March 17, 2002
It was a trade by GM Bob Clarke that left just about every Flyers fan asking the same question: Why would you want this guy on the team?
The Flyers traded a popular, hard working forward in Kent Manderville to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a centerman with, to put it politely, a checkered past off the ice, in Billy Tibbets.
In 1994, Tibbets plead guilty to statutory rape from an incident in 1992. At the time of the incident, he was 17 and the girl was 15. His 42-month sentence was suspended, which allowed him a period of probation. During that probation, in 1995, he was then convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon – which was with a BB gun – along with disorderly conduct and witness intimidation.
With this new charge and the previous charge from 1994, Tibbets was sentenced to 39 months in prison. Both sentences ran concurrently and as a result, Billy had to register in Canada as a sex offender and could no longer play games in Canada.
As far as his hockey talents go, Tibbets was a centerman who had the potential to put the puck in the net. He could also be a tough player to play against, as he was known to drop the gloves and play a grinder role if needed.
He was signed to a tryout by the Penguins in August of 2000 and assigned to the Wilkes-Barre minor-league affiliate. He had bounced back and forth with the Penguins and Wilkes-Barre, averaging just under a point per game.
Upon his trade to Philadelphia, Tibbets played in just nine games with the Flyers, racking up 69 penalty minutes and recording just one assist. He was also suspended by the league for two games as he was the instigator of a fight, which was his third penalty of the game.
Just a short 23 days after being acquired, Clarke placed Tibbets on waivers, claiming that he was simply the casualty of a "numbers game" with center Marty Murray coming off of the injured-reserve list.
After his release, Tibbets did not play in the NHL again that season. He did sign with the New York Rangers affiliate, the Hartford Wolfpack, to start the 2002-03 season.
After spending a few months there, he was called up to the Rangers club in December of 2002. He recorded 12 penalty minutes in 11 games and did not register a point. That would be his last taste of the NHL as he bounced around the minors and played in Europe for the next seven years with his career ending in 2009.
Thank you, Marty Murray, for healing as quickly as you did.
Mike Watson is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @Mwats_99.
