Leonard Joseph LaFrance (November 3, 1902 – April 7, 1993) 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who played 34 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 ...

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 ...

and

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

during the 1926–27 and 1927–28 seasons. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1921 to 1936, was spent in different minor leagues. He was born in

L'Isle-aux-Allumettes, Quebec L'Isle-aux-Allumettes is a municipality in the Outaouais region, part of the Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The municipality consists primarily of Allumette Island (in French ''Île aux Allumettes''), and also includes Morri ...

, but grew up in Coniston,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. His nickname was "The Flying Frenchman"

Playing career

LaFrance played the position of Left Wing for the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens from 1927 to 1928, and the Chicago Black Hawks from 1927 to 1928. His total NHL career consisted of 34 games played and 2 goals scored. Prior to joining the NHL, LaFrance was noted as a decent goal scorer with several minor league teams including the Sudbury Cub Wolves of the NOJHA, Iroquois Falls Papermakers of the NOHA, and the Duluth Hornets of the USAHA and CHL. His best year in hockey was from 1930–31 when as a member of the AHA's Tulsa Oilers he scored 42 points.

After hockey

He retired from playing hockey following the 1935–36 season with the Seattle Seahawks of the NWHL. His honors include being a member of the CHL Second All-Star Team in 1935. LaFrance later took a job as an electrician and estimator for the Universal Electric Company, in Duluth, Minnesota. He retired in 1969. He spent the rest of his life living quietly in Duluth, and spending time with friends and family, and died peacefully in 1993 at the age of 90.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Source

References

External links

* 1902 births 1993 deaths Calgary Tigers players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey forwards Chicago Blackhawks players Duluth Hornets players Ice hockey people from Outaouais Kansas City Pla-Mors players Minneapolis Millers (CHL) players Montreal Canadiens players Rochester Cardinals players Seattle Seahawks (ice hockey) players Ice hockey people from Greater Sudbury Tulsa Oilers (AHA) players {{Canada-icehockey-player-stub