University of Minnesota Athletics
Bill Baker
Men’s Hockey, 1976-79
HOF Class of 2002
Defenseman Bill Baker helped lead the Golden Gophers hockey team to NCAA championships in 1976 and 1979.
He earned All-WCHA and All-America honors his senior season, when he scored 54 points, a record for a defenseman. He also won the Big Ten Conference Medal in 1979, for athletic and academic achievement.
Baker finished his Minnesota career fifth in career points, with 118, and sixth for assists, with 88. He played in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, NY, a member of Coach Herb Brooks’ “Miracle on Ice” gold medal team.
He played five seasons of professional hockey with the NFL Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Colorado Rockies and New York Rangers. Retiring from hockey, he became an oral surgeon in Brainerd.