Daniel Lacroix (born March 11, 1969) is a Canadian former 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 hock ...

player and coach. He played in 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 ...

with five teams between 1993 and 2000. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1989 to 2002, was spent in various minor leagues. After retiring as a player he became a coach, working for many teams. In December 2019, he was named the head coach of the

Moncton Wildcats The Moncton Wildcats are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. The franchise was granted for the 1995–96 season, known as the Moncton Alpines for one season, and as the Wildcats ...

in the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

. He was an assistant coach 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 ...

until April 27, 2018, to become head coach of the Lithuanian national team. Lacroix was drafted by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

in the second round, 33rd overall, of the

1989 NHL Entry Draft The 1989 NHL Entry Draft was the 27th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 17 at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Detroit Red Wings' 1989 draft has been noted as exceptionally successful, with 5,955 total NHL games played by the pla ...

. A seven-year NHL veteran left wing, Lacroix played for the New York Rangers,

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 ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

, and the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

Career

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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 ...

, Lacroix appeared in a total of 188 NHL games for the

and the

recording 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points and 379 penalty minutes. Aside from the playing in the NHL, Lacroix also spent eight seasons in 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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL), three seasons in the International Hockey League (IHL) and four seasons in the

(QMJHL). In 2000, he won the

Turner Cup The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League from 1945 to 2001 and the renamed United Hockey League from 2007 to 2010. The Cup was named for Joe Turner, a goaltender from Windsor, Ontario. Turner became professi ...

championship with the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

Coaching career

From 2002 to 2006, Lacroix was an assistant coach of the

. During his stint with the team, the Wildcats reached the QMJHL finals twice, including a

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

appearance in 2006. Halfway through the 2004–05 season, Lacroix took over as Moncton's interim head coach for the second half of the season. From 2006 to 2009, he served as assistant coach for the

. On August 5, 2009, Lacroix was named an assistant coach for the

Hamilton Bulldogs The Hamilton Bulldogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that began to play in the 2015–16 OHL season, 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Bulldogs play their home games at FirstOntario Cent ...

for the

2009–10 AHL season The 2009–10 AHL season was the 74th season of the American Hockey League. Twenty-nine teams played 80 regular-season games each from October 2 to April 11. This season featured the addition of one new team, the relocation of two others, and the ...

. When

Guy Boucher Guy Boucher (born August 3, 1971) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey coach. Boucher is the former head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was also the head coach of SC Bern in ...

was hired as coach of the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

, Lacroix followed Boucher to Tampa Bay. From the 2013–14 season he was an assistant coach of the

. Lacroix was hired by the

on July 30, 2014, as an assistant coach and served in the role until 2018. On October 18, 2018,

Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation The Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation ( lt, Lietuvos ledo ritulio federacija), also known as Hockey Lietuva (LLRF), is the governing body that oversees ice hockey in Lithuania. Lithuania had first joined the International Ice Hockey Federation on Fe ...

appointed Lacroix as head coach of men's national team on one-year contract. On January 21, 2019,

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their hom ...

from the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

(DEL) announced Lacroix to be their head coach for the rest of the season after the firing of

Peter Draisaitl Peter Draisaitl (born 7 December 1965) is a German former professional ice hockey centre, and head coach. He is the current head coach of Krefeld Pinguine of the DEL2. He was previously the head coach of Kölner Haie (Cologne Sharks) of the Deu ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1969 births Living people Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies players Binghamton Rangers players Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey left wingers Chicago Wolves (IHL) players Edmonton Oilers players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players Ice hockey people from Quebec Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey players Lithuania men's national ice hockey team coaches Moncton Wildcats coaches Montreal Canadiens coaches Newcastle Jesters players New York Islanders coaches New York Islanders players New York Rangers draft picks New York Rangers coaches New York Rangers players Philadelphia Flyers players Providence Bruins players Rochester Americans players Sportspeople from Montreal Tampa Bay Lightning coaches {{Canada-icehockey-winger-1960s-stub