He spent several seasons as a player-coach for the Saskatoon Quakers, leading the team to the Pacific Coast Hockey League championship in 1952.

His father Bill was a native of Yorkshire, England, who emigrated to the United States as a child and became a speed skating champion in North Dakota before settling in Delisle.

[1] Doug was a small, slender player, weighing only 145 lbs at the peak of his career,[3] but he was an exceptionally fast skater and his father taught him to use his speed to avoid larger opponents.

Bentley's father flooded a sheet of ice that was the length of a regulation NHL hockey rink but much narrower, forcing the boys to develop the ability to maintain control of the puck while making fast, hard turns to reach the net.

[5] In 1937, Bentley, along with future Hall of Famer Elmer Lach attended the Toronto Maple Leafs training camp; both were rejected as too small for the National Hockey League.

[12] In 1943–44, Bentley again led the NHL in goal scoring with 38, and was named a first team All-Star at left wing for the second consecutive season.

[5] His career was briefly halted in 1944 when, after playing an exhibition game with Chicago in Canada prior to the 1944–45 season, Canadian officials refused to allow him to return to the United States.

[13] He was given permission by military authorities to return to his family farm for the duration of the war, and signed on to play with the Laura Beavers of the Saskatchewan Intermediate Hockey League.

[4] The Beavers went on to win the western Canadian intermediate championship, defeating a team from Canmore, Alberta, to capture the title.

[16] The Black Hawks, who never iced a strong lineup while Bentley played,[17] made a significant trade early in the 1947–48 season.

He was loaned to the Saskatoon Quakers where he took on the role of player-coach for the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL) team.

[4] Following the season, the New York Rangers lured Bentley back to the NHL, acquiring his brother Max, then purchasing his rights from Chicago.

[25] The 39-year-old Bentley immediately received offers from other Western Hockey League (WHL) teams, including the New Westminster Royals.

[27] Bentley did not play during the 1956–57 season, as he and Max chose instead to operate a new Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team in Saskatoon.

[32] Bentley moved on to become the player-coach of the Long Beach Gulls of the California Hockey League in 1962–63, opposing his brother Max who coached the Burbank Stars.

[36] Throughout the 1950s, Bentley and his brothers played baseball for both their home town of Delisle and the Saskatoon Gems of the Saskatchewan and later Western Canada senior leagues.