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.
Biography
Playing career
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.
Post-playing career
After retiring from hockey, he worked for many years as a lead color commentator for ESPN's hockey coverage first with play-by-play man Mike Emrick from to and later Gary Thorne during these ESPN-produced telecasts to . The pair also called the Stanley Cup Finals for ESPN and every Stanley Cup win from through , except for ; 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 two Stanley Cup wins from through . He also picked up duties as the lead color commentator for the Frozen Four, again paired with the play-by-play man Gary Thorne starting in 2005 and former goalie Darren Pang. From until he worked for SportsChannel America as lead color commentator on their national and regional Philadelphia Flyers telecasts.
He worked with 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. He won province championships playing badminton in high school. He also worked as an analyst in ESPN's Great Outdoor Games for several years.
He provided color commentary for the EA Sports' NHL series for NHL 2000 and NHL 2001, with Jim Hughson; and for all next-generation versions from NHL 07 through NHL 14, with Gary Thorne, having previously voiced 2K Sports' NHL 2K series for ESPN NHL Hockey and ESPN NHL 2K5, when 2K Sports had the ESPN license.
He is also the 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 ECHL's Trenton Devils. He also continues to provide color commentary, as well as post-game show analysis, working several local Flyers broadcasts for NBC Sports Philadelphia and The Comcast Network since the 2007–08 season.