Joseph Henri Jean-Claude Tremblay (January 22, 1939 – December 7, 1994) was a Canadian

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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

for the

NHL 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 ...

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 ...

and the WHA

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

, notable for play-making and defensive skills.

Playing career

After an amateur and minor professional career that saw him move from

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

to defence and win the league Most Valuable Player title in 1960, Tremblay began play for the Canadiens in that season and stuck with the big league squad for good in the 1961–1962 season, playing for five

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, an ...

winning teams. He became one of the NHL's preeminent stars on defence for both his offense and defensive work, playing in seven

NHL All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game (french: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey, links=no) is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many o ...

s and setting the franchise record for points by a defenceman, and was recognized as a first team All-Star in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

and a Second Team All-Star in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, Tremblay jumped to the upstart WHA with the Nordiques, which had negotiated with the

Los Angeles Sharks The Los Angeles Sharks were an ice hockey team that played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 to 1974. Their primary home arena was the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena but they sometimes played at the Long Beach Sports Arena when ...

for his rights. He was the franchise's first great star, as well as the league's first great defenceman, winning the league honors for best defenceman in 1973 and 1975 and being named to the WHA's Team Canada in 1974, leading that club in defensive scoring. Tremblay also led his team to the 1977

AVCO World Trophy The Avco World Trophy, also known as the Avco Cup, is the playoff championship trophy of the defunct World Hockey Association (1972– 1979). The trophy's naming rights were sold to the former Avco Corporation (a name originally derived from "Avi ...

championship. He was the only player to play for the Nordiques all seven seasons of the WHA, and retired after the 1979 season. His number #3 jersey was retired by the Nordiques after that season just before the franchise's move into the NHL, thus gaining Tremblay the distinction of being one of only three players to have a number retired by a NHL team without ever actually playing for it (the other two being

Johnny McKenzie John Albert McKenzie (December 12, 1937 – June 9, 2018) was a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey, hockey player and coach. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for several seasons, most notably with the Boston Bruins, with ...

by the

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...

and

Frank Finnigan Francis Arthur Clarence Finnigan (July 9, 1901 – December 25, 1991), nicknamed "The Shawville Express", was a Canadian ice hockey professional forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1923 to 1937. During this time, he play ...

by the modern-day

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

). He later scouted in Europe for the Montreal Canadiens. In 1979, he donated a kidney to his daughter. Tremblay died of kidney cancer himself on December 7, 1994, at the age of 55.

Honors and achievements

* Won

s in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and

* At the time of leaving the Canadiens, was in the top fifty all-time

assist leaders * Played in the

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and

* Named to the 1972

Summit Series The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (russian: Суперсерия СССР — Канада, Superseriya SSSR — Kanada), or Series of the Century (french: Série du siècle, Séries of the Century), was an eight-game ic ...

Canadian team but dropped after he signed with the WHA * Named to the WHA first All-Star team in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

* Named to the WHA second All-Star team in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

* Led the WHA in assists in 1973 and 1976 * Played seven seasons with the Nordiques, playing in 454 games and scoring 66 goals and 358 assists for 424 points * Second in WHA history in assists, fourteenth in points, and sixteen in games played * Named to

NHL first All-Star team The National Hockey League All-Star teams were first named at the end of the 1930–31 NHL season, to honor the best performers over the season at each position. Representatives of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association vote for the all-st ...

* Named to NHL second All-Star team in

* A street in

Vaudreuil-Dorion Vaudreuil-Dorion () is a suburb of Greater Montreal, in the Montérégie region of southwestern Quebec, Canada. The result of the merger of two towns, Vaudreuil and Dorion, it is located in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. ...

, Quebec was named after him (along with other greats) * Elected as an inaugural member to the

World Hockey Association Hall of Fame The World Hockey Association Hall of Fame is an independent organization dedicated to honoring the World Hockey Association (WHA) which operated from 1972 to 1979 as a major professional ice hockey league. Officially partnered with the United Stat ...

in 2010 * An arena is named after him in La Baie, Quebec (Now part of the City of Saguenay, QC)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tremblay, Jean-Claude 1939 births 1994 deaths Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Deaths from cancer in Quebec Deaths from kidney cancer Sportspeople from Saguenay, Quebec Memorial Cup winners Montreal Canadiens players National Hockey League players with retired numbers Quebec Nordiques (WHA) players Stanley Cup champions Ice hockey people from Quebec