 70 | 29 | 42 | 71 | 14 |
| 1956-57 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 69 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 14 |
| 1957-58 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 29 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| 1957-58 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 34 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 4 |
| 1958-59 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 70 | 25 | 45 | 70 | 19 |
| 1959-60 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 72 | 28 | 26 | 54 | 20 |
| 1960-61 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 72 | 35 | 39 | 74 | 10 |
| 1961-62 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 70 | 30 | 22 | 52 | 17 |
| 1962-63 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 72 | 20 | 12 | 32 | 25 |
| 1963-64 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 72 | 25 | 16 | 41 | 4 |
| 1964-65 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 72 | 21 | 19 | 40 | 15 |
| 1965-66 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 70 | 32 | 23 | 55 | 17 |
| 1966-67 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 71 | 25 | 39 | 64 | 5 |
| 1966-67 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | Playoffs Only | ||||
| 1967-68 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 73 | 16 | 12 | 28 | 6 |
| 1968-69 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 66 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 4 |
| 1969-70 | Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1969-70 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 6 |
| 1970-71 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 42 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
| 1970-71 | Fort Worth Wings | CHL | 26 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 10 |
| 1971-72 | Tidewater Wings | AHL | 72 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 8 |
| NHL Totals | 397 | 67 | 54 | 121 | 44 | ||