Réal Gaston Lemieux (January 3, 1945 – October 24, 1975) was a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

. He played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

and

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

between 1967 and 1974.

Early life

Lemieux was born in

Victoriaville Victoriaville () is a town in south-central Quebec, Canada, on the Nicolet River. Victoriaville is the seat of Arthabaska Regional County Municipality and a part of the Centre-du-Québec (Bois-Francs) region. It is formed by the 1993 merger of ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. He played junior for the Lachine Maroons and the Hamilton Red Wings from 1962 until 1965.

Professional career

Lemieux turned professional with the Detroit Red Wings, playing several seasons with their minor league teams, and one game with Detroit. Lemieux was claimed by Los Angeles in the

1967 NHL Expansion Draft The 1967 NHL expansion draft was held on June 6, 1967, in the ballroom of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The draft took place to fill the rosters of the league's six expansion teams for the 1967–68 season: the California Seal ...

and became a regular with the Kings. Lemieux was traded to the New York Rangers in 1969 but was re-acquired after playing 55 games with the Rangers. In 1973–74, Lemieux played for the Kings, Rangers and Sabres. In his NHL career, the vast majority of which was spent with Los Angeles, Lemieux played in 483 games, scoring 51 goals and adding 104 assists.

Retirement and death

After being cut by the Sabres in 1974, Lemieux decided to retire and joined a steel company in Sorel, Quebec. In October 1975, he developed a blood clot in his brain and died on October 24 of that year.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

External links

References

1945 births 1975 deaths Buffalo Sabres players Canadian ice hockey right wingers Detroit Red Wings players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) players Ice hockey people from Centre-du-Québec Los Angeles Kings players New York Rangers players Sportspeople from Victoriaville Springfield Kings players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen {{canada-icehockey-winger-1940s-stub