Bob Whitlock set the precedent for his career when he played for four different Junior teams in three different leagues before turning professional in 1969.
Whitlock signed with the Minnesota North Stars as a free agent that fall, but he spent all but one game in the minor leagues that year. In his one game with Minnesota the center didn't notch any points but he was able to fire three shots on the opposition's net.
Whitlock packed his gear and took his skills to the American Hockey League for the next campaign, which he spent with the Cleveland Barons. After a year there, he then moved on to the Western League to play with the Phoenix Roadrunners the next year. When the World Hockey Association was formed in 1972, Whitlock found a new place to play and spent the next few years bouncing from the Chicago Cougars to the Los Angles Sharks to the Indianapolis Racers. Midway through the 1975-76 season Whitlock left the WHA and joined the Mohawk Valley Comets of the North American League. He then split the next season between two other NAHL clubs before moving on to yet another team in yet another league for his final season. The journeyman's swansong season was spent in Western International Hockey League with the Trail Smoke Eaters.
Whitlock retired after playing for eleven different pro clubs in nine seasons and breaking the 20-goal plateau seven times.
