Hector Joseph Lalande (November 24, 1934 – August 18, 2010
) 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 hock ...
centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
. He played in 151
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) games with the
Chicago Black Hawks
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
between 1954 and 1958. His most productive years were in the minors with the
Clinton Comets where he had back-to-back 100-point seasons.
Personal
Born in North Bay, Ontario, Lalande returned each summer during his hockey career. After his hockey career, Lalande returned to North Bay permanently. In North Bay, he coached local hockey and baseball teams. He organized and coached
sledge hockey
Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitat ...
for disabled athletes. Lalande was inducted into the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.
Professional career
Minor league hockey
Lalande started out playing for the
Belleville Bulls
The Belleville Bulls were a junior ice hockey team, founded in 1981 and based in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Eastern Division of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The team moved to Hamilton, Ontario at ...
and
Galt Black Hawks
The Galt Black Hawks were a junior ice hockey team based in Galt, Ontario, now a part of the city of Cambridge, Ontario, Cambridge. They played in the Ontario Hockey League, Ontario Hockey Association from 1949 to 1955 and were operated as an affil ...
of the
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...
Junior. He showed great promise as a playmaker and was quickly recognized by NHL scouts. In the middle of the 1953–54 season, Lalande was called up by Galt's parent team the
Chicago Black Hawks
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
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to play two games. He did not record a point but received two
penalty minutes
A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penaltie ...
. He was sent back down to finish the season in Galt. The following season Lalande was again brought up to a higher league, this 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 Fiel ...
of 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 ...
. He played three games but again failed to really impress and was returned to Galt. He finished out the season leading his team in points with 31 goals and 48 assists, putting him fifth in the league overall for points and fourth in the league in assists. He had finally caught the attention of Chicago and was brought up to play a permanent role with the Black Hawks for the
1955–56 season.
Playing in the NHL
Lalande played 65 games for Chicago that season and recorded 26 points. He would continue that pace the
following season while playing with linemates
Forbes Kennedy and
Harry Watson. He also saw time with affiliate the
Rochester Americans
The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, a ...
in 1956. During the 1957–58 season, Lalande played 22 games for Chicago before being traded to the
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
along with
Nick Mickoski
Nicholas Mickoski (December 7, 1927 – March 13, 2002) was a Canadian ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League with four teams between 1948 and 1960. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1945 to 1965, was spent in variou ...
,
Bob Bailey and
Jack McIntyre
John Archibald "Jack" McIntyre (September 8, 1930 in Brussels, Ontario – March 15, 1998) was a Canadian ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League between 1950 and 1960.
Playing career
McIntyre played 499 National Hockey League ...
for
Bill Dineen
William Patrick "Foxy" Dineen (September 18, 1932 – December 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and head coach. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks between 1953 a ...
,
Billy Dea
William Fraser Dea (born April 3, 1933) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and head coach in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played in the NHL from 1953 to 1971, and then served as a coach during the 1981–82 season.
Playi ...
,
Lorne Ferguson
Lorne Ferguson (May 26, 1930 — March 28, 2008) was a Canadian ice hockey left winger who played 422 games in the National Hockey League. Born in Palmerston, Ontario, he played for the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, and Chicago Black Hawks
...
and
Earl Reibel
Earl "Dutch" Reibel (July 21, 1930 – January 3, 2007) was a Canadian ice hockey professional player. Reibel played primarily as a centre with the Detroit Red Wings, as well as the Chicago Black Hawks and Boston Bruins.
A member of two Stanley ...
on December 17, 1957. In 12 games with the Red Wings, Lalande put up only two assists and was traded, four months after coming from Chicago, to the
Hershey Bears
The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...
of the AHL along with
Don Poile and cash for
Dunc Fisher
Duncan Robert Fisher (August 30, 1927 – September 22, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 275 games in the National Hockey League from 1947 to 1953 and again in 1958 to 1959. He played for the New York Rangers, Bos ...
on April 23, 1958.
The trade would turn out to be a blessing in disguise as Lalande would help lead the Bears to back-to-back
Calder Cup
The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars.
The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...
Championships in
1957–58 and
1958–59. Lalande remained with the Bears for three more seasons, helping them to again reach the finals in
1960–61, eventually falling four games to none to the
Springfield Indians
The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existen ...
. Lalande also played a single game for the
Montreal Royals
The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...
of the
Eastern Professional Hockey League in a rehab stint in 1961. After scoring 57 points in the
1961–62 AHL season
The 1961–62 AHL season was the 26th season of the American Hockey League. The league initiates the James C. Hendy Memorial Award for outstanding team or league executives. The league resumes East and West Divisions. The John D. Chick Trophy is ...
and leading the Bears to a second round playoff appearance, Lalande decided to leave Hershey for the
St. Louis Braves of the EPHL. Playing in only 26 games, Lalande scored 30 points and 57 PIMs.
For the 1963–64 season, Lalande joined the
Clinton Comets of 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, ...
and put up his most impressive numbers to date. Lalande finished first on his team in points and second overall in the league in assists with 27 goals, 75 assists and 102 points on the season. Lalande was a driving force behind the Comets winning of the
Atlantic City Boardwalk Trophy and the
Walker Cup
The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...
. The following season, Lalande again put up big numbers with 31 goals and 69 assists for another 100-point season. In August 1965, Lalande was traded by Clinton to the
Jersey Devils
The Jersey Devils were an American professional ice hockey team based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
The Devils were formed when the Philadelphia Ramblers, a member of the Eastern Hockey League, relocated to Cherry Hill at the end of the 1963–64 ...
along with
Norm Defelice,
Ted Sydlowski and
Benny Woit for
Ed Babiuk,
Pat Kelly and
Borden Smith. Lalande would finish out his best playing days with Jersey scoring 61 points in three seasons with the club. After two games into the 1967–68 season, Lalande joined the
OHA Senior A Hockey League
The OHA Senior A Hockey League was a top tier Canadian Senior ice hockey league in Ontario from 1975 until 1987. The league was sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and competed for the Allan ...
to play for the
Belleville Mohawks and would retire from ice hockey after scoring 17 points in his last 28 games.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Awards and achievements
*Calder Cup: 1957–58, 1958–59 (Hershey Bears – AHL)
*Atlantic City Boardwalk Trophy: 1963–64 (Clinton Comets – EHL)
*Walker Cup: 1963–64 (Clinton Comets – EHL)
* North Bay Sports Hall of Fame: 1986
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lalande, Hec
1934 births
2010 deaths
Belleville Bulls players
Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players
Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
Canadian ice hockey centres
Chicago Blackhawks players
Clinton Comets players
Detroit Red Wings players
Franco-Ontarian people
Galt Black Hawks players
Hershey Bears players
Innsbrucker EV players
Jersey Devils players
Montreal Royals (EPHL) players
Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League (1890–1979) players
Rochester Americans players
St. Louis Braves (EPHL) players
Ice hockey people from North Bay, Ontario