Bill Clement: Stanley Cup Champion and Hockey Broadcaster
Bill Clement (born December 20, 1950) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey player who became an author, speaker, actor, entrepreneur, and hockey broadcaster. He won two Stanley Cup championships with the Philadelphia Flyers and later became one of North America’s most prolific hockey broadcasters, covering five Olympic Games and nearly two decades of Stanley Cup Finals.
Early Life and Education
Clement was born in Buckingham, Quebec. As a child, he played hockey in nearby Thurso with Guy Lafleur. He played junior hockey with the Ottawa 67s of the O.H.A. during their first three seasons.
Career and Achievements
The Philadelphia Flyers selected Clement 18th overall (second round) in the 1970 NHL entry draft, making him the team’s first pick that year. He played four seasons with the Flyers, appearing in minor league games at Quebec City and Richmond, Virginia, while establishing himself as the fourth-line center on back-to-back Stanley Cup championship teams in 1973–74 and 1974–75.
Before the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft, the Flyers traded Clement to the Washington Capitals in exchange for their first overall pick (used to select Mel Bridgman). Clement captained the Capitals during the 1975–76 season but appeared in only 46 games before being traded to the Atlanta Flames for Gerry Meehan, Jean Lemieux, and a first-round draft pick. He played with the Flames organization in both Atlanta and Calgary until retiring after the 1981–82 season. Over 719 regular season games, Clement scored 148 goals, recorded 206 assists, and accumulated 383 penalty minutes. In 50 playoff games, he collected five goals and three assists. He was named an All-Star twice, in 1976 and 1978.
Clement became known for his calm and consistent passing game, earning the rhyme “Clement, Clement, Hands of Cement.” Bud Light later referenced this taunt in one of their “Hockey Falls” commercials.
Notable Events and Milestones
After retiring from playing, Clement transitioned into broadcasting. He worked as a lead color commentator for ESPN’s NHL coverage from 1986–87 to 1987–88 alongside play-by-play announcer Mike Emrick, then partnered with Gary Thorne from 1992–93 to 2003–04. The Thorne-Clement duo called every Stanley Cup Final from 1993 through 2004 except 1995, and provided commentary for EA Sports’ NHL video games from NHL 07 through NHL 14, as well as 2K Sports’ ESPN NHL Hockey and ESPN NHL 2K5 titles.
Between 1986 and 2004, Clement broadcast at least one game in every Stanley Cup Finals series. He worked for SportsChannel America from 1988–89 to 1991–92, returned to ESPN from 1993–2004, and contributed to ABC’s coverage from 2000–2004. After the 2005 lockout canceled that year’s Finals, he served as studio host for OLN and NBC in 2006 and 2007, then continued his streak in 2008 as a color commentator for NHL Radio on Westwood One.
Clement broadcast five different Olympic Games, working as a studio analyst with Jim Lampley for CNBC during the men’s and women’s ice hockey tournaments at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He also provided play-by-play commentary for table tennis, pentathlon, and badminton at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. In high school, he had won provincial badminton championships.
Beyond hockey, Clement appeared on the ABC daytime drama All My Children and in more than 300 television advertisements for clients including Chevrolet, Bud Light, and Deepwoods Off. Since the 2007–08 season, he has hosted a Flyers-based radio talk show on WBCB 1490 AM in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and provided color commentary for local Flyers broadcasts on NBC Sports Philadelphia and The Comcast Network.
Awards and Honors
In January 2021, Clement announced his retirement from broadcasting at age 70. A year later, in 2022, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster.
Additional Resources
Clement’s career spans both professional hockey and sports broadcasting across multiple networks and platforms in North America. More detailed information about his playing statistics, broadcasting work, and personal life is available through Wikipedia and other biographical archives dedicated to hockey history and sports media.
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