Bill Mikkelson

William Robert Mikkelson (born May 21, 1948 in Neepawa, Manitoba) is a retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League during the 1970s. Mikkelson is best known for posting the worst plus/minus rating in single-season NHL history at -82 for the Washington Capitals in 1974–75.

Playing career
Mikkelson played his junior hockey for the Brandon Wheat Kings and Winnipeg Jets, and was signed as a free agent by the Los Angeles Kings in 1970. He spent two years in the minors in LA's system, earning a 15-game callup to their NHL squad in 1971–72.

In the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft, Mikkelson as exposed by the Kings and claimed by the New York Islanders. In their inaugural season of 1972–73, Mikkelson emerged as one of the icetime leaders on the blueline for the Islanders, and posted 1 goal and 10 assists for 11 points in 72 games. In a sign of things to come, he also posted a plus/minus rating of -54, the third-worst mark ever recorded at the time since the NHL had begun recording the stat in 1967. For the 1973–74 season, Mikkelson lost his spot on the Islanders with the arrival of rookies Denis Potvin and Dave Lewis, and ended up spending the entire season in the American Hockey League with the Baltimore Clippers.

Mikkelson was exposed again in the 1974 NHL Expansion Draft, and this time was claimed by the Washington Capitals. His first season with the expansion Capitals would play out almost identically to his first season with the expansion Islanders, as he emerged as an icetime leader on a terrible team, and - despite being assigned to the minors late in the year and appearing in only 59 games - ended up posting an all-time NHL worst plus/minus rating of -82. More than three decades later, this remains an NHL record, and no-one has posted a mark worse than -61 since.

Mikkelson would spend two more seasons in the minors, appearing in only a single NHL game for the Capitals in 1976–77, before retiring in 1977. In his career, he appeared in 147 NHL games, recording 4 goals and 18 assists for 22 points, along with 105 penalty minutes.

Personal
His daughter, Meaghan, played with the Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey program and won a gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. His son, Brendan, was a Memorial Cup champion with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants and currently plays for the Anaheim Ducks.