The town has lost a legend
Bill Riley, an Amherst-born hockey pioneer who became the first Black NHL player from Nova Scotia and the third Black player in league history, has died at the age of 75. The NHL Alumni Association announced his death this week, and his obituary says he died on March 29, 2026 at his childhood home in Amherst after battling cancer.
Riley made history in the Washington Capitals’ inaugural season. He debuted with the club on December 26, 1974, joining teammate Mike Marson in a game against Philadelphia. Riley and Marson became the first two Black players to appear together in an NHL game, 16 years after Willie O’Ree broke the league’s colour barrier.
A right-winger from Amherst, Riley went on to play 139 NHL games with the Capitals and later the Winnipeg Jets between 1974 and 1980. He scored 18 goals and 40 points in the NHL before continuing a long professional and senior hockey career in the minors and in Newfoundland.
His impact reached well beyond the NHL. Riley was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1998, and his number 8 was later retired by the Amherst Ramblers. He also coached in the Maritimes, including with the Amherst Ramblers and later the Moncton Wildcats.
In tributes published after his death, the NHL and Capitals organizations remembered Riley not only as a trailblazer, but as a figure whose career reflected both talent and persistence in a sport where Black players were still exceedingly rare.
