Michael Frederick Laughton (born February 21, 1944) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 h ...

player who played 189 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) and 203 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). He played for the NHL Oakland Seals and California Golden Seals, as well as the WHA New York Raiders, New York Golden Blades, Jersey Knights, and

San Diego Mariners The San Diego Mariners were an ice hockey team based in San Diego that played in the World Hockey Association from 1974 to 1977 at the San Diego Sports Arena. Previous to being in San Diego, the team was known as the New York Raiders, New York ...

. Between his time in the NHL and the WHA, Laughton was sold to 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 ...

before the start of the 1971-72 season by the California Golden Seals. Not being able to make the team with an already stacked lineup, Laughton was sent down to the

Nova Scotia Voyageurs The Nova Scotia Voyageurs were a professional ice hockey team, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. They played in the American Hockey League, from 1971 to 1984. Originally chartered as the Houston Apollos of the Central Hockey League, the org ...

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 developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

and made team captain by head coach Al MacNeil. He led the team that included

Larry Robinson Larry Clark Robinson (born June 2, 1951) is a Canadian former ice hockey coach, executive and player. His coaching career includes head coaching positions with the New Jersey Devils (which he held on two occasions), as well as the Los Angeles Ki ...

and

Yvon Lambert Yvon Pierre Lambert (born May 20, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. Lambert was born in Drummondville, Quebec. Although drafted in 1970 by the Detroit Red Wings, Lambert started his National Hockey League (NHL) caree ...

, future stars on the Canadiens, to the 1972 Calder Cup championship. He then signed in the WHA. After being chosen in the 1975 intra-league draft by the WHA

Calgary Cowboys The Calgary Cowboys were an ice hockey team that played two seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1975–1977. The Cowboys played at the Stampede Corral in Calgary. The franchise was founded in 1972 as the Miami Screaming Eagles, t ...

and failing to come to terms on a contract, he returned to his hometown of Nelson to become player-coach of the Nelson Maple Leafs of the Western International Hockey League.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1944 births Living people California Golden Seals players Canadian ice hockey centres Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Ice hockey people from British Columbia Jersey Knights players New York Golden Blades players New York Raiders players Nova Scotia Voyageurs players Oakland Seals players People from Nelson, British Columbia San Diego Mariners players Syracuse Blazers players Vancouver Canucks (WHL) players Victoria Maple Leafs players Western International Hockey League players {{Canada-icehockey-centre-1940s-stub