Réjean Houle
Réjean Houle (born October 25, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played the majority of his career with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), also serving in a controversial stint as general manager for the Canadiens. Playing career Drafted as the first pick overall in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft by the Montreal Canadiens, Houle played for the Habs from 1970 to 1973 and from 1976 to 1983. He won five Stanley Cup championships with the Canadiens. In between his NHL stints, he played for the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Management career After retiring as a player, Houle became an executive with Molson, one of Canada's leading breweries and the then-owner of the Montreal Canadiens organization. A disastrous start to the 1995–96 season resulted in then-general manager Serge Savard's termination, and the team saw Houle, with his business background and history with the team, as the most viable repla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Winger (ice Hockey)
Winger, in the game of ice hockey, is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play is along the outer playing areas. They typically flank the centre forward. Originally the name was given to forward players who went up and down the sides of the rink. Wingers generally have the least defensive responsibilities out of any position on the ice, however they are still tasked with defensive duties such as forechecking duties or covering the point in the defensive zone. Nowadays, there are different types of wingers in the game — out-and-out goal scorers, checkers who disrupt the opponents, and forwards who work along the boards and in the corners. Often a winger's precise role on a line depends upon what type of role the other winger plays; usually lines will have one more goal-scoring oriented winger and one winger more focused on playing the boards, checking and passing the puck to others to take shots (if a larger player, he will sometimes be called a "power forward ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) considers it to be one of the "most important championships available to the sport". The trophy was commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup and is named after Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, who donated it as an award to Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. The entire Stanley family supported the sport, the sons and daughters all playing and promoting the game. The first Cup was awarded in 1893 to Montreal Hockey Club, and winners from 1893 to 1914 were determined by challenge games and league play. Professional teams first became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906. In 1915, the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacifi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Matt Higgins (ice Hockey)
Matthew Warren Higgins(born October 29, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens. Playing career Higgins was selected 18th overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He played in 57 regular season NHL games throughout the 1997–98 NHL season to the 2000–01 NHL season. He began his hockey career with the Western Hockey League Moose Jaw Warriors in 1993 where he played until he was drafted. Higgins then played for the American Hockey League Fredericton Canadiens and Quebec Citadelles. He played through two seasons for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers before moving to Europe to play for the Deutsche Eishockey Liga Iserlohn Roosters. He ended his professional career playing two seasons for HDD Olimpija Ljubljana of the Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pierre Turgeon
Pierre Julien Turgeon (born August 28, 1969) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. Selected first overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, Turgeon played in the NHL for the Sabres, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche. He is the younger brother of former NHL player Sylvain Turgeon. They are the only two brothers in NHL history to be selected in the No. 1 and 2 slots of the draft (in separate years). Playing career Early years Turgeon was a member of Canada's team that was involved in the "Punch-up in Piestany", a bench-clearing brawl between Canada and the Soviet Union during the final game of the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Piešťany, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) on January 4, 1987. He was the only Canadian who did not initially leave the bench until Canadian head coach Bert Templeton convinced him to go on the ice. Regarding not leaving the bench, Turgeon ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vincent Damphousse
Vincent François Damphousse (born December 17, 1967) is a Canadian former professional hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for eighteen seasons. He played centre for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens and San Jose Sharks, winning a Stanley Cup championship with Montreal in 1993. He was signed as an unrestricted free-agent by the Colorado Avalanche in 2004 during the off-season, but he never played with the team due to the lockout that canceled the 2004–05 season. Damphousse currently serves as a hockey analyst with the French-language television network RDS in his native Quebec. Playing career Damphousse was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs 6th overall in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft after a standout junior hockey career with the Laval Voisins/Titan. In 1991 he was named MVP of the NHL All Star Game, being one of only four players (at that time) to ever score 4 goals in a single All-Star matchup. Damphousse spent five season ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mark Recchi
Mark Louis Recchi (; born February 1, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former assistant coach. Recchi played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Montreal Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes, Atlanta Thrashers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins. Recchi won three Stanley Cups in his playing career: in 1991 with the Penguins, in 2006 with the Hurricanes, and in 2011 with the Bruins. Recchi was the last active player who had played in the NHL in the 1980s. In Game 2 of the 2011 Finals, at the age of 43, Recchi became the oldest player ever to score in a Stanley Cup Finals game. On June 26, 2017, in his fourth year of eligibility, Recchi was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Playing career Recchi played his junior hockey for the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League (WHL). His number 8 was retired by the team shortly after he left for the NHL. He was drafted by the Pittsburg ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andrei Kovalenko
Andrei Nikolaevich Kovalenko (russian: Андрей Николаевич Коваленко; born June 7, 1970) is a Russian former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League with the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes and the Boston Bruins. He is currently the chairman of the Kontinental Hockey League players association (KHL PA). Playing career Nicknamed "The Tank" by his teammates because of his immovable presence from the goal crease, Kovalenko was drafted 148th overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques while playing in Russia for HC CSKA Moscow. Kovalenko was traded from the Colorado Avalanche to the Montreal Canadiens with Jocelyn Thibault and Martin Ručínský for Patrick Roy and Mike Keane. In 1996, he scored the final goal in the history of the Montreal Forum, the fourth in a 4–1 victory over the Dallas Stars. In 1999, Kovalenko scored th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Martin Ručinský
Martin Ručinský (; born 11 March 1971) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Ručínský was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round as the 20th overall selection in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft on 22 June 1991. Ručinský led the Montreal Canadiens in 1998–99 with 17 goals. It was the first time since the 1940–41 season, that the Canadiens did not have at least one twenty-goal scorer. He was the last player for the Quebec Nordiques still active in professional hockey prior to his retirement in 2015. Ručinský was inducted into the Czech Ice Hockey Hall of Fame on 22 January 2019. Transactions * 22 June 1991 – Edmonton Oilers' first-round draft choice (20th overall - from the Los Angeles Kings) in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. * 10 March 1992 – Traded by the Edmonton Oilers to the Quebec Nordiques in exchange for Ron Tugnutt and Brad Zavisha. * 21 June 1995 – Rights transferred to the Color ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jocelyn Thibault
Joseph Régis Jocelyn Thibault (born January 12, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Buffalo Sabres. Thibault was born in Montreal, Quebec and grew up in nearby Laval. He led a group out of Sherbrooke, Quebec to create an expansion team in the QMJHL. The new team, Sherbrooke Phoenix, started playing in the 2012–13 season. In 2021, Thibault left the Phoenix to became the new executive director of Hockey Quebec. Playing career As a youth, Thibault played in the 1988 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Laval, Quebec. He played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as part of the Trois-Rivières Draveurs and Sherbrooke Faucons. Thibault was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques 10th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. He went on to play for the No ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play their home games at Ball Arena, which they share with the NBA's Denver Nuggets and Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League. Founded in 1972 as the Quebec Nordiques, the team was one of the charter franchises of the World Hockey Association. The franchise joined the NHL in 1979 as a result of the NHL–WHA merger. Following the 1994–95 season, they were sold to the COMSAT Entertainment Group and relocated to Denver. During their first season in Denver, the Avalanche won the Pacific Division and went on to sweep the Florida Panthers in the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals. The Avalanche are the first major professional sports championship a Denver-based team brought to the city. In the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals, the Avalanche defeated the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mike Keane
Michael John Keane (born May 29, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. Undrafted, Keane played over 1,100 games in the National Hockey League from 1988 until 2004. He then played five seasons for his hometown Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League until he retired in 2010. Keane is a three-time Stanley Cup champion, having won with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993, Colorado Avalanche in 1996, and the Dallas Stars in 1999. He is one of only 11 players in NHL history to win the Cup with three or more different teams. On September 3, 2013, the Winnipeg Jets announced the hiring of Keane as Assistant of Player Development. Playing career Keane began his junior hockey career in the Junior A Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) with the Winnipeg South Blues. He then joined the major junior ranks in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Undrafted out of junior, Keane signed as a free agent on September 25, 1985, with the Montreal Canadien ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Patrick Roy
Patrick Jacques Roy (; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender and executive, who serves as the head coach for the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In 2017, Roy was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history. Nicknamed "Saint Patrick," Roy split his playing career in the National Hockey League (NHL) between the Montreal Canadiens, with whom he played for 11 years, and the Colorado Avalanche, with whom he played for eight years. Roy won four Stanley Cups during his career, two with each franchise. In 2004, Roy was selected as the greatest goaltender in NHL history by a panel of 41 writers, coupled with a simultaneous fan poll. On November 13, 2006, Roy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He is the only player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (the award given to the Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup playoffs) three times, the only one to do so in three different decades (19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |