Réal Gaston Lemieux (January 3, 1945 – October 24, 1975) 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 ...

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

. He played 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

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 team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

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

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 in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

between 1967 and 1974.

Early life

Lemieux was born in

Victoriaville Victoriaville is a town in 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 Arthabask ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He played junior for the

Lachine Maroons Les Maroons de Lachine were a Canadian Junior ice hockey team from Lachine, Quebec, Canada. It started as a franchise in the Metropolitaine leagues in 1953 in both the Junior A and Junior B divisions. Later, in 1995, the Pierrefonds Lions of th ...

and the

Hamilton Red Wings The Hamilton Red Wings were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1960 to 1974. The team was based in Hamilton, Ontario, at the Barton Street Arena, also known as the Hamilton Forum. History The Hamilton Tiger Cubs we ...

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 Seals ...

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 Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) players Ice hockey people from Quebec Los Angeles Kings players New York Rangers players People from Victoriaville Springfield Kings players {{canada-icehockey-winger-1940s-stub