Lucien Lessard Jr. (born May 26, 1980), known as Junior Lessard, 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 who last played for the Thetford Mines Isothermic of the LNAH.

Playing career

As a youth, Lessard played in the 1993 and 1994

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

s with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

team from

Beauce, Quebec Beauce (; ) is a historical and traditional region of Quebec located south of Quebec City. It corresponds approximately to the regional county municipalities of Beauce-Sartigan, Beauce-Centre and La Nouvelle-Beauce, and its major communities a ...

. Lessard attended the

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a two-year progr ...

, where he led the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in goals (32) and points (63) as a senior during the 2003–04 season, numbers that would be good enough to win the

Hobey Baker Award The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It has been awarded 41 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton University ...

. He also led the

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

in the same categories with 19 goals and 39 points in conference play. On April 15, 2004, Lessard signed a free agent contract with the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

and made his

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 ...

debut during the 2005–06 season. Lessard was traded to Tampa Bay on January 15, 2008 in exchange for Dan Jancevski. Lessard signed a contract with the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

on July 9, 2008 and was assigned to affiliate 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 ...

to start the 2008–09 season. On January 13, 2009, Lessard was traded by the Thrashers to 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 ( ...

for

Brett Skinner Thomas Brett Skinner (born June 28, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and current head coach of the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League (USHL). He spent one season as the head coach of the Minnesota Wilderne ...

and was immediately sent to the Islanders' AHL affiliate, the

Bridgeport Sound Tigers The Bridgeport Islanders (previously known as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers) are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL). They are the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who own the f ...

. On October 7, 2009, Lessard signed a one-year contract with

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

team

Ilves Ilves (; Finnish for " Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena. The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the city ...

, but was released on November 4 due to injury after only four games. On January 13, 2010, Lessard signed with Canadian semi-pro team the Thetford Mines Isothermic of the LNAH. On February 1, 2010, after recovering from injury, Lessard signed with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

team

Augsburger Panther The Augsburger Panther are a professional ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team is based in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. They play their home games at the Curt Frenzel Stadion. Founded in 1878, the team's name was Augsburger EV ...

of the DEL for the remainder of the season.

Awards and honors

*1998–99 -

MJHL The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirteen teams all based ...

All-Rookie Team *1999–00 -

First All-Star Team *1999–00 -

Most Valuable Player *Named Canadian Junior A Hockey League Player of the Year with the Portage Terriers of the

Manitoba Junior Hockey League The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirteen teams all based ...

*2003–04 -WCHA Player of the Year *2003–04 -NCAA

*National Player of the Year honors in 2004 by College Hockey Online and Inside College HockeyInside College Hockey
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Career statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lessard, Junior 1980 births Living people Augsburger Panther players Canadian ice hockey forwards Chicago Wolves players Dallas Stars players Hobey Baker Award winners Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey people from Quebec Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) players Ilves players Iowa Stars players Portage Terriers players Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players Norfolk Admirals players People from Beauce, Quebec Tampa Bay Lightning players Undrafted National Hockey League players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans