William Henry McDougall is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is best known for his record setting scoring performance during the 1992–1993 AHL playoffs.
Career
As a youth, McDougall played in the 1979 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Toronto. McDougall signed with the Erie Panthers following a successful season of senior hockey with the senior Port-aux-Basque Mariners. After scoring 80 goals and 148 points in just 57 games, he was signed by the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and finished the end of the 1989–90 season with their farm club, the Adirondack Red Wings. McDougall was named to the ECHL All-Star First Team in 1990. He appeared in 2 games for the parent club the following season after posting a 99-point season with the Adirondack Red Wings. Prior to his season of senior hockey, McDougall spent one season in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. McDougall had one of the best seasons ever in the 1986-87 season with the Humboldt Broncos, leading the league with 83 goals, 104 assists, and 187 points in only 61 games. He also led the league with 27 power play goals and 9 short handed goals. After a season of Junior "B" hockey in which he scored 45 goals and 132 points in 42 games for the Streetsville Derbys, the 20-year-old decided to continue his hockey career out west with the Broncos. The Broncos hosted the Centennial Cup that year and thanks to McDougall they got to the finals before being beaten by the Richmond Sockeyes of the BCJHL. He showed everyone at that tournament though that his regular season performance was no fluke as he had 11 points in four games and was named the tournament's all-star center. McDougall was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Max Middendorf in February 1992, and ultimately made his hockey mark with their farm team, the AHL Cape Breton Oilers. The Cape Breton Oilers' 1992–1993 playoff run was one of the most dominant in AHL history, and McDougall emerged as the team's star, scoring 52 points in 16 games en route to a Calder Cup championship for Cape Breton. McDougall was awarded with the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy for Most Valuable Player during the AHL playoffs. To this day, his AHL records for goals, assists, and points in a single playoff season still stand, and his total of 3.25 points per game, is more than was ever matched in the NHL. Wayne Gretzky holds the NHL record with 47 points in a single playoff season. McDougall spent the following season in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization, appearing in 22 games with the parent club while scoring 3 goals and 3 assists. He then spent the next 8 seasons playing with various pro teams in Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. McDougall would return to his native Canada in 2002, and spent six seasons with the Dundas Real McCoys of the MLH in Ontario. McDougall retired after the 2007-08 MLH season.
Retirement
Since his retirement and a 2010 divorce, McDougall has returned to Cape Breton and operates a hockey camp in Toronto to help kids with off-ice training. McDougall resides with his wife and his first born Bradley Chad McDougall. Bradley was given the middle name Chad in honour of his late friend and teammate Chad Silver.
