Joseph Eudore Jean-Guy "Smitty" Gendron (August 30, 1934 – June 30, 2022) 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 ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played 863 games 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 ...

(NHL) for 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 ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

. Gendron scored his first NHL goal on November 9, 1955, for the New York Rangers in their 1–1 home tie versus the Montreal Canadiens. He also played 127 games in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

(WHA) for the

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 ...

, a team for which he was the head coach for two seasons. Gendron played junior hockey with the Trois-Rivieres Reds before making his professional debut with the

Providence Reds The Providence Reds were a ice hockey, hockey team that played in the Canadian-American Hockey League (CAHL) between 1926 and 1936 and the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1936 to 1977, the last season of which they played as the Rhode Island Re ...

in 1954. He scored an NHL career high 24 goals in 1959–60 despite generally being called upon to play a hard-nosed, defensive-oriented role. He died on June 30, 2022, through medical assistance in dying (MAID).

Career statistics

WHA coaching record

References

External links

* 1934 births 2022 deaths 2022 suicides Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey left wingers French Quebecers Ice hockey people from Montreal Montreal Canadiens players New York Rangers players Philadelphia Flyers players Providence Reds players Quebec Aces (AHL) players Quebec Nordiques (WHA) players Quebec Nordiques coaches Canadian ice hockey coaches Deaths by euthanasia {{Canada-icehockey-winger-1930s-stub