Joseph Louis Robert Edgar Fillion (July 12, 1920 – August 13, 2015) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player who played seven seasons for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) between 1943 and 1950. He was a member of two Stanley Cup-winning teams during his career with Montreal; in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

and 1946. He also spent time with the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

of the AHL and the Sherbrooke Saints of the

Quebec Senior Hockey League The Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL) was an ice hockey league that operated from 1941 to 1959 , based in Quebec, Canada. The league played senior ice hockey under the jurisdiction of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association until 1953, when it becam ...

(QSHL). He died on August 13, 2015. At the time of his death, Fillion was the last surviving member of the Canadiens' 1944 Stanley Cup team.

Fillion hockey playing family

Born in

Thetford Mines Thetford Mines (Canada 2021 Census population 26,072) is a city in south-central Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of Les Appalaches Regional County Municipality. The city is located in the Appalachian Mountains, 141 miles northeast of Montreal and ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Fillion is a member of Thetford Mines' and one of

's most famous hockey family, being one of seven hockey playing siblings. Right winger Marcel also reached the

, playing one game for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

in 1944–1945 and playing in the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart ...

, the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

and the

from 1944 to 1952. Right winger Dennis played in the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictl ...

, the

Pacific Coast Hockey League The Pacific Coast Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed in several incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952. PCHL 1928–1931 The first ...

, the American Hockey League, the

Maritime Major Hockey League The Maritime Major Hockey League was a semi-professional men's senior ice hockey league which operated for four seasons from 1950 to 1954, in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The league competed for the Alexander Cup as part of the Major Series operat ...

, the Quebec Senior Hockey League and the

Atlantic Coast Senior League The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

from 1948 to 1956. Defenceman Georges was invited to the

training camp at the same time as Bob but decided to return home to Thetford Mines because he did not speak English very well. He played in the Quebec Senior Hockey League. Nelson, Fernand and Jean-Marie Fillion also played in the Quebec Senior Hockey League and various Senior Hockey leagues throughout the years. All seven Fillion brothers played on the same team, the

Thetford Chappies Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,3 ...

of the Ligue Intermédiaire de Hockey du Québec during the 1940s. This was where Bob and Georges were spotted by a Canadiens scout.

Post Hockey

Fillion returned to Thetford Mines to work as a manager at the mines, later moving to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and died in

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly ac ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1920 births 2015 deaths Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey left wingers Ice hockey people from Quebec Montreal Canadiens players Shawinigan-Falls Cataracts (QSHL) players Sherbrooke Saints players Sportspeople from Thetford Mines Stanley Cup champions {{Canada-icehockey-winger-1920s-stub