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Alumni Profile: Bill McBean

By: Colton Danneberg


Bill, known to his hockey buddies as ‘Wilber,’ played for the Huskies from 1970-72 and again for the 1973-74 season. Bill’s teammates described him as a great player on the ice and a player that liked to have a ‘good time’ off the ice. His sense of humour and this fun-loving attitude made him an important and popular teammate.


After graduating with a degree in Commerce, Bill began working for General Motors and successfully managed automobile franchises both in Regina and Saskatoon. General Motors was so impressed with Bill that they then offered him the opportunity to purchase an underperforming dealership in Corpus Christi, Texas. Bill progressively added a few more struggling franchises to his company, and within 10 years, he took this enterprise from 70 to 300 employees, generating over $160 million in sales. Bill’s management proved so successful that in 2003, AutoNation, one of the largest automobile conglomerates, approached him to buy his company, and Bill agreed. Bill, always being ‘one play ahead,’ also invested in the movie industry, which then underwent a huge boom during the COVID pandemic.


Bill has also authored a book entitled The Facts of Business Life, which was written to give readers the knowledge to achieve long-term success in business. Bill’s book was included in the Library of Congress and the Jefferson Library and is available for sale on Amazon.


Beyond his business interests, Bill also became an owner of the Corpus Christi Ice Rays of the Western Professional Hockey League. Twice in Bill’s 3 years with the franchise, it was voted “Franchise of the Year” in the WPHL, with a record of 63 consecutive game sellouts.


Bill was inducted into the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019 along with his teammates and remains a dedicated hockey fan. Bill now spends time in both Florida and South Carolina and is a Tampa Bay season ticket holder who loves seeing “the best players from each team in action.”

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