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Bill Clement

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Bill Clement

William H. Clement (born December 20, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who became an author, speaker, actor, entrepreneur, and hockey broadcaster.

Clement played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and was named an All-Star twice. He spent his first four years with the Philadelphia Flyers, with whom he won two Stanley Cup championships (1974, 1975). Clement later played for the Washington Capitals, whom he captained, and the Flames, both in Atlanta and Calgary.

Clement has broadcast five different Olympic Games and has worked for ESPN, NBC, ABC, Versus, Comcast SportsNet and TNT in the U.S., and CTV, CBC, Rogers Sportsnet and Sirius XM Radio in Canada.

His acting credits include work on the ABC daytime drama All My Children and more than 300 television ads for clients such as Chevrolet, Bud Light, and Deepwoods Off. He was also one of the in-game announcers on EA Sports' NHL video games from NHL 07 through NHL 14, as well as on 2K Sports' NHL 2K series in ESPN NHL Hockey and ESPN NHL 2K5.

Before his career as a broadcaster, Clement was an amateur and NHL hockey player. Born in Buckingham, Quebec, he played hockey as a child 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) in the 1970 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers (the Flyers' first pick of the draft), Clement 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 as the 4th line Center. Before 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 46 games with the Capitals (and serving as the team captain) in the 1975–76 season, he was then traded to the Atlanta Flames for Gerry Meehan, Jean Lemieux and a Round 1 pick in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. 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 NHL 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, he collected five goals and three assists.

Clement was known for a calm and consistent passing game, leading to the rhyme "Clement, Clement, Hands of Cement." Bud Light referenced the old taunt in one of their popular "Hockey Falls" commercials.

After retiring from hockey, Clement worked for many years as a lead color commentator for ESPN's NHL coverage, first with play-by-play man Mike Emrick from 1986–87 to 1987–88 and later with Gary Thorne from 1992–93 to 2003–04. The Thorne-Clement duo were the commentators for EA Sports' NHL 07 (Xbox 360 only), NHL 08 through NHL 14, and ESPN NHL 2K5 when ESPN had the license, Clement having previously provided the color commentary on EA's NHL series for NHL 2000 and NHL 2001, with Jim Hughson. The pair called the Stanley Cup Finals for ESPN and every Stanley Cup win from 1993 through 2004, except for 1995; Mike Emrick and John Davidson were the broadcast team for the clinching game of that Finals series (which was aired on Fox). Davidson, who joined them as a third man in the booth for big games, did so for both Stanley Cup wins from 2003 through 2004. From 1988–89 until 1991–92 he worked for SportsChannel America as lead color commentator on their national and regional Philadelphia Flyers telecasts.

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