Yanic Jacques Perreault (born April 4, 1971) is a Canadian 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 hock ...

player who played thirteen seasons 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 ...

Playing career

As a youth, he played in the 1983 and 1984

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

s with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

team from

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...

, Quebec. Perreault started his hockey career for the

Trois-Rivières Draveurs The Trois-Rivières Draveurs ("Raftmen") were a Canadian junior ice hockey team playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). They played home games at the Colisée de Trois-Rivières, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The team was origina ...

where he was one of the best offensive players in 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 l ...

, racking up a total of 185 points in his most productive season. He was drafted in the third round, 47th overall by the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

in the

1991 NHL Entry Draft The 1991 NHL Entry Draft was the 29th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. A total of 264 players were drafted. The worst team in the previous 1990–91 season, the Quebec Nordiques, was give ...

. Carrying a reputation as too slow a skater to succeed in the NHL, Perreault played three years for the

St. John's Maple Leafs The St. John's Maple Leafs were a minor ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, at Memorial Stadium from 1991 to 2001, and at Mile One Stadium from 2001 to 2005. The team was ...

, Toronto's

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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

affiliate. Perreault led the St. John's Maple Leafs to a seventh game in the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

finals in the 1992 season and to first-place finishes the following two seasons; his 132 goals and 276 points became in that span, and remain, career records for the Leafs'

franchise. Perreault made his NHL debut in that third season with the Leafs, showing some flash in spot duty, before being traded to the

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 ...

for a fourth round pick in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. He spent most of that season with the Kings' minor league affiliate, the Phoenix Roadrunners, scoring 51 goals to lead the team. The following year was his breakout season, making the NHL for good with the Kings, where he became the team's lead centre after

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 ...

was traded late in the year amidst a full-scale reorganization of the team; Perreault scored 25 goals to finish second on the squad. He played three more seasons in Los Angeles before being sent back to Toronto in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, for Jason Podollan and a third round selection. In 2001, Perreault signed with 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 ...

as a free agent, remaining three seasons before sitting out the lockout year of 2005, after which he signed with the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

, with whom he scored 57 points, his NHL career high. He signed after that single season with the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

and was selected to play in the

2007 NHL All-Star Game The 2007 National Hockey League All-Star Game was held in Dallas, on January 24, 2007. The Western Conference was victorious, defeating the Eastern Conference 12–9. On January 23, 2006, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the event ...

. On February 27, 2007, Perreault, packaged with a fifth round draft pick, was traded from the Coyotes to Toronto for defencemen Brendan Bell and a second round draft pick, marking his third round of duty with the Maple Leafs. Perreault signed with the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

as a free agent on July 1, 2007. However, with his scoring skills diminishing, he retired at the end of the 2007-08 season. Perreault is often considered one of the best

faceoff A face-off is the method used to begin and restart play after goals in some sports using sticks, primarily ice hockey, bandy, floorball, broomball, rinkball, and lacrosse. During a face-off, two teams line up in opposition to each other, and the ...

men in NHL history.

Coaching career

On October 4, 2013 − one day ahead of the second game of the season - the Blackhawks announced they had hired Perreault to help the team improve its face-off success rate. Perreault is also head coach for the Chicago Mission 2005 youth team.

Honors and awards

* 1989

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 ...

Michel Bergeron Trophy The Michel Bergeron Trophy is awarded annually to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's "Offensive Rookie of the Year (award), Rookie of the Year." From 1969 to 1980, the trophy was awarded to the QMHL's "Overall Rookie of the Year." The Bergeron ...

(Offensive Rookie of the Year) *1989 Canadian Major Junior - Rookie of the Year *

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

QMJHL - First All-Star Team *1991 QMJHL -

Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy The Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the most sportsmanlike player in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The award began in the 1969–70 season as a team trophy awarded to the league's West Division champions. It has bee ...

(Most Gentlemanly Player) *1991 QMJHL - Jean Beliveau Trophy (Leading scorer) *1991 QMJHL - Michel Briere Trophy (Most Valuable Player) *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

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 ...

- 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 ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perreault, Yanic 1971 births Living people Canadian ice hockey centres Chicago Blackhawks coaches Chicago Blackhawks players Ice hockey people from Quebec Los Angeles Kings players Montreal Canadiens players Nashville Predators players National Hockey League All-Stars Phoenix Coyotes players Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL) players St. John's Maple Leafs players Sportspeople from Sherbrooke Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks Toronto Maple Leafs players Trois-Rivières Draveurs players Canadian ice hockey coaches