Bill Clement

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size =
position = Centre
played_for = Philadelphia Flyers
Washington Capitals
Atlanta Flames
Calgary Flames
shot = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 1
weight_lb = 190
nickname = Duke
nationality = CAN
birth_date = Birth date and age|1950|12|20|mf=y
birth_place = Buckingham, PQ, CAN
draft = 18th overall
draft_year = 1970
draft_team = Philadelphia Flyers
career_start = 1970
career_end = 1982

William H. "Bill" Clement (born December 20, 1950 in Buckingham, Quebec) is a retired professional ice hockey player and a broadcaster for Versus and NBC. Bill worked as a studio host for "The NHL on NBC" partnered with Ray Ferraro and Brett Hull, as well as covering men's ice hockey during the 2006 Winter Olympics, and The NHL on Versus Post Game Report with Keith Jones and Brian Engblom. He was partnered with Cammi Granato in coverage of the women's games at the Olympics. He also hosts the NHL on NBC Faceoff on NBCSports.com. Bill is also a daily contributor to "In the Slot", Home Ice's afternoon show on "XM Satellite Radio".

Playing career

Prior to his career as a broadcaster, Clement was an NHL hockey player. As a native of Buckingham, he played in nearby Thurso with Guy Lafleur. He played Junior Hockey with the Ottawa 67s of the O.H.A., in their first three seasons.

Originally selected 18th (Second Round) of the 1970 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers (first pick by the Flyers), he played four seasons with the Flyers (as well as in minor league teams at Quebec City and Richmond, VA) , and was part of the Stanley Cup-winning Flyers teams of 1973-74 and 1974-75. Prior to the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft, he was traded to the Washington Capitals for their right to draft Mel Bridgman, as the first overall draft pick that year. After playing just forty-six games with the Capitals (and serving as Captain) in the 1975-76 Season, he was then traded to the Atlanta Flames for Gerry Meehan. He would play with the Flames organization in both Atlanta and Calgary, until his retirement following the 1981-82 NHL season. He played in two National Hockey League All-Star Games, in 1976 and 1978. In 719 regular season games, he scored 148 Goals, earned 206 Assists, and 383 Penalty Minutes. In 50 playoff games, 5 goals and three assists.

Post-Playing Career

After retiring from hockey, Clement worked for many years as a color commentator at ESPN for their skydiving and hockey coverage. From 1988 until 1992 he worked for SportsChannel America, providing colour commentary on the network's national telecasts as well as regional Philadelphia Flyers games.

Clement worked alongside Jim Lampley as a studio analyst for NBC during their coverage of both the men's and women's ice hockey tournaments at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He worked as the play-by-play announcer for table tennis, pentathlon events, and badminton tournaments for the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics for NBC. Clement won province championships playing badminton in high school. He also worked as an analyst in ESPN's Great Outdoor Games for several years.

Clement has lent his voice for commentary for the next-gen versions of the video games NHL 07 and NHL 08 by EA Sports along with Gary Thorne. The duo previously voiced 2K Sports' NHL series when that company had the ESPN license.

Clement is also host of a Flyers-based radio talk show on WBCB 1490 AM in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The show includes current and former players and coaches, as well as players from the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms and ECHL's Trenton Titans. He will be entering his 6th season as host of the show, taking over for Gene Hart. He also continues to provide color commentary, working several local Flyers broadcasts for Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia in the 2008 regular season and playoffs. [cite web | url= http://flyers.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=341071&page=NewsPage&service=page | title = Bill Clement Joins Flyers Broadcast Team | accessdate = 2008-05-04]

From 1986-2004, Clement broadcast at least one game of every Stanley Cup Finals series. After a lockout canceled the 2005 Finals, he worked the 2006 and 2007 Finals as the studio host for OLN and NBC. He continued his streak in 2008 as a colour commentator for NHL Radio on Westwood One.

Clementisms

* "Oh, (player) just took him out and finished him off, what a hit!"
* "It looked like he was going to take his arm off!"--on a slashing call.
* "If you do the (action performed) either way, ten minutes in the sin bin"
* "I could feel that one from up here"
* "He's saying I can shoot, I can score!"
* During the 2008 NHL playoffs: "Welcome to the tattoo parlor" describing a nasty check in the corner.

ee also

*Captain (ice hockey)
*List of NHL players
*List of NHL seasons

References

External links

* [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1970/70018.html Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com]
*hockeydb|1025
*legendsofhockey|12283