Joseph Francis Richard Sévigny (born April 11, 1957) 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 A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

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 ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

who played 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

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 ...

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 ...

. He then moved to France to be coach of

Chamonix HC Chamonix Hockey Club was a French professional ice hockey team based in Chamonix that last played in the Ligue Magnus in 2015. The team is also known as "Chamois de Chamonix" (Chamonix Chamois). With 30 championship titles, Chamonix was the mos ...

(1989–90),

Diables Rouges de Briançon The Diables Rouges de Briançon ''(: Briançon Red Devils)'' (''Briançon Alpes Provence Hockey Club'' and before ''Hockey Club Briançon'') is the ice hockey team of Briançon (Hautes-Alpes). Their home arena is the Patinoire René Froger. Awar ...

(1990–91) and

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

(1994–95), and then returned to the

Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey The Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH, ''"North American Hockey League"'') is a low-level professional ice hockey league based in the Canadian province of Quebec. Teams in the LNAH compete for the Vertdure Cup. History The league was fou ...

. He is noted for being the last Montreal Canadien to wear #33 prior to

Patrick Roy Patrick Jacques Roy (; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender and executive, who serves as the head coach for the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In 2017, Roy was named o ...

Playing career

Before making the

NHL 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 ...

, Sevigny played for 5 different teams. He spent his junior career in the

QMJHL 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 l ...

with the Granby Vicks and the

Sherbrooke Castors The Sherbrooke Castors or Beavers (in English) was the name of two different junior ice hockey teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and another team in the Quebec Eastern Provincial Hockey League. Both later franchises played at the Pal ...

. In

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, Sevigny was selected to the QMJHL West First All-Star Team by playing in 55 games and posting a 3.85 GAA. His strong play made Team Canada notice him and he was selected to play in the 1976 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships where he won a silver medal. Sevigny's play at the international level caught the attention of the

and in

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 Democratic R ...

, he was selected 124th overall in the 1977 NHL amateur draft. The Canadiens also picked seven other goalies creating some competition to join the roster. In 1978, Sevigny played for the

Kalamazoo Wings The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings Event Center. They are the affiliate ...

in the IHL. He played in 35 games and recorded a 3.01 GAA, good enough to be selected to the Second All-Star Team. He then spent the next season in the AHL, with the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existen ...

, and the

Nova Scotia Voyageurs The Nova Scotia Voyageurs were a professional ice hockey team, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atl ...

. In the

1979 Stanley Cup Finals The 1979 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1978–79 season, and the culmination of the 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs. The New York Rangers challenged the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, wh ...

Michel Larocque Michel Raymond "Bunny" Larocque (April 6, 1952 – July 29, 1992) was a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues in the National Hoc ...

was scheduled to start game two. Larocque was injured during the pre-game warm up and Sevigny was dressed as a backup in his place. The Canadiens would win that year and Sevigny's name was engraved on the

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 ...

before ever playing an NHL game. With

Ken Dryden Kenneth Wayne Dryden (born August 8, 1947) is a Canadian politician, lawyer, businessman, author, and former National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was a Liber ...

, retiring in the off-season in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, spots opened up on the Canadiens roster. Sevigny attended training camp and played well enough to start in eleven regular season games in the 1979-80 season. The following season, he played in 33 games, won 20 of them and had a league best 2.40 GAA. He won the

Vezina Trophy The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's (NHL) goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the thirty-two NHL general managers vote to determine the winner. It is named in ...

along with

Denis Herron Denis Bernard Herron (born June 18, 1952) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Kansas City Scouts, and Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League. Playing career Herron played juni ...

and Michel Larocque with Montreal that season. On April 20, 1984, Sevigny took part in the "Vendredi Saint" brawl against the

. The two benches cleared twice during the game and delayed the game for more than an hour. Sevigny fought the Nordiques' backup goalie

Clint Malarchuk Clint Malarchuk (born May 1, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1981 and 1992. He has been a coach for four NHL teams and two minor league teams, most recently the C ...

and was given a game misconduct. The next two seasons saw Sevigny post back to back winning records but he was not offered a contract by the Canadiens. They released him and he was quickly picked up by the Quebec Nordiques. He signed a four-year deal and spent the next three seasons with the Nordiques and their AHL affiliate, the

Fredericton Express The Fredericton Express were a professional ice hockey team based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. They played in the American Hockey League between 1981 and 1988. The Express were affiliated with the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks o ...

before finishing his career in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1990.

Retirement

According to hockey lore, Sevigny was quoted as saying that

Guy Lafleur Guy Damien Lafleur (September 20, 1951 – April 22, 2022), nicknamed "the Flower" and "Le Démon Blond", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was the first player in National Hockey League (NHL) history to score 50 goals in six c ...

would have

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 ...

in his back pocket during the 1981 playoffs, a quote that motivated the

Oilers Oiler may refer to: Ships * Replenishment oiler * Tanker (ship) Sports * Cape Breton Oilers, a former American Hockey League team * City Oilers, Ugandan basketball team * Edmonton Oilers, a National Hockey League team based in Edmonton, Alberta, ...

team to victory over the fabled Habs.(Miracle over Montreal heralded Oiler dynasty Jim Matheson. Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alta.: Nov 21, 2003. pg. I.5 Sevigny has involved himself in old-timers charity hockey games and has coached the semi-pro

Verdun Dragons The Verdun Dragons were a hockey team based in Verdun, Quebec. The team was part of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey. The Dragons played at the Verdun Auditorium. They won the Futura Cup against the Saint-Georges Garaga in 2003–2004. Init ...

Awards and achievements

* Selected to the

First All-Star Team in

. * Selected to the IHL Second All-Star Team in 1978. *

championship in

. *

winner in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

(shared with

and

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sevigny, Richard 1957 births Living people Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Fredericton Express players Ice hockey people from Montreal Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens players Nova Scotia Voyageurs players Quebec Nordiques players Sherbrooke Castors players Springfield Indians players Stanley Cup champions Vezina Trophy winners