WHL champion, Regina Pats captain, Navy commander Bill Ansell dies at 63
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Ansell won a Western Hockey League championship with the 1979-80 Pats. He became their captain the following season before playing for Hall of Fame coach Clare Drake with the University of Alberta Golden Bears. Ansell spent 33 years in the Royal Canadian Navy, serving on the HMSC Regina, before recently retiring as a lieutenant-commander in Sidney, B.C.
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'Billy was the ultimate team guy,' said former NHLer Mike Blaisdell, a teammate on the 1979-80 Pats. 'Always positive, came to the rink with a smile on his face. He gained the respect of his teammates and coaches by his actions every day.
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'He was a helluva hockey player. He won battles in every end of the rink. Smart payer, focused on the team's success. Played bigger than his size and never quit. I'll always remember how important he was to our WHL champion team.'
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After playing minor hockey in Regina, at 5-foot-10 and 179 pounds Ansell tallied 182 points on 69 goals and 113 assists through 152 games in 2 1/2 WHL seasons with the Pats. He added 15 goals and 17 assists in 28 playoff contests. Ansell played 120 games for the Golden Bears, winning the 1986 national university championship and recording 42 goals and 58 assists during five seasons.
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Ansell was recently featured in a Leader-Post column, where he spoke about a cancer diagnosis that had originally given him four months to live. He was optimistic about a new treatment that could extend his life for another year while he hoped to hear from friends and former teammates.
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'There's been lots of reaction,' Ansell said afterwards. 'I've heard from lots of people.'
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Ansell was predeceased by his mother Maxine and father Ron, a long-time senior hockey player who coached the Regina Pat Canadians before scouting for the NHL's Los Angeles Kings and retiring to Vancouver Island in 1980. Bill Ansell's wife, Leslie, died from cancer earlier this year. He is survived by her three children, three grandchildren, siblings Max, Pat (a former Pats goalie) and Dawn and their families.
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