Joseph Gérard Marquis Tardif (born June 12, 1949) 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 ...

left winger who played in both the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL) and 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), principally 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 ...

, and is the all-time leading goal scorer in the WHA.

Playing career

Born in

Granby, Quebec Granby is a town in southwestern Quebec, located east of Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 69,025. Granby is the seat of La Haute-Yamaska Regional County Municipality. It is the second most populated city in Estrie aft ...

, Tardif played two seasons with the

Montreal Junior Canadiens The Montreal Junior Canadiens were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Junior Hockey League from 1933 to 1961, and the Ontario Hockey Association from 1961 to 1972. They played out of the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History T ...

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The ...

. 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 ...

- in the final year the

team had the privilege to do so - invoked its right to select two

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...

players first and second overall to pick Tardif in the first round, second overall, of the

1969 NHL Amateur Draft The 1969 NHL Amateur Draft was the seventh NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. This draft is notable for being the first NHL draft to be conducted after the league ended direct sponsorship of junior hoc ...

. Tardif spent most of the

1969–70 NHL season The 1969–70 NHL season was the 53rd season of the National Hockey League. For the third straight season, the St. Louis Blues reached the Stanley Cup finals, and for the third straight year, the winners of the expansion West Division were swept ...

with 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 lea ...

(AHL) Montreal Voyageurs, one of the leading scorers on a team studded with future NHL stars, including Jude Drouin,

Guy Charron Guy Joseph Jean Charron (born January 24, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played in the NHL from 1969–1981. He previously served as the head coach of the WHL's Kamloops Blazers. Guy is currently the Commissioner ...

, Guy Lapointe and Pete Mahovlich. He made the Canadiens for good the following season, playing credibly for the eventual

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 ...

champions. In 1972, Tardif scored 31 goals.

WHA years

In 1973 Tardif signed with the Los Angeles Sharks of the

. He was the Sharks' leading scorer that season, and was named to play for Team Canada in the

1974 Summit Series The 1974 Summit Series was the second of two competitions between Soviet and Canadian professional ice hockey players, following the same format as the 1972 Summit Series, with four games across Canada and four in Moscow. The Soviet team won the ...

the following fall. The Sharks, however, finished with the league's poorest record, and moved to Detroit as the

Michigan Stags The Michigan Stags were a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit that played a portion of the 1974–75 season in the World Hockey Association. On January 18, 1975, the team folded, but the league immediately took over operation and moved ...

, where Tardif played brilliantly before a trade to the

, just weeks before the Stags folded. In Quebec, Tardif became one of the league's preeminent stars. He finished the

1974–75 WHA season The 1974–75 WHA season was the third season of the World Hockey Association. Fourteen teams each played 78 games. Regular season The WHA expanded by adding the Indianapolis Racers and Phoenix Roadrunners, and splitting into 3 divisions (Weste ...

with 50 goals, and added a league-leading 10 goals in the playoffs en route to the AVCO Cup finals against the eventual champion Houston Aeros. The next season, he led the WHA in goals, assists and points by wide margins and became only the second professional player to score 70 goals in a single season, while the Nordiques rampaged to 50 wins. Tardif's playoffs were cut short after he incurred serious head injuries in an attack (on April 11, 1976) by

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, ...

enforcer Rick Jodzio, leading to one of the first cases where a hockey player was charged in a court of law for assault. The next season Tardif was named the captain of the Nordiques, and recovered to post another 100-point campaign while leading the team to their only WHA championship, and followed that up in 1977–78 with a 154-point campaign - setting a professional hockey record eventually broken by

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

(who would score 164 points in the

1980-81 NHL season __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

)- for which he received his second league MVP award.

Retirement

Tardif remained a star when the Nordiques joined the NHL after the WHA folded in 1979, serving as the team's first NHL captain. Tardif retired after the

1982–83 NHL season The 1982–83 NHL season was the 66th season of the National Hockey League. The New York Islanders won their fourth Stanley Cup in a row with their second consecutive finals sweep by beating the Edmonton Oilers four games to none. No team in ...

, and the Nordiques retired his No. 8 jersey in tribute to their first great scoring star. He finished his career scoring 316 goals and 350 assists for 666 points in the WHA, and 194 goals and 207 assists for 401 points in the NHL. He owns car dealerships in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

and Charlevoix.

Awards and achievements

champion —

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 J ...

, 1973 (with Montreal) * Avco Cup champion —

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

(with Quebec) * First in WHA history in career goals, second in points, third in assists, and 20th in games played * Won WHA scoring titles in 1976 and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

* Won the Gordie Howe Trophy as the WHA's most valuable player in 1976 and 1978 * Named to the WHA's First All-Star Team in 1976, 1977 and 1978 * Named to the WHA's Second All-Star Team in

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. ...

* Played in

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 ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

* Inaugural member of the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame (2010)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tardif, Marc 1949 births Baltimore Blades players Ice hockey people from Quebec Living people Los Angeles Sharks players Michigan Stags players Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens players Montreal Junior Canadiens players Montreal Voyageurs players National Hockey League first-round draft picks National Hockey League players with retired numbers People from Granby, Quebec Quebec Nordiques (WHA) players Quebec Nordiques players Stanley Cup champions Canadian ice hockey left wingers